BRUNSWICK, Maine -- For the second-straight outing, the third quarter proved to be a bugaboo for Bates College as the Bobcats, outscored 22-9 in the aforementioned frame Friday night at Bowdoin College, suffered an eventual 71-63 loss to the Polar Bears in a crucial NESCAC contest for the garnet and white.

Leading at intermission by one point (27-26), the Bobcats were unable to maintain the upper hand. Bowdoin iced the Bates offense and fired off a 22-6 run for a mighty 15-point lead of 48-33 with 1:33 to go in a quagmire of a quarter for the road squad. 

The Polar Bear advantage would grow to a game-high 18 as a Callie Godfrey layup at the 7:48 mark of the fourth provided Bowdoin (14-7, 3-4 NESCAC) a 58-40 cushion. A Meghan Graff (South Portland, Maine) lay-in with 1:04 left in regulation closed out a desperate 21-9 spurt by the Bobcats to slice its deficit to six points at 67-61. That would be the end of the Bates comeback as the the home team ended the contest accounting for four of the final six points of the game.

Graff topped all players with her game-high 23 points in the effort. The senior, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the 11th time in 19 outings this season, went 8-for-17 from the floor over 38 minutes of action. Morgan Kennedy (Jr.-Oklahoma City, Okla.) followed with 15 points (6-for-10 FG) in 33 minutes.

Four Polar Bears posted double-digit showings in the scoring column. Sydney Jones paced the squad with her game-high 17 points while Annie Boasberg authored a double-double consisting of 10 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

Bates (9-10, 2-5 NESCAC) wraps up the weekend with a 3:00 p.m. visit to Colby College for another high-magnitude conference showdown.