By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

BRUNSWICK – Justine Pouravelis was agitated, aggravated and half-past antsy. Here it was, last minute of Sunday’s NESCAC women’s championship on the friendly home floor at Morrell Gymnasium, and the Bowdoin College junior hadn’t burgled the basketball from Bates in what felt like a hiccup away from forever.

You know, three, maybe four minutes, something like that.

“I was getting pretty frustrated in the top of that zone,” said Pouravelis. “The girl kept pump-faking, and I said, I’ve gotta get a steal out of this.’ I know I can make that steal, so it’s good that it came right at that time.”

Pouravelis played pickpocket and pushed the ball to Bowdoin’s equally frustrated go-to sophomore, Eileen Flaherty, for the bucket that gave the Polar Bears the lead for keeps in a 65-59 win over the Bobcats before a rabid, bipartisan throng of 1,711.

Both teams finished the regular season at 24-2. Bowdoin took two-of-three from Bates, clinched its conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and could make a return trip to the Final Four without leaving the cozy court where it has won 54 straight home games.

Bates entered the game ranked No. 1 in the D3hoops.com national poll and is virtually assured an NCAA berth. Coach Jim Murphy anticipates that his team will host a first-round game on Wednesday night. The loss might even be a blessing in disguise for the Bobcats, who could get ticketed to a different region than top-five rivals Bowdoin and Southern Maine.

The NCAA didn’t divulge the pairings until after 10 p.m. Sunday.

“Bus trips don’t bother us, but I would think we’d a high enough seed to get a home game no matter what region we’re in,” Murphy said. “I mean we’re 24-2, and we lost twice to Bowdoin on their home court. If we don’t get a home game, that would be bitterly disappointing, because I think our play all season deserves it.”

Bowdoin has won each NESCAC tournament in its five-year history.

Bates led by 13 in the first half before Pouravelis and freshman Marisa Berne, previously teammates on a multi-time high school championship team at Catherine McAuley High School in Portland, brought the Polar Bears back from extinction.

Berne led Bowdoin with 21 points. She was 5-for-8 from beyond the 3-point arc.

The six-foot gunner also canned five treys in Bowdoin’s 67-48 win here over Bates on Jan. 14. This time, her hot streak helped thaw the Polar Bears after a 2-for-19 start.

“They play great defense. We just said keep doing exactly like we’ve been doing and shots would start to fall,” said Berne. “We know we’re shooters. We just kept shooting the ball and played as hard as we could.”

Pouravelis scored 16 points, corralled a team-high eight rebounds and chalked up three steals, three assists and three blocked shots.

In the final two games of the NESCAC tourney against Amherst and Bowdoin, Pouravelis shot a sweltering 17-for-19 from the field.

“She wants to win. There’s nobody on our team more competitive,” Bowdoin coach Stefanie Pemper said of Pouravelis. “It’s that special quality. She may not be our best practice player, but come games, she just wants to win. You know what that means in sports.”

Bowdoin never led until Berne knocked down her fourth 3-pointer with 6:46 left to make it 49-48.

There were three lead changes and six ties in the final 14 minutes. Bates knotted it for the last time at 59 when Betsy Hochadel drained an open 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:23 left.

Leah Schouten stripped the ball from Berne on Bowdoin’s next possession, and the Bobcats gained possession on the ensuing held ball.

That set up Pouravelis’ defensive heroics and Flaherty’s elusive bucket. Prior to her go-ahead hoop, Flaherty was 1-for-13 in the game and 5-for-25 for the weekend.

“I typically like the shots she takes, and I think the kid’s versatile,” Pemper said. “Sometimes she shoots a little hard, but I think she played well. She’s great at the foul line.”

Indeed, Flaherty went 6-for-6 from the stripe, including two with 13.3 seconds remaining. Berne also dropped a pair at the end.

Flaherty finished with 10 points for Bowdoin. She’s the only player averaging double figures for the Polar Bears, who typically rely on Pouravelis, Berne and seniors Alison Smith and Erika Nickerson to share the burden.

“Usually in our huddles we say defense’ or rebound’ when we break. A couple games this year, I’ve had to change it and say score.’ And they all kind of go, Yeah, right.’ Sometimes I probably need to coach offense better,” said Pemper. “I told them, let it fly, trust our offensive rebounds and know that you’re good shooters.”

Bowdoin nearly doubled its shooting percentage in the second half while committing only three turnovers.

Olivia Zurek led Bates with 18 points. Sarah Barton added 16, while Meg Coffin tallied 10 with a dozen rebounds.

“I’m getting tired of watching this,” Murphy said with a laugh. “No, I wish I could have watched it from just a basketball fan’s perspective, because it was an unbelievable game between two good teams going at each other. But Pouravelis was Pouravelis. She’s head-and-shoulders the best defensive player we’ve faced.”