Though the women's basketball team goes into the NESCAC playoffs this weekend as the top seed, the Polar Bears still have their work cut out for them in a quarterfinal match against Williams tomorrow afternoon.
"We're going to have to play hard for 40 minutes," said senior tri-captain Alexa Kaubris. "This is the time of year if you're not playing your absolute guts out, someone will steal a win from you and you're done. We can't take anything for granted and we can't dwell on our last game against them. Everyone is going to be looking to knock us off, so we're going to have to want it more than them."
After crushing Williams earlier in the regular season, the team has stressed focus during the playoffs.
"I think we just need to realize the magnitude of the game and realize that this could potentially be Williams' last game of the season," said senior tri-captain Maria Noucas. "They are going to give absolutely everything."
The Williams Ephs (8-16, 3-6 NESCAC) come to town as the No. 8 seed in the conference playoffs looking for a monumental upset at No. 1 Bowdoin (23-1, 8-1). Williams will look to senior tri-captain Mika Peterson to spark the offense and junior Taylor Shea is always a threat to score.
Two weeks ago, in the team's only meeting of the regular season, Katie Bergeron '11 led the Polar Bears to a resounding 91-58 win at home over the Ephs. Bergeron tied the school record with six three-pointers.
"Their best player is a senior who has had a fantastic career," Noucas said. "So she is going to want to go out with an upset of Bowdoin. That being said, I think we feel great going into the game. We love playing Williams and we love beating them. We won't look past them because at this point in the season, every game is incredibly important."
Last weekend, the Polar Bears insured their spot at the top of the conference with two wins on the road. On Friday, Bowdoin beat Wesleyan 63-52 and also beat Connecticut College 76-59 on Saturday.
"We just have so many weapons," Noucas said. "It's very telling that we haven't had a NESCAC Player of the Week yet, but still finished first in the regular season in conference. Any one of us can come at you on any given night."
Leah Rubega '10 paced Bowdoin in the win over Wesleyan, with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The Polar Bears finished with a 10-2 run in the game's final minutes to notch their sixth-straight victory.
First year guard Jill Henrikson led Bowdoin with 19 points in Friday's win over Connecticut College. With under 10 minutes left in the game, the teams were tied at 41 points. But the Polar Bears ripped off a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to pull away from the Camels, and finished 5-6 at the foul line in the final minute to insure the win.
"We've been on a roll lately not because we've been playing perfect basketball, but because we're playing as a team," Kaubris said. "We've been playing so hard each day in practice and pushing each other to be better."
The Polar Bears finished the regular season in the strongest fashion possible, and will look to win the NESCAC championship, their eighth in nine years, on their home court.
"I think everyone is just playing solid right now," said Noucas. "We're focused on the goal at hand and we're just really ready. It's a very exciting time of year for us."
Bowdoin's quarterfinal against Williams is at home tomorrow at 3 p.m.