NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The postseason came down to 3-pointers for the Bates women’s basketball team as Bridgewater College knocked down three shots from long distance in the final two minutes of overtime to erase a seven-point Bates lead and stun the Bobcats, 71-69 in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament Friday night.
Marsha Kinder hit a trey, and then Shannon Scales drained the final two shots of the game for six of her 11 points, poking away a Sarah Barton inbounds pass and swishing the game-winning shot on a feed from Katy Herr with 16 seconds left.
A buzzer-beating 3-point attempt by Bates guard Matia Kostakis rimmed out to end the season. Kostakis led the Bobcats (19-9) with 22 points. Meg Coffin scored 16 and grabbed 17 rebounds, while Barton dished out 12 assists and pulled down nine boards.
Kinder, a Division I transfer, scored 28 points to lead Bridgewater on the score sheet, including six 3-pointers.
The Eagles (23-6) played an aggressive game despite a height disadvantage at most positions, grabbing 16 offensive rebounds and hoisting up 80 shots. Herr, a 5-foot-4 guard, led Bridgewater with 11 boards, including five off the offensive glass, and dished out nine assists. The Eagles shot only 31.3 percent from the floor, but hit 14 of their 38 three-point attempts and shot a sizzling 7-for-7 at the free-throw line to make up for the poor percentage from the floor.
Brandeis 63, Salem State 59
Forward Christine Clancy scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Brandeis women’s basketball team to their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory over Salem State, 63-59.
Salem State (20-4) led by a single point at intermission, 33-32, thanks to stellar first-half play from Estrella Kuilan who buried 13 points for the Vikings in the opening frame. But the Judges shut down Kuilan in the second period, holding her to just two points and slowly pulled away, leading by as many as seven in the closing minutes.
Brandeis was led by 19 points from Clancy and 12 from Jaime Capra.
Alison Chase also reached double digits with 10. Salem got 15 and 10
boards from Kuilan, and also received 12 from Lindsey Watkins and 10
from Allyson Vaccaro.
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