The Bowdoin women's basketball team is not used to losses like the one it suffered on Jan. 26.
That afternoon, the Polar Bears hosted a critical conference tilt against the Wesleyan Cardinals. Over the last seven years, the powerhouse Polar Bears had been virtually unbeatable at home, particularly against conference opponents. The last NESCAC team to leave Morrell Gymnasium with a victory over Bowdoin was in-state rival Colby back during the 2000-01 season.
But that streak would come to an abrupt end, as upset-minded Wesleyan breezed past Bowdoin 62-49 for the Cardinals' first win over the Polar Bears since Feb. 1992.
"That was a tough one," Bowdoin coach Stefanie Pemper said. "It stunk to lose at home, it stunk to lose a conference game and it stunk to lose to Wesleyan in a game I thought we could have won. I think that game boiled down to our inability to make shots, which is such a frustrating reality of basketball sometimes. It was definitely a disappointing loss."
For some, the setback confirmed that the seven-time defending NESCAC champion Polar Bears had finally reached the end of their run atop the conference and that the graduation of the program's all-time leading scorer, Eileen Flaherty, had indeed put the team into rebuilding mode.
But over the weekend, Bowdoin delivered a resounding response to all its critics: not so fast.
Behind a 23-point, 17-rebound effort from junior co-captain Jill Anelauskas, the Polar Bears overcame nationally-ranked No. 17 Amherst, 72-61, on Saturday to improve to 5-1 in conference play. The win has the rest of the NESCAC in the all-too-familiar position of chasing after Bowdoin, which now has a half-game lead atop the conference standings.
"Obviously, Amherst is getting people's attention, so we knew we had to play really great," Pemper said. "We're not as mature of a team as we've been in the past, not quite as experienced. But in that game, we really played up to a high level. It was just some Morrell Gym magic going on in that game."
"I think Saturday's game was probably the best game we played all year," junior guard Maria Noucas added. "We just threw a lot of different things at Amherst and got them a little bit frazzled. We've matured a lot this season, and it culminated with Saturday's game."
The win was all the more impressive considering Bowdoin was without starting guard Katie Bergeron, who suffered a leg injury during the team's Feb. 1 game against Trinity. Bergeron made it seven Polar Bears to have missed either a game or practice due to injury this season, and as a result, only two Bowdoin reserves saw action against Amherst. But Anelauskas and junior guard Alexa Kaubris more than picked up the slack, combining for 44 of the team's 72 points.
For Anelauskas, who earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for her performance, the effort was the latest in a season in which she has been forced to take on a key leadership role, particularly after becoming Bowdoin's first junior captain since the 2001-02 season.
"Ours is the kind of program where it's a lot for all the pressure and all the attention to fall on one kid," Pemper said. "And in a way, a lot of it did fall on her as the returning first team all-conference player and second-leading scorer off of last year's team. That's just a lot to take. So we knew that this year, that we'd really have to spread it out and take some attention and pressure off of her."
But if Saturday's performance was any indication, Anelauskas is handling the burden just fine.
"One of the best parts of Saturday's game was just watching her take over," Noucas said. "It was kind of an incredible feeling to be on the court at that point because she knew that we were going to win the game and was going to do anything she could to do it. It was just a great feeling. She's an incredible leader."
"It's definitely been hard, but I feel like I've improved," Anelauskas added. "In the beginning of the season, I was definitely feeling more overwhelmed with the leadership role. The junior class - Maria and Alexa - has stepped in, and it's been an equal partnership as far as being leaders."
The Polar Bears followed up their win over Amherst with a 64-57 win over longtime rival Bates Tuesday night and will carry a streak of 10 victories in their last 11 games into the weekend. Though Bowdoin appears to have righted the ship, it faces a tough road ahead if it is to claim its fifth NESCAC regular season title in the last six years. But even with all of the conference's stiff competition, the Polar Bears hardly feel like an underdog.
"When you have the pride our players have in our program and in our team, you're a little reluctant to call yourselves the underdog and give your opponent that kind of credit," Pemper said. "In a lot of cases, we're talking about opponents that we've had a lot of success against over the past few years. It's hard just in one year just to see them as a team that's better than us."
"Being an underdog is always kind of cool because you always have the ability to upset teams," Anelauskas added. "But especially for the returners, we have a winning mentality from playing on the team for the past few years, and we have a lot of pride in keeping the winning tradition going."
