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Polar Bears end Herons season 63-51 in NCAA sectional semifinal
March 11 , 2005
SCRANTON, Pa.—The William Smith Herons had their national championship hopes dashed by the Bowdoin College Polar Bears in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Sectional Semifinal tonight in the University of Scranton’s Long Center.
The Herons suffered through a 6-minute first half scoring drought that saw the Polar Bears go on a 10-0 run. Junior forward Tanya Richvalsky’s (Mohawk/Mohawk, N.Y.) layup with 14:23 remaining pulled William Smith within four, 16-12, but second-ranked Bowdoin seized control with the balanced scoring and relentless defense that typified the Herons’ first run to the round of 16 since 1999.
William Smith trailed 31-23 at halftime, but could have found itself in a much deeper hole. The Herons were down by 16 with 6:54 remaining in the opening frame, but William Smith held the Polar Bears to just a single free throw for the rest of the half. The Herons closed out half on a 9-0 run.
Junior guard Pria Young (Council Rock/Richboro, Pa.) carried William Smith through the opening stanza, scoring 11 of her team-high 14 points.
In the second half, the Herons still trailed by eight, 38-30, with 13:52 left in the contest, but Bowdoin scored the next seven points to push their lead back into double digits for good.
Atypical for William Smith, four players reached double digits in scoring. First-year guard Marisa Vespa (Immaculate Heart/Watertown, N.Y.) contributed 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Richvalsky added 10. Senior guard Tara Brisson (Bishop Grimes/Liverpool, N.Y.) narrowly missed a double double, finishing her collegiate career with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Bowdoin was led by the 14-point effort of junior forward Justine Pouravelis (Old Orchard Beach, Maine). No other Polar Bear (26-2) reached double digits, but Bowdoin got 30 points from its bench against just six from the Heron subs.
Champion of the Liberty League, William Smith ends the season with a 20-8 overall record, the program’s first 20-win season since 1999-2000.