ITHACA, N.Y. - Ellery Gould hit the go-ahead bucket with 34 seconds remaining to propel the Bowdoin College women's basketball team to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament in a 55-51 win at Ithaca College on Saturday evening.
Jill Henrikson scored 18 points and Gould finished with 11 for the Polar Bears (21-7), who return to the "Sweet Sixteen" for the third consecutive year and 10th time in the last 12 seasons. Bowdoin will face the winner of Lewis & Clark and George Fox at a site to be determined next Friday. Ithaca ends its season with a record of 24-5.
Both team struggled from the field in the early going, and despite the Bombers missing 18 of their first 19 shots, the Polar Bears could not increase their lead to more than six in the opening half. The Polar Bears held Ithaca without a basket for 11:33 but scored just 10 points of their own in that span.
Ithaca rallied to take a 14-13 lead with 4:21 to go in the half on a jumper by sophomore guard Mary Kate Tierney. The rest of the half saw three more lead changes as Bowdoin took a 22-20 edge into intermission.
Both squads found their footing in the second half and the teams traded blows until a three-point play by Tierney gave the Bombers their biggest lead (42-38) with 6:36 remaining. But Henrikson scored seven straight points for the Polar Bears, including her lone three-pointer of the game, to draw her team even at 45-45 with 4:46 to go.
Bowdoin appeared to have the game put away after a 6-0 run, keyed by an Alexa Barry three-point play, gave them a 51-45 edge with 2:27 remaining. But the Bombers rallied with a 6-0 run of their own highlighted by a Jenn Escobido jumper and tied the game for the tenth time, 51-51, with just 45 seconds remaining.
Henrikson drove the baseline for a running lay-in that came to the waiting hands of Gould on the weak side of the rim. Gould put the second chance to good use by rattling home the put-back with 34 ticks left to give Bowdoin a 53-51 edge. Devin Shea missed a jumper on the other end for Ithaca and Gould grabbed another clutch board. The senior sealed the win with a pair of free throws with under 15 seconds left.
Bowdoin was out-rebounded 43-31 and surrendered 16 offensive rebounds to Ithaca, but held the Bombers to just 33.9 shooting for the game. The Polar Bears connected on just 37.5% from the field, but nailed 16 of 18 free throws.
Henrikson hit 9 of 11 from the charity stripe for her game-high 18 points to go with three assists and three steals. Gould had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Allie Piscina pitched in nine points off the bench for Bowdoin. Shea led Ithaca with 14 points. Kathryn Campbell had 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Bombers.
Bowdoin improves to 3-0 all-time against Ithaca. This was the team's first meeting in NCAA Tournament play.
The NCAA will announce Sectional Sites on Sunday. In addition to the Lewis & Clark-George Fox winner, Bowdoin's regional will also include Mary Washington and Lebanon Valley.