The women’s basketball team is headed to the NESCAC tournament for the ninth straight year, despite a pair of weekend losses in Maine. The Cardinals fell to perennial powerhouse Bowdoin 80-52 on Friday night and dropped a 94-49 decision to a strong Colby squad on Saturday afternoon to finish 2-7 in NESCAC play, but a pair of losses by Middlebury allowed Wesleyan to keep its tournament streak alive. The Cardinals’ reward is a Saturday date at top-seeded Amherst, owner of a 24-0 record and the number-one ranking in Division III.
In its last game at Bowdoin, during the 2007-08 season, the Cardinals dealt the Polar Bears a rare home loss with a decisive 62-49 win. Things did not go quite as well for the Cardinals this time around, as Bowdoin jumped out to a 10-0 lead 2:32 in and never looked back. Wesleyan whittled the lead down to four points at the 5:10 mark following a pair of free throws by Melanie Ferdinand ’12; after a Bowdoin layup, a jumper by Ferdinand at the 4:20 mark again made it a four-point game. Wesleyan got no closer, however, as Bowdoin took a 38-30 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The Polar Bears extended their lead to 11 points with a jumper at 16:16 of the second half and remained up by double digits the rest of the way. Bowdoin ended the game on a 16-5 run to turn a 17-point lead with 6:07 left into a 28-point victory. Bowdoin held an 80-49 lead with a minute left until a three-point play by Kendra Harris ’13 provided the final margin.
Sam LaCroce ’12 was the only Cardinal to break into double figures, netting 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Harris and Ferdinand added nine points each, with Ferdinand also contributing a team-high seven rebounds.
The Cardinals headed to Colby on Saturday looking to end the regular season on a high note. Wesleyan had won its last seven games against Colby, dating back to the 2002-03 season, with six of the wins coming by double figures. This time, however, Colby scored the opening six points of the game and never trailed by less than four the rest of the way. Trailing 28-11 with 7:42 to play in the first half, the Cardinals used an 11-3 run to cut their deficit to 31-22 with 2:47 left, but the Mules scored 12 of the last 14 points of the half to take a 43-24 halftime lead.
Colby picked up right where it left off to start the second half, using a 13-0 run to take a 58-26 lead three minutes into the period. The Mules’ lead never fell below 31 points after that, and the home team led by as many as 50 (94-44) with 1:05 left before Wesleyan scored the last five points of the game.
Harris was again a bright spot for the Cardinals, scoring a career-high 13 points in 22 minutes to tie Erin Gold ’11 as the team’s high scorer. Wesleyan shot just 25.4 percent for the game compared to 60.8 percent for Colby, including an even 64 percent in the second half.
Wesleyan will now turn its attention to the NESCAC tournament; the Cardinals have participated nine of the 10 years it has been held. Only Bates, Bowdoin, and Williams have qualified for more championships; Tufts has also qualified for the tournament nine times.
The Cardinals have battled Amherst in the postseason once before, with the Lord Jeffs taking a 55-53 upset victory in the first round of the 2004-05 Championship. Wesleyan will look to return the favor on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m.
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