Bowdoin, USM playoff hosts

Bowdoin College and the University of Southern Maine are positioned at opposite ends on one side of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship bracket.

That means the Polar Bears of Brunswick, top-ranked in last week’s D3hoops.com poll, and the No. 8 Huskies of Gorham could meet March 16 in the Final Four at Springfield, Mass.

Bowdoin and USM on Monday were awarded home sites for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament to be held Friday and Saturday.

Those two programs, which for have achieved conference and regional dominance and challenged for national supremacy, again set the tone for a contingent of four Maine colleges that have qualified.

The University of Maine-Farmington makes its second straight trip to the NCAAs, while Maine Maritime Academy of Castine is in the field for the third consecutive season.

Beavers coach Jamie Beaudoin said Monday wasn’t a very productive day at practice.

“It was a giddy day,” he chuckled. “There were a million questions: ‘Where are we playing? What time is the game? How do we get tickets? Does the hotel have a pool?'”

Bowdoin (26-1), champion of the New England Small College Athletic Conference, is making its seventh straight appearance in the Division III tournament, which is made up of 63 teams.

Coach Stefanie Pemper’s team hosts 21-7 Mount Holyoke College (Mass.) Friday at 8 p.m. in Merrill Gym.

Friday’s 5 p.m. opener in Brunswick pits North Atlantic Conference runner-up MMA (25-3) against Keene State (21-6) of Keene, N.H., the runner-up in the Little East Conference. Both received at-large berths.

Friday’s winners square off Saturday at 5 p.m. for the right to play in the Sectionals, slated March 9-10 at campus sites.

Coach Craig Dagan’s Mariners, ranked 23rd, also earned an at-large bid last season.

“We did enough prior to [the NAC tournament] to get ourselves in,” said Dagan, whose team knocked off Bowdoin and also beat Keene State this season. “I think we’re starting to get a lot of respect, two years in a row getting an at-large bid.”

Southern Maine is gearing up for its 13th consecutive NCAA tourney and its 21st in the last 22 years. Coach Gary Fifield’s Huskies (25-2) will play in the friendly confines of Hill Gymnasium for Friday’s 8 p.m. first-round game against Williams (20-6) of Williamstown, Mass.

The winners meet Saturday at 7 p.m.

USM earned an automatic bid by capturing another Little East Conference championship, while the Ephs advanced out of the NESCAC after losing to Bowdoin on Saturday in the league semifinals.

UM-Farmington heads out of state for its first-round game. Beaudoin’s No. 24 Beavers (25-3) take on Brandeis University (19-5) of Waltham, Mass., in Friday’s 5:30 p.m. game at Emmanuel College in Boston.

UMF successfully defended its NAC title last weekend, beating MMA for the third time this season. The Judges, who play in the University Athletic Association, were ranked 15th.

Should the Beavers win, they would play the winner of the game between host Emmanuel (27-1) and Salve Regina (22-6) Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re being successful with Maine players. I think it’s a great experience for girls playing [college] basketball in the state of Maine,” Beaudoin said.