Box Score Brunswick, ME- The third seeded Bowdoin College Polar Bears ended the 2015-16 season of sixth seeded Williams College in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament by a score of 73-50. Bowdoin (20-5/ 8-2 NESCAC) used a balanced and efficient offensive attack that featured four players that scored in double figures. Those four included senior Shannon Brady and sophomore Lauren Petit, who each notched 16 points to lead the Polar Bears. They will move on to face nationally ranked Amherst College in the NESCAC semifinals. Williams (17-8/ 5-5 NESCAC) was led by junior Lauren McCall who went 6-8 from three point land as part of her 22 points in a season high scoring performance. McCall was one of the only bright spots in a lackluster game for the Ephs, who could not establish themselves on either end of the court. The absence of senior captain Katie Litman, out with an ankle injury, was one a big reason why Williams lost their final three games of the season, outscored during that stretch by an average of 20 points.
The first quarter was a continuation of the offensive struggles that Williams has been experiencing over their past three games. The lack of offensive flow allowed Bowdoin to jump out to an early 18-9 lead after the first ten minutes, a concerning replay of the regular season matchup between the two teams in which Bowdoin dominated the first quarter en route to a convincing win over the Ephs. Williams leaned heavily on their two leading scorers, sophomore Amanni Fernandez and junior Devon Caveney, who combined for ten of the Ephs' first fourteen shots. Despite the high shot rate, the duo failed to find the bottom of the net at an efficient rate, each just shooting 2-11 from the field in the ball game. Brady and Kate Kerrigan led the way for the Polar Bears in the first, scoring eleven points between the two of them.
Bowdoin stretched their lead immediately in the second quarter with back to back three pointers from Petit and Kerrigan that opened up a double digit lead. The Bowdoin lead had climbed all the way to sixteen before Lauren McCall began the work to cut into that deficit. McCall hit two threes as part of her eight points in the second quarter that put Williams within ten before senior Oge Uwanaka cut it to eight with a layup. While the Williams offense began to find some rhythm and balance, their defense could not slow down the Polar Bears on the other end, as they continued to find good looks inside and out. Another three from Petit and a layup from Brady was the response that Bowdoin needed to extend their lead back to 15 before Eph sophomore Kristen Fechtelkotter cut it to 12 with a layup right before the halftime buzzer.
It was a game of back and forth runs in the third quarter, with Williams ultimately gaining three points on the Polar Bears by the end of the period. Williams played the entire third quarter from behind though made moves to put themselves back in the ball game, trimming the lead down to as little as six. Unfortunately for the Ephs, whenever they started to work their way back into the game, Bowdoin came up with a response. Right after Williams came within six points, two players hit three pointers to get Bowdoin rolling back to a fifteen point lead. McCall continued her hot shooting, connecting on three three pointers in the quarter.
Bowdoin slammed the door shut on Williams in the fourth quarter, dominating the final period by a score of 18-4 that capped off their 23 point victory. Brady finished her effort with six points in the quarter while Williams was held scoreless for the first seven minutes of the fourth before McCall hit her sixth and final three of the game.
Williams head coach Pat Manning was proud of her team's effort despite the tough loss, saying, "I think that the score doesn't reflect how competitive this game was or exactly how we played. I thought we played well on defense, Bowdoin was just able to come up with big shots late in the shot clock when they needed it." The game marked the end of the college careers of Katie Litman and Oge Uwanaka, who according to their coach, played their best basketball in their final season. Manning said, "I really want to congratulate Oge and Katie on their work for four great seasons. They had more double doubles this year than any other year combined, including one today from Oge, just a great way for her to finish up her career."
