It's championship time in Brunswick as the Polar Bears host the conference semifinals and finals this weekend and look to defend their No. 1 seed in women's basketball. Bowdoin will play Trinity tomorrow at 2 p.m., while the other semifinal will feature Amherst and Tufts later in the day.
"It is a big advantage to be at home and we are very proud of what we've done to get here," said senior tri-captain Maria Noucas. "We've faced a lot of adversity this season, and I think hosting this tournament is just a reward for how hard we've worked all year."
No. 4-seeded Trinity will come to town looking to avenge their earlier loss to Bowdoin. The Polar Bears crushed the Bantams 62-44 in Hartford at the end of January but nevertheless, Bowdoin won't be taking them lightly.
"Trinity just has a ton of energy," Noucas said. "They picked up their first-ever NESCAC tournament win last weekend, so they are hungry to keep this roll going."
The Polar Bears know that they'll have to work hard on both offense and defense to secure the tournament win.
"We really have to contain their guards," Coach Adrienne Shibles said. "They are very quick and they can all shoot. We have to get out to them on the perimeter but also take away their penetration to the basket. Offensively, we need to run the ball and focus on ball movement. Again the boards will be critical in the outcome of the game."
To advance to the NESCAC semifinals, the Polar Bears had to beat Williams at home on Saturday. Bowdoin never trailed in an 85-52 victory and out-rebounded the Ephs 58-34.
"We executed our game plan really well [against Williams]," Noucas said. "We knew we needed to stop Williams on the boards because one of their best guards was a great rebounder and we stopped her."
"We shot very well inside and out and our posts made great passes as well. I think we just kept Williams guessing," Noucas added.
The win was truly a full-team affair, as every active Polar Bear scored. Bowdoin dominated the game from the first whistle, led by first year Jill Henrikson's 15 points. Junior Leah Rubega scored 12 points and added seven rebounds, while Noucas chipped in 11 points, nine assists and three steals without a single turnover from the point.
"Everyone contributed and played well," said Shibles. "I thought we played well together as a team and it was nice to see everyone get in and play quality minutes."
The Polar Bears dominated the boards. The team out-rebounded Williams 28-13 on the offensive end and scored 32 second-chance points in the contest.
"I think we've known going in to most games that we're undersized compared to the competition," Shibles said. "We work super hard on being really active on the defensive and offensive boards. We were exceptional at both ends but especially on the offensive end."
As for the their potential opponents for the final, the Bears had quite different outcomes against them earlier in the season.
Earlier in the season, the Bears handed Amherst (24-1, 8-1) its only loss of the season and sparked the Polar Bears on their playoff run, while a win over Tufts (21-3, 7-2) would be revenge for Bowdoin's only conference loss this season.
"We definitely realize the magnitude of the weekend," Noucas said. "We just need to focus on every opponent and what they will do against us while also fine-tuning our own game. We need to keep rebounding and running and we need to keep our confidence up."