#2 BOWDOIN PULLS AWAY FROM TUFTS FOR 62-48 VICTORY
COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Bowdoin 62 Tufts 48
At Brunswick, ME
Saturday, January 15, 2005
BRUNSWICK, Me. - The Bowdoin College women's basketball team used a 21-4 second-half run to open up a 22-point edge and cruise down the stretch of a 62-48 victory over visiting Tufts on Saturday. The second-ranked Polar Bears (12-1, 2-0 NESCAC) extend their home winning streak to 49 consecutive games and will look to regain the number one spot in the D3Hoops.com poll after top-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh was defeated earlier this week. The Jumbos have lost three straight contests and fall to 8-4 (0-2 NESCAC) on the year.
A pair of three-pointers from Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY) and Erin Connolly (Syosset, NY) gave the Jumbos an early 6-2 edge just moments into the contest. Bowdoin answered with a 10-0 spurt, keyed by strong inside play from forwards Eileen Flaherty and Justine Pouravelis, who combined to score eight points during the run, giving the Polar Bears a 12-6 edge.
Tufts closed the lead to a single point when sophomore Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) hit a trifecta to make it 12-11 Bowdoin with 11:30 remaining the opening stanza, but that would prove to be as close as the Jumbos would get. The Polar Bear defense clamped down on a 15-2 run, keyed by Erika Nickerson's five points and three-pointers from Marisa Berne and Ashleigh Watson to give Bowdoin a 27-13 lead.
Bowdoin would lead by nine at intermission, and when a pair of free throws from Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA) cut the Polar Bear lead to five points with 17:54 left, the Polar Bears started their decisive run. A pair of free throws from Eileen Flaherty were followed by a jumper from Vanessa Russell. After Flaherty hit a spinning lay-up, Berne connected on another trifecta and Nickerson hit a bucket to give Bowdoin a 44-28 edge. After Tufts' Allison Love (Duxbury, MA) halted the run by hitting a baseline jumper, Flaherty and Ashleigh Watson scored five apiece in a quick 10-0 spurt that put the game out of reach at 54-32.
Flaherty scored 17 points and had five boards, while Erika Nickerson posted 13 and nine for the Polar Bears. Berne had nine points on a trio of three-pointers, making her 8 for 11 from three-point range in her last two games. Powers scored a team-high 16 points for Tufts, who also got 10 points from Jasinski.
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