The women’s basketball team’s playoff run came to an end last Saturday as the Polar Bears fell 60-45 to the No. 2-seeded Amherst in the NESCAC semifinals. The team did not receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament which means that Bowdoin finished its season with an overall record of 14-11.
“It’s a tough feeling to deal with, especially coming off the big win against Tufts,” said Megan Phelps ’15. “We came into this game with the best hopes and to come out and have it taken away from you is tough. There was definitely a lot of emotion in the locker room.”
The loss marked the final game for the team’s lone senior, captain Kaitlin Donahoe ’13. She was named to the First Team All-NESCAC for the first time in her career last weekend.
“It’s always tough to walk into the locker room after the last game and look into your seniors’ eyes and know that that was the last time they’ll see the court as a Polar Bear,” said Head Coach Adrienne Shibles. “It’s a devastating moment for the student-athlete, for the coach and for the team.”
The Lady Jeffs moved on to the NESCAC championship, where they defeated Williams 53-38 on Sunday, earning their fifth NESCAC title. Bowdoin and Amherst remain the only two schools that have won a NESCAC title.
“With Amherst there’s such a rivalry, a part of me feels that at least the team that beat us won,” said Phelps. “But a part of me also wishes Amherst had lost.”
On Saturday, the Lady Jeffs took a 15-4 lead just six minutes into the game. The Polar Bears were initially flustered by Amherst’s defense.
“They were doing some different things to us than we had seen before—like really hedging hard on ball screens and trapping [Kristen Prue ’14] a lot,” said Shibles. “I do feel that affected our decision making and our ability to take care of the ball.”
“We let them dictate a lot of tempo and we didn’t adjust quickly enough to their physicality,” said Phelps.
In total, the Polar Bears gave up 20 turnovers that Amherst converted for 19 points.
Bowdoin had a balanced scoring attack. Donahoe led with 14 points, while Phelps followed with eight points, and Siena Mitman ’15, Tori Munson ’15 and Shannon Brady ’16 all chipped in with six.
Brady was awarded the NESCAC’s Rookie of the Year award last weekend, the fourth Bowdoin first year to earn that award in program history. She finished the season third on the team in points per game with 7.2, second in rebounds with 5.8, and first in blocks with 2.0.
“We did have that inside-out game,” said Phelps. “We went on a couple runs—we just had trouble sustaining them.”
The Polar Bears did not have the success on the perimeter they enjoyed against Tufts and Connecticut College, only making 5 of 14 from behind the arc. Uncharacteristically, Bowdoin also struggled at the foul line, only sinking 6 of 14 free throw attempts.
With around eight minutes remaining in the half the Polar Bears narrowed the gap to five points. The Lady Jeffs responded with a 10-2 run, giving them a 32 to 19 lead at half time.
“It could’ve been a bigger momentum shift going into half time but we let up a bit,” said Phelps.
In the second half, Bowdoin came out stronger offensively but was unable to make the needed defensive adjustments to stop Amherst from scoring.
“We were finally executing our offensive sets and moving the ball well as a team, making good passes and the right choices,” said Shibles. “But then we’d go down to the other end and give up a basket. The trading of baskets wasn’t giving us that push that we needed.”
On the defensive end, the Polar Bears tried to switch up strategies in order to keep Amherst on its toes.
“We struggled with our team defensive concepts, knowing and sticking to the game plan defensively,” said Shibles. “I don’t think that we were able to effectively make those transitions when we did change things up. At one point, I wanted them to press and we weren’t mentally prepared to get in the press after we made our basket.”
The Lady Jeffs’ win in LeFrak Gymnasium extends Amherst’s home winning streak to 78 games. Amherst’s record is not a point of intimidation, but rather a motivating annoyance for the Polar Bears, according to Phelps.
“LeFrak sucks because we haven’t won there yet in my career,” she said. “Bowdoin was the last team to beat them in their gym—we can do it again.”
The Polar Bears, however, will now have to wait until next season.
“I don’t think about the rivalry,” said Shibles. “I’m proud of this team and what we’ve accomplished this year and how we’ve improved over the course of the season. I really wanted that win for this group for how hard they’ve worked and for Kaitlin and her senior year.”