Box Score

Brunswick, ME - The Castleton State College women’s basketball team lost 72-31 to host Bowdoin College in the first round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament Friday evening at Morrell Gymnasium.

Castleton scored the first two points of the game, but from that point on it was all Bowdoin as the Polar Bears outscored their guests 39-15 in the first half en route to the win.

Katie Bergeron scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead 11 Polar Bears in the scoring column. Ellery Gould added 12 points off the bench while Leah Rubega scored nine points and grabbed six boards as Bowdoin improves to 24-4.

Bowdoin limited Castleton to just 11-for-48 (23%) shooting overall while forcing 26 Spartan turnovers. Conversely, the Polar Bears shot 25-of-61 (41%) from the field and 9-for-24 (38%) from three-point territory.

Mary Nienow led the Spartans with seven points and Kristie Dunchus added six points and three rebounds off the bench.

Castleton’s season ends at 17-12 overall.

Bowdoin will take on Muhlenbreg College tomorrow evening at 7:00 pm. Muhlenberg earned a spot in the second round by way of an 80-63 win over Westfield State.

March 2, 2009

Castleton Earns Trip to NCAA Tournament

Spartans advance to first tournament with win in NAC Championship

Tournament Bracket

Castleton, VT - The Castleton State College women’s basketball team is making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament, by way of the automatic qualifier earned by winning the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship. The Spartans will take on Bowdoin College, host of the regional event, on Friday, March 6 at 7:00 pm.

Bowdoin College, the champions of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), will host the NCAA first and second round regional this Friday and Saturday, March 6-7 at Morrell Gymnasium. The Polar Bears (23-4) will play Castleton (17-11) in Friday's late game, following the first-round game between Muhlenberg (24-3) and Westfield State (22-4).

The conference crown is Castleton’s first since the 2002-03 season, the conference’s final season without the automatic qualifier. Head Coach, Tim Barrett, has led the Spartans to seven-consecutive conference “final-fours” and has amassed a program-record 142 wins in eight seasons at the helm. Barrett has earned two NAC Coach-of-the-Year awards (’03, ’08), two NAC regular season titles (’03, ’08) and his teams have earned back-to-back NAC Sportsmanship Awards.

Castleton led the conference in scoring defense (56 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (32.8%), ranking 65th and 15th respectively in the country. A trio of senior guards, Jess Banks, LeeAnne Ketchen and Mary Nienow, leads the Spartans. Banks leads the offense, averaging 12.4 points and 3.8 assists, to go along with 4 rebounds per game. The three-time NAC All-Conference player became the 11th player in Castleton history to surpass the 1,000 career point plateau earlier this season. Nienow earned NAC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors, averaging 14.3 points and 2.7 rebounds over three games. In the final game, a 63-57 win over top-seed Husson, Nienow scored a career-high 27 points and was 8-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc. Nienow averaged 9.4 points per game this season, and became the 10th player in Castleton history to score 1,000 career points. Her 241 career three-pointers ranks her second in program history. Ketchen earned NAC All-Conference honorable mention in her final season at Castleton, leading the team in rebounding at 4.6 per game and ranking third in scoring at 7.8 points per contest. Ketchen led the Spartans to a comeback win in the conference semifinal, scoring three points, and adding a steal and offensive rebound during an 8-0 run to grab the 61-59 overtime win.

Bowdoin earned its spot in the tournament by defeating Amherst in the NESCAC Championship, 49-46 on Sunday, March 1. The tournament championship was Bowdoin's eighth overall and first under first-year head coach Adrienne Shibles. The Polar Bears won every NESCAC tournament from 2001-07 while Amherst won the crown in 2008. The Polar Bears are 30-0 all-time at Morrell Gymnasium in NESCAC and NCAA Tournament play

Over the past eight seasons, few programs in the nation have been as successful as Bowdoin. The Polar Bears have reached the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven seasons, and have qualified for the NCAA Tournament every year since 2000.