Unbeaten Bowdoin Polar Bears march into 1st NCAA Div. III Final Four

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BRUNSWICK – The Bowdoin College women’s basketball team defeated Scranton University 71-58 on Saturday, qualifying for the school’s first-ever NCAA Division III Final Four.

The top-ranked Polar Bears (29-0) are the lone unbeaten team in Division III basketball and will play in the national semifinals Friday against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Scranton ended its season at 27-3.

Things looked good for the Lady Royals of Scranton in the early going, as the visitors scored the first nine points of the game to take control against the Polar Bears, who came out sluggish after their emotional victory against No. 2-ranked Southern Maine on Friday.

Tara Gemmel hit a jump shot to open the contest and Eileen Webster followed with a hoop. Gemmel buried a 3-pointer and Webster connected on another bucket to give the Royals a 9-0 edge.

But Bowdoin answered with a quick 10-2 run, culminating with consecutive layups from Old Orchard Beach’s Justine Pouravelis, Vanessa Russell and Eileen Flaherty to close the Scranton lead to 11-10.

Bowdoin took its first lead of the game at 11:51 of the first half when Erika Nickerson hit a spinning layup. Nickerson proved to be the story for the Polar Bears, coming off the bench and scoring 15 points and eight rebounds. Nickerson connected on another low-post move late in the half as Bowdoin entered intermission leading 27-25.

A 14-5 Bowdoin run early in the second half put Bowdoin up by double figures midway through the period. A Lora Trenkle basket and foul shot gave the Polar Bears a 45-34 lead with 12 minutes left in the contest.

The Royals cut the Bowdoin lead to six points on three occasions, but could get no closer as the Polar Bears scored more than 70 points for the first time since their regular season finale against Colby on Valentine’s Day.

Bowdoin would lead by as many as 15 in the second half, cruising to victory. The game closed with a block from Pouravelis (the school’s all-time leading shot blocker) and Vanessa Russell dribbling out the clock for the victorious Polar Bears.

Bowdoin extends the nation’s longest winning streak to 29 games and improves its nation-best home winning-streak to 44 straight games. The Polar Bears have not lost in front of a Morrell Gymnasium crowd since February 2001.

Bowdoin was led by Flaherty, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Nickerson grabbed eight boards to go with her 15 points. Surry’s Trenkle had 13 points and five assists in her final home game, while Bangor High graduate Alison Smith had 14 points and eight rebounds. Scranton was paced by 17 points from Gemmel and 15 from Taryn Mellody.

Bowdoin outrebounded Scranton 39-29 and hit for 51.9 percent from the field.

Tickets for the Final Four at Virginia Wesleyan in Norfolk, Va., will be available at the Bowdoin athletics office on Monday at 1 p.m.

POLAR BEARS 71, LADY ROYALS 58

Scranton (27-3) Bowdoin (29-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Mellody 6 17 1 3 15 Pouravelis 1 6

Dougherty 2 7 0 0 4 Russell 2 6 4

Pierangeli 1 8 0 0 3 Trenkle 4 7 13

Gemmel 6 14 3 4 17 Flaherty 7 15 3 3 17

Webster 3 3 0 0 6 Smith 6 10 14

Lewandowski 1 2 0 3 2 Withey 1 1 2

Flounders 0 0 0 0 0 Bramwell 0 0

Matt 1 3 0 0 2 Fugate 0 1 0 0

Kane 4 5 1 2 9 Nickerson 7 10 15

Totals 24 59 5 12 58 Totals 28 54 14 18 71

Scranton 25 58

Bowdoin 27 71

3-pt. goals ? Scranton (5-21): Gemmel 2-5, Mellody 2-8, Pierangeli 1-4, Matt 0-1, Dougherty 0-3; Bowdoin (1-7): Trenkle 1-2, Fugate 0-1, Russell 0-2, Smith 0-2

Attendance: 1,800