The women's basketball team sits at a crossroads in its season, right in the middle of the most important four-game stretch of its schedule.
Certainly the NESCAC tournament will ultimately crown the conference champion, but this weekend the Polar Bears (14-4, 2-1 NESCAC) can begin to stake their claim for the honor. The team has crucial road games against Amherst (18-0, 3-0) tonight and Trinity (14-2, 2-1) tomorrow night, and two wins would prove the team's mettle to anyone.
"We expect to beat every team we play if we bring our game and if we bring our focus and intensity," said senior tri-captain Maria Noucas. "We believe that we are a good team, and that's what matters going into every single game: the confidence and belief to play great basketball for 40 minutes."
Bowdoin's critical four-game stretch started tumultuously last weekend, as the Polar Bears scored both a huge win and a devastating loss at home against NESCAC rivals.
Last Friday, Bowdoin crushed rival Bates, 84-53, and started off with two wins in NESCAC play. Bowdoin shot 50 percent in the first half to take a commanding lead, and it outrebounded Bates 51-25 in the game.
Noucas called the game against Bates "probably our best 40 minutes of the season against a top team in the conference," and added that it was a "great team game. Really just everyone contributed to a huge revenge game for us and a great win."
The Bobcats had previously beaten the Polar Bears in a non-conference showdown in Lewiston, 64-59, on January 8.
The Polar Bears were sparked by junior forward Leah Rubega's return to court for her first game since December 11 due to injury. Rubega finished with 19 points on 9-15 shooting, and 10 rebounds, seven of which were on the offensive glass.
Last Saturday, Bowdoin dropped a hard-fought game to Tufts, 67-56. After a 19-1 Jumbos run in the first half, the Polar Bears battled back to tie the score at 28 at halftime.
The final minutes of the game, however, belonged to Tufts as the Jumbos outscored Bowdoin 18-7 over the final six minutes to insure the win.
Senior tri-captain Alexa Kaubris finished with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds for the Polar Bears.
Sophomore Katie Bergeron chipped in 13 of her own and really stepped up over the weekend, according to Noucas.
"Katie Bergeron had a great weekend for us and is becoming our go-to scorer," Noucas said. "She's a great all-around player and is starting to do some good things for us defensively."
The Polar Bears play at Amherst tonight against the conference's top team, but Head Coach Adrienne Shibles believes that the team is ready for the challenge.
"We are all really excited," Shibles said. "And the women are approaching the game in the prefect way. They're excited and really focused. We all see this as a great opportunity to show what we're made of."
"[Amherst is] young and well-coached," Noucas said. "We just have to play our game in their gym—we know what we have to do to win. They are physical, run, and rebound well, but we do all of those things, too, when we play well. I think it's going to be a really good, close game."
Tomorrow at Trinity, the Polar Bears will look to steal a conference win on the road to keep pace with the NESCAC's top teams.
"Our conference is so competitive and we bring a game that not a lot of other teams in the conference play, with our full court defense and transition game," said Noucas. "We love our conference because every game is huge. But really, it's what we do that matters and if we bring what we can, then we'll be fine."
"We have all of the tools we need, we have great talent," Shibles added. "The Bates game was a good example of what we can do as a program. We just have to focus on one game at a time, enjoying the moments and staying loose."