Playing its second weekend without captain Megan Phelps ’15, who was injured the week before, women’s basketball beat Bates (9-14, 0-9 NESCAC) 74-67 last Friday. However on Saturday, they lost their last regular season game to Tufts (23-1, 10-0) in a battle of the only two remaining undefeated teams in the NESCAC 55-56, ending their 18-game win streak. The Polar Bears finished with a regular season record of 21-3 (9-1 NESCAC).
Sara Binkhorst ’15 set a single-game school record with seven three pointers at Bates, and became the 14th Bowdoin player to score over 1,000 career points a day later at Tufts.
At Bates, Bowdoin started strong, with Binkhorst and Kate Kerrigan ’18 scoring the first 12 points of the game. Bates went on a few runs to tighten the gap to 22-18, but Bowdoin responded, increasing its lead to 28-18. The Polar Bears held a comfortable 35-25 halftime lead.
“I thought we had maybe the strongest start of our season against Bates,” said Head Coach Adrienne Shibles.
Binkhorst kicked off the second half by stretching Bates’ defense with multiple three pointers on her way to a team leading 29 points in the game. Shannon Brady ’16 and Kerrigan added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Bates’ biggest weapon was first year Nina Davenport, who scored a total of 34 points in the game.
In the second half, the Bobcats came back with a nine-point run, giving them a 60-59 lead with less than five minutes to play. But Binkhorst responded with a 15-foot jump shot to take back a lead that Bowdoin would never relinquish.
In field goals, Bowdoin’s 42.4 percent just surpassed Bates 41.4 percent, and the Polar Bears led 36-32 in rebounds.
Shibles spoke about Binkhorst’s performance after the game.
“She’s very deserving of that record because she works incredibly hard,” said Shibles. “I thought she brought incredible mental toughness to the Tufts game—[she] really maintained her poise and composure and executed the game plan.”
Tufts opened the game scoring the first three points of the half. Bowdoin responded with a run that put the Polar Bears ahead 12-7. However, once Tufts barreled ahead 15-12, they would not give up the lead for the remainder of the game. The Jumbos finished the half with a 34-24 lead.
“I think we started off defensively really well,” said Binkhorst. “[Tufts] went on a bit of a run in the first half and then again opening up the second half, that we didn’t really respond as well to.”
During the second half, Bowdoin seemed to have been shaken off its game, and allowed Tufts to take control with a 13-2 run that extended their lead to 47-26 with only 16 minutes left.
Although the Polar Bears chased the Jumbos through the rest of the half, the game ended 66-55.
Binkhorst again led the team with 23 points, making all five of her three-point shots. Brady added 12 points and five rebounds. Bowdoin made 40 percent of its field goals compared to Tufts’ 48 percent, but led in total rebounds 31-27.
“I think the team seemed really tight when the game started,” said Shibles. “Most people didn’t really start to play like themselves until the end of the game. I felt like we were lacking execution in the offensive plays and the defensive sets.”
“It was a battle, but I think we learned a lot about ourselves and the areas we need to improve on,” added Binkhorst. “I think it’s really going to help us going into playoffs.”
Despite the loss, the women secured the second seed in the NESCAC, which is the best seed for Bowdoin since the 2008-09 season. Tomorrow, the Polar Bears will host seventh-seeded Middlebury in the NESCAC quarterfinal.
“The biggest thing we’ve been focusing on is that defensive intensity,” said Binkhorst.
“Whether it’s getting up in the passing lanes, or working on boxing out, and really working on our defensive communication. I think just bringing that 40 minutes of defensive pressure from all five of us on the floor.”