After a stellar weekend in which the women's basketball team notched two of its biggest wins of the season, the team will look to continue its winning ways in home games tonight and tomorrow.
The Polar Bears (16-4, 4-1 NESCAC) handed Amherst its first loss of the season in a 63-61 victory last Friday. The then No. 4-ranked Lord Jeffs had been 18-0 before junior forward Leah Rubega's buzzer-beating lay-up downed Amherst.
The teams traded baskets throughout the exciting game, though the Polar Bears held a 36-32 lead at half time. Bowdoin extended its lead to as much as nine points in the second half, but Amherst tied the game with under two minutes left and eventually took the lead.
A pair of tri-captain Alexa Kaubris '09 free throws tied the game at 61 with 36 seconds to play, giving Amherst time for the last possession. The Polar Bears, however, forced a Lord Jeffs turnover and called a time-out with 10 seconds left in the game. After in-bounding the ball, senior tri-captain Maria Noucas brought the ball up-court and prepared to take the final shot. At the last second, Noucas rifled a pass to Rubega under the hoop, enabling her to make the winning layup with a defender at her back.
"It was all kind of a blur," Rubega said. "Maria and I just made eye contact at the last second and she threw a bullet of a pass. The ball seemed to take forever to fall in. We played a solid game all the way up to the end that put us in position to win with a final shot. It felt great to be Amherst's first loss all season."
Noucas was proud of her team.
"It shows that if we go out and play hard for 40 minutes, then we are going to be in it in the end," Noucas said.
The Polar Bears followed up their victory against Amherst with another road conference win at Trinity, 62-44. The game was never really in doubt, as Bowdoin made its first nine shots from the field and held the Bantams to just six field goals in the first half and 28 percent shooting in the game. Rubega paced the team with 18 points and nine rebounds in the Polar Bear win.
"[Rubega] is just an awesome rebounder and has a great sense of where the hoop is when she shoots," said Noucas. "It's fun to play with her because you always trust the ball in her hands that she is going to make good decisions. She just battles and it's really inspiring."
First year Jill Henrikson was named the Maine Women's Basketball Coaches Association Rookie of the Week for her efforts against Amherst and Trinity. Henrikson finished with 16 points and eight rebounds against Amherst and 12 points and four assists against Trinity.
Henrikson said she wasn't fazed by the pressure of playing two good NESCAC teams away from home.
"I just go out and play every game to the best of my ability no matter what team it is," she said. "Our team has great chemistry, everyone gets along, and all of the players are great friends. They are going to be cheering loud no matter if it is a first year or senior in the game."
Bowdoin has won six of its last seven games. This weekend, the Polar Bears will look to continue their hot streak at home against Middlebury at 7 p.m. tonight and Williams at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
It seems the team is peaking at the right time, just before the playoffs.
"We just have to stay focused on each individual game and practice," said Noucas. "We have put ourselves in great position coming into the next two weekends. Now, we just have to finish."