The Bates women's basketball team stormed back from 22 points down, drawing as close as to within two points in the second half, in a 62-57 loss to Bowdoin Thursday night in a non-conference game at Alumni Gym.
Bates (5-3) trailed Bowdoin (7-1) 43-21 with 6:08 left in the third quarter and still trailed, this time by a count of 49-29, with 1:42 left in the third. The Bobcats got a few points back, with junior Davina Kabantu (Portland, Maine) beating the horn to make the score 52-35 in favor of the visitors through three.
Then the Bobcats nearly turned the game on its head in the fourth quarter. Bowdoin went up by 18 on a Sydney Jones free throw before Bates went on an incredible 15-0 run.
Senior captain Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) got the run started with a jumper with 9:30 remaining in regulation. Then Kabantu followed with a three from the top of the key, the first made three of the night for Bates.
Graff hit a pair of free throws and followed that up with an old fashioned three-point play, trimming the Bowdoin lead to eight with 7:10 remaining. Another jumper by Graff cut the deficit to six and first-year Sophie Spolter (Blacklick, Ohio) drilled a three of her own to make the score 53-50 with 6:04 still to go in the contest. The 15-0 run took place in about three and a half minutes.
Jones hit a jumper with 4:36 left for Bowdoin's first field goal of the fourth quarter. But the game remained either a two or one-possession contest down the stretch. A layup from Spolter with 27 seconds left made the score 59-57 in favor of the visitors. But Bates waited too long to foul and by the time they did, Sela Kay was able to sink two free throws to put Bowdoin back up by four with just nine seconds left.
A turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass and another Jones free throw iced the contest.
Graff led all scorers with 27 points on 10-22 shooting. Kabantu finished with another strong performance, tallying 10 points off the bench on 3-5 shooting. Spolter also impressed, with five points on 2-4 shooting off the bench.
Jones had a terrific game and came up big when it mattered the most for Bowdoin, scoring seven of the Polar Bears' 10 points in the fourth quarter. She finished with a team-high 22 points on 9-17 shooting. Annie Boasberg added eight points and nine rebounds. Jess Giorgio tallied eight points on 4-6 shooting and five boards.
The Polar Bears shot 48 percent from the floor while Bates finished at 33.9%. Bowdoin dominated in the paint, with 32 points to Bates' 18.
Bates is back in action on Thursday, December 29 in Puerto Rico when the Bobcats take on No. 23 nationally ranked Hardin-Simmons University.
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