BRUNSWICK — Bowdoin College used its size and speed to its advantage Friday night, running away with a 75-49 win against Westfield State in the first round of the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament at Morrell Gymnasium.
The Polar Bears (21-6) will play New York University (19-7) at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16. NYU came from behind to pull out a 70-63 win over Lehman.
Bowdoin overwhelmed the Owls, who were making their fifth NCAA tournament appearance after winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship.
“They’re definitely bigger than teams that we played (against) all year,” Westfield State center Forbasaw Nkamebo said. “Everyone’s big and we’re a small team.”
The Polar Bears held a 63-44 edge in rebounding, which is normally a strength of the Owls.
Bowdoin opened the first quarter with a 9-2 run and ended it with nine straight points to take a 20-7 lead. Shannon Brady, the co-player of the year in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, scored 10 of her 18 points in the first eight minutes, all in close proximity to the basket.
“We knew we were going to get a lot of fast-break points, and a power offense right into the blocks has always been one of our strengths,” Brady said. “The guards did a great job of looking to me inside, and we got a lot of easy shots.”
While subbing for Baker in the second quarter, Emily Campbell, a 6-foot junior from York, scored six of her 10 points to help the Bears increase their lead to 36-13.
The Owls (20-8) hit just 6 of 35 shots in the first half, going 1 for 15 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“We struggled just shooting the ball, even layups,” Westfield State Coach Andrea Bertini said. “We weren’t hitting shots that we normally make.
“You can’t be in transition that much of the game without some made baskets.”
The Polar Bears held Westfield State more than 40 points under its season average of 89.7 points – third best in NCAA Division III.
“When you are small as we are, and you’re trying to drive and kick (out) and they’re covering the passing lanes with their length, it’s hard to get those kick-out passes through,” Bertini said.
Bowdoin committed 21 turnovers, but that was still less than the average of 32 turnovers per game caused by Westfield State.
“In general, we stay composed,” Brady said. “We knew there would be some turnovers because it was a different system, but we didn’t let that rattle us at all.”
The Polar Bears prepared well for the Owls’ full-court pressure defense.
“All week in practice we worked on breaking that press,” Brady said. “We even put six people on defense instead of five just to work on passing the ball under that pressure.”
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