Every weekend is a big weekend for Bowdoin Women's Basketball. But this weekend is really big.
The Polar Bears head to Connecticut for a pair of NESCAC showdowns to end the regular season. Wins at Wesleyan (3-4 NESCAC) tonight and at Connecticut College (0-7 NESCAC) tomorrow afternoon would net Bowdoin the honor of home games throughout the conference tournament.
"The games this weekend are huge," said senior tri-captain Alexa Kaubris. "We would love to be able to host [the conference tournament in] our last year. Our fans are so great that it just feels good being home."
Wins in both games would beat Amherst to earn the Bears the top spot in the conference. However, the matchups are always-difficult back-to-back conference games on the road.
"We are going to have to play our guts out in both games," Kaubris said. "Both teams are going to be gunning for us, and we have to hold on to the top spot. We're going to have to key in on their top players and really shut them down."
As always, defense will take top priority for the Polar Bears.
"To win this weekend, we have to play great defense against Wesleyan on Friday night," said senior tri-captain Maria Noucas. "Their record does not show how good they are at all. Ali Fourney is one of the best players in the conference and Lucy Sprung is a tremendous rebounder. If we can pressure them defensively and get out and run, then we'll be great."
The Polar Bears are already guaranteed to host at least one playoff game. The top four seeds each host a game in the quarterfinals, which begin on February 21.
The highest remaining seed hosts the semifinals and finals on the weekend of February 28 and March 1.
To put themselves in position to take the conference pole, the Polar Bears notched two NESCAC wins at home last weekend. On Friday, the team beat Middlebury 76-50, and on Saturday, the team scored an emotional Senior Day win by clobbering Williams 91-58 in front of a raucous crowd.
Sophomore guard Katie Bergeron led the Polar Bears to the win over Williams with a school record-tying six three-pointers while team defense sparked the Middlebury victory. Bowdoin scored 33 points off 23 Panther turnovers in the game.
Senior Day was an emotional day for the team's three seniors: Noucas, Kaubris and Jill Anelauskas, who are all captains and have had stellar four-year careers. Bowdoin's own "Big Three" has led the Polar Bears to a pair of NESCAC titles, three NCAA tournament appearances and an overall record of 93-18 in their career.
"Our class is very close and so it was nice to be out there together with our parents and to win such a big game [over Williams]," Noucas said. "The three of us have been through a lot together and it was just a nice day to celebrate a great four years."
Anelauskas, one of the top scorers in Bowdoin women's basketball history who eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark early in the season before suffering a devastating knee injury that ended her season, even saw some court time on Senior Day. Needless to say, it was one of the most touching moments of the day.
"It was certainly a day that I will never forget—the underclassmen and coaches did such an amazing job making the day special for us," Anelauskas said. "For me, personally, it put a lot of things in perspective. Not only did I realize how much I am going to miss my teammates, who are my best friends, but it also brought to the front of my mind the fact that my career is over and that it was cut short by a year... I love basketball so much and have so much pride in this program."