Courtesy of Brian Beard

Last Saturday, the women’s basketball team (18–0; 4–0 NESCAC) had a season-defining victory over Colby College (9–8; 3–1 NESCAC) to secure its fourth conference win with a final score of 61–56. The Polar Bears never trailed against the Mules, securing their seventeenth win of the season and preserving their perfect record. The Polar Bears have won their last six meetings with the Mules, including a non-conference victory earlier in the season in which the College outscored the Mules  61–52.

Abbie Quinn ’27 led the scoring with 16 points, followed by captain Sydney Jones ’25 and Grace Kinum ’28, who added 15 and 13 points respectively. Quinn contributed on defense as well, with seven rebounds and four steals. Seven other Polar Bears were also on the scoresheet.

The margin remained razor thin throughout the first quarter with the College leading 18–16 by the end. Despite Bowdoin’s constant lead, the Mules were never far behind. With a 32–27 lead at the break, the team closed out the game with a solid second half despite the Polar Bears being outscored in the final quarter 14–12.

By going undefeated so far in both the regular season and the NESCAC, the players have gained confidence from their series of successes. However, according to captain Callie Godfrey ’24, the team is focused on remaining humble and improving in each game.

“It gives us a lot of confidence. It’s really nice to feel like the work we’ve put in is paying off and seeing those results. Our mentality is, ‘We’re a really good basketball team, and we know that, but also we’re gonna play a lot of good teams.’ We focus on us and what we’re doing and the other teams don’t really matter,” Godfrey said.

After tacking on another  conference  victory against Bates College (10–8; 0–4 NESCAC) the previous week, the team acknowledged the importance and excitement that comes with playing conference  games, especially against rivals such as Colby and Bates.

“We’re always very excited to play the other Maine teams. We always want to beat them,” Godfrey said.

Both Colby and Bowdoin were undefeated in the NESCAC heading into Saturday’s matchup.

“[We] want to be that team coming out undefeated, and putting them in a losing streak going into this weekend was a huge motivator for us,” Quinn said.

The team has credited a focus on continual improvement and a supportive environment for  its successes thus far. This approach has seemed to pay off with the Polar Bears collecting decisive wins week after week.

“I think our team dynamic is one of a kind. We truly love each other like a family, and I think we all want to see each other succeed. It’s such a fun environment to be a part of,” Kinum said.

In terms of tactics, the Polar Bears have worked to create more attacking opportunities with an already solid defensive foundation that relies on trust between players.

“We’ve played good team defense, so even if you get beat, your teammate has your back and will help you out. We play our best basketball when we play team basketball,” Kinum said.

“We have, this year, had a lot of intention on getting offensive rebounds, which gives us second chance points,” Godfrey said.  “And right now, we’ve been working on execution, but I think the fact that anybody who goes in the game is an offensive threat really makes us hard to guard.”

Furthermore, both the flexibility and the skill level of the team make playing successful games easy.

“I think what’s nice is we have a lot of depth on our team. We have a lot of really good guards and really good posts, so that allows us to have an inside-out game,” Godfrey said.

Going into Tuesday’s game against Maine Maritime Academy (16–4), the team reiterated the importance of positive team culture and defensive solidity.

“I hope we are able to put all of our pieces together on defense and offense, and that for 40 minutes we play intense, focused basketball. And that doesn’t necessarily mean, we don’t make mistakes, but just that we’re able to bounce back and limit their runs and keep our runs going,”  Godfrey said.

The team beat Maine Maritime Academy 77–55 and now looks towards a busy weekend of NESCAC play at Hamilton College (13–5; 2–2 NESCAC) today at 7 p.m. and against Amherst College (14–4; 2–2 NESCAC) tomorrow at 3 p.m.

“We have two games this weekend and hope that we can put our energy into each of these games and still succeed,” Kinum said.  “The Colby game is behind us and we’re gonna keep going, keep improving.”