WILLIAMSTOWN, MA—Fighting off a fierce Williams transition attack and an energized Chandler Gym crowd, the No. 25 Bowdoin women's basketball team pulled away late to earn a 59-50 victory over No. 17 Williams on Friday evening. The win was the Polar Bears' (14-2, 3-0 NESCAC) first in Williamstown since 2008.

For the first time all season, not a single player scored in double figures for the Ephs (13-3, 1-2 NESCAC); Devon Caveney led the team with nine points. Three Bowdoin players managed the feat, thanks to the trio of Sara Brinkhorst, who led all scorers with 18 points, Shannon Brady (16 points, nine rebounds) and Marla Curle (12 points).

It was Brady who proved the biggest difference-maker of all in crunch-time: she pulled down six of her boards in the second half, giving Bowdoin a critical advantage. "Rebounding killed us," said Williams coach Pat Manning after the game. "They got second and third chances that resulted in a foul or a basket or both."

Despite what the final scoreline suggests, the two teams spent much of the night trading tense baskets. The Ephs led by two at the end of a wildly entertaining first half, in which neither team led by more than four points. Play was fast: blink and you might miss Ellen Cook finding her co-captain Kellie Macdonald for a sweet fadeaway jumper to open the scoring, or Brady making a power move under the rim to give the Polar Bears one of their many fleeting early leads.

Even as the game stayed close, patterns emerged: In the paint, the edge belonged to the Polar Bears; in transition, the Ephs ruled the roost. And so it went: the Ephs would thunder down the floor, led by freshman point guard Amanni Fernandez—who had a hand in the Ephs' final eight points of the first half but struggled mightily with turnovers and bad-angle shots—while Bowdoin would attack the hoop at a more leisurely pace. Through 20 minutes, it didn't matter much; the outcomes were the same. "I thought we played a really solid first half," said Manning, who despite her team's effort found the game's opening worrisome: "We were up two; we should have been up 10."

Early in the second half, the Ephs looked like they had found a breakthrough, with buckets from Fernandez and Macdonald putting them ahead 35-29 in the period's early stages. But the Polar Bears recovered from another out-of-the-locker room dry spell and went on a 9-0 run, fueled by five straight points from guard Marle Curle, including one tough bank shot off a spin move near the foul line that drew a foul, gave the Polar Bears their first lead of the half and saw Bowdoin's on-court players mob Curle once the whistle blew.

A steal and coast-to-coast drive from Cook brought the Ephs back to within one, but Cook picked up her fourth foul shortly thereafter and went to the bench with 12:42 left. She re-entered seven minutes later with the Ephs down three; seconds later, Megan Phelps' layup made it 51-46 Bowdoin. "That hurt us, not having our floor leader out there," said Manning on Cook, who was limited to just seven points in 27 minutes.

Undeterred, the Ephs drew within one on a pair of brilliant plays in the paint by Oge Uwanaka off the bench. And then…nothing. As the final minutes ticked away, the Ephs began to force wild shots in transition and could not get them to go. Before they knew it, they were down by five again and forced to foul. That effectively sealed the deal against a Bowdoin team that entered the game second in the nation in free throw shooting at 80.3% and only bolstered that by going 14 for 15 on the evening.

Both teams are back in conference action at 3p.m. tomorrow. Bowdoin heads to Clifton, N.Y. to face Hamilton, while the Ephs host Colby.