Bantams Snap 16-Game Losing Skid Against the Polar Bears

Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore forward Hannah Brickley (Melrose, Mass.) came off the bench to score 12 of her team-high 13 points in the first half, and freshman guard Christina Raiti (Plainview, N.Y.) drained the go-ahead three-pointer in the final minute to give the Trinity College Bantams their first win over the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) rival Bowdoin College Polar Bears since 2000-01 by a score of 46-43.  Trinity, which snaps a 16-game losing streak against the Polar Bears with its fifth triumph in a row, improves to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the NESCAC.  Bowdoin falls to 8-8 overall and 1-4 in the league with its second loss in as many days.  Trinity had not beaten Bowdoin since a 65-45 road win in 2001.

Trinity took a 42-40 lead on a jumper by junior center Emily Dixon (Norwood, Mass.) with under two minutes left, but a free throw by Bowdoin senior co-captain guard Kaitlin Donahoe (Amherst, N.Y.) and a put-back by rookie center Shannon Brady (Scituate, Mass.) gave the Polar Bears a 43-42 lead with under a minute left to play.  Raiti drained a long three-pointer with a hand in her face from deep on the left wing with the shot clock winding down to give the Bantams a 45-43 advantage with 16 seconds remaining.  Donahoe missed a drive with nine seconds left, and two Polar Bears grabbed offensive rebounds but missed layups before Dixon pulled down the defensive board and sank one of two from the foul line with one second left on the clock to account for the final score.

Hannah Brickley hits a jumper for the Bantams

Trinity led, 10-4, five minutes into the game after a layup by junior forward Taylor Murtaugh (New York, N.Y.), but a 7-0 run gave the Polar Bears their first lead, 11-10 on a drive by sophomore center Megan Phelps (Southwest Harbor, Maine) three minutes later.  The Bantams answered with a 12-0 spurt that included six points apiece by Brickley and junior guard Abby Hancock (Casco, Maine) to take a 22-11 lead with five minutes left in the first half, and Trinity maintained a double-digit advantage into the break.  Bowdoin held Trinity scoreless for the first 7:08 of the second stanza, and chipped away at the Bantam lead until tying it on a layup by Brady inside of the eight-minute mark.  Bowdoin took a 40-36 lead on two free throws by first-year forward Nina Habzibabic (Roslyn, N.Y.) at the 3:21 mark, but Trinity junior Moriah Sweeney (Ramsey, N.J.) drove the lane for an old-fashioned three-point play and Hancock added a free throw to tie the game at 40-40

Dixon finished with seven points and three assists, and tied Murtaugh with a game-high eight rebounds, while Sweeney notched five points, six boards, two blocks, and three steals for the Bantams.  Donahoe led all scorers with 16 points, while Brady and Hadzibabic scored nine points each, and Brady added a team-high seven boards, four blocks, and three steals for Bowdoin.  Trinity held Bowdoin to 28.6 field-shooting (16-56) and 20.0 percent shooting from long range (4-20), while the teams combined to miss 14 of 29 free throws.

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