The Bowdoin Women's Basketball Team started the season on a high note, winning its first five games.
Bowdoin (5-0) was ranked second in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, but thanks to the Polar Bears' hot start, they have now moved up to the No. 1 spot in the latest national poll.
On Tuesday night, Bowdoin won a tough early season test against a third-ranked University of Southern Maine (USM) squad. The Polar Bears beat USM 65-40 at home in part due to extraordinary play by the Bowdoin front court.
Senior tri-captain Eileen Flaherty scored 15 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to aid the Bowdoin effort. Sophomore forward Jill Anelauskas also netted 15 points to go with her eight rebounds.
Anelauskas played hard-nosed defense on star USM forward Ashley Marble, limiting her to just five points, senior tri-captain Julia Loonin said.
"We did lose to USM twice last year, which was really painful," Flaherty said. "I think before Tuesday's game there might have been a little bit of the 'payback' concept in our heads, but really, it was just another game in this new season that we wanted to win."
USM beat Bowdoin in the Elite Eight of last year's Division III tournament and eventually went on to the title game. USM returns 10 players this season and provided the Polar Bears a tough early-season matchup.
"[USM] was a tough game, and we still have a lot of room to learn and grow," Loonin said. "I think if we play again later in the season you will see two very different teams. The bottom line is, people did what they had to do and got the job done."
To start the season, Bowdoin ripped off two straight wins over Smith College and the University of New England. The team then traveled to Wayne, New Jersey, to play in the Red Hawk/Pioneer Classic. The Polar Bears won the tournament, and Flaherty took the tournament MVP trophy, with wins over William Paterson and Montclair State.
Flaherty also won NESCAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the fourth time in her storied Bowdoin career. She averaged 20 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game in the three Bowdoin wins last week. Flaherty is only 300 points away from the program's all-time scoring leader, Laura Schultz '96.
The Polar Bears play host to Rensselaer (0-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. and look to run their current home win streak to 73 straight games. The streak is already the longest current streak in any division, and the third-longest streak in NCAA Division III women's basketball history.