BRUNSWICK, Maine -- No. 3 seed Bates College, making an appearance in the NESCAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament title game for the second time in three years after taking the crown in 2021-22, has to settle for runner-up this time around as top-seed Bowdoin College upended the Bobcats, 66-56, Sunday to seal the conference crown, and automatic bid in next week's NCAA Division III Tournament.

The garnet and white (22-5), which has a very strong chance to earn an at-large selection to the "big dance", will have to wait until Monday's selection show to find out whether its season will be extended at least another week. Start time for the selection show is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. EST.

Both squads came out of the gate sluggish on the offensive end to start the first quarter as Bowdoin (1-for-9) and Bates (1-for-8) combined for a 2-for-17 (12%) showing from the field. The Bobcats' defense didn't make things easy for the Polar Bears as four of their seven blocks on day came in the first 3:30 of action.

Championship game jitters started to dissipate for both squads. Bowdoin took off on a brief 6-0 spurt to take a 10-4 lead with 4:04 left in the frame. The Bobcats countered with an Alexandra Long jumper (3:40) and lay-in (2:49), followed by a lay-up and subsequent free throw from sophomore Elsa Daulerio, to grab their first lead of the game (11-10) with 2:14 to go.

After a Davina Kabantu three-pointer at 8:54 of the second increased the Bates surplus to four points (14-11), the Polar Bears heated up with an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead at 19-14 with 3:53 left before halftime. Mired in a scoreless stretch reaching almost five minutes (4:50), rookie Mya Hicks snapped the Bobcats' slump by connecting on a three-pointer at 3:39 to put Bates back to within two (19-17).

Daulerio brought the score even at 19-19 with a driving lay-up at 2:42.  After both teams exchanged baskets to make it 21-21, Carly Davey's (So.-Westford, Mass.)  lay-in put Bowdoin ahead by a hoop, 23-21, heading into the locker room.

A quick eight points for Bowdoin in the first 1:33 of the third quarter increased the Polar Bears' lead to a then game-high 10 points, 31-21. Sydney Jones (Jr.-Chestnut Hill, Mass.) pushed the Bowdoin advantage to 11 (37-26) with a driving layup at 4:39. 

The Bobcats proceeded to explode for an 11-5 surge to close the deficit to five (42-37) heading into the fourth. Eight of those points came courtesy of Daulerio.

A lay-up by Long eight seconds into the fourth sliced two points off the Bowdoin lead (42-39), but the Bobcats could not gain traction from that point as a 7-2 push by the Polar Bears put the home team up by eight (49-41) with 7:17 left.

Morgan Kennedy connected for a pair of free throws at 6:16 to keep Bates six points short of Bowdoin (49-43), but a 7-0 run immediately followed for the Polar Bears, creating a surplus that would not drop below nine points (56-43) the rest of the way.

The aforementioned Jones topped the victors with 15 points, while Jess Giorgio (Sr.-Belmont, Mass.) and Davey followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Bowdoin.

Daulerio racked up a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Bobcats, while adding five rejections to her line. Long contributed personal season-highs for points (15) and three-pointers made (3) in the effort. Kabantu did the same as the senior secured a season-best 14 points for Bates (22-5).

The Polar Bears (25-2) capture their tenth NESCAC title - the most in league history - and first since 2020,