Bowdoin swept its way into the second round of the NCAA Division III basketball tournaments Friday night, while the University of Southern Maine took a rare early seat on the sidelines.

Lying in the weeds, relatively speaking, after seven consecutive appearances in the Sweet 16 and six straight Elite Eight berths, the Bowdoin women found some magic on the road and ran away from host Bridgewater (Mass.) State, 64-49, in a first-round showdown.

Less steeped in tradition but arguably a bigger favorite, Bowdoin raced to a 30-point halftime lead and cruised past Curry College, 79-49, at the men’s tourney opener in Waltham, Mass.

Southern Maine gave away a 14-point lead in the final seven minutes and fell to Brandeis, 74-71, in Union, N.J., absorbing its first opening-round loss in the women’s national playoff since 2001-02.

Bowdoin (22-6) ended Curry’s 11-game winning streak and improved to 3-0 all-time in NCAA men’s first-round games. The Polar Bears’ most recent tournament appearance was in 1999. They will meet nationally-ranked host Brandeis at 7 p.m. tonight.

Thirteen 3-pointers – Bowdoin’s most prolific long-range performance of the season – propelled the Polar Bears to a win that was never in doubt. Mike Hauser and Andrew Hippert struck from bonus land during a 10-3 opening surge for Bowdoin, and the Polar Bears nailed four more treys on their way to a 37-12 edge.

Hippert and Kyle Jackson led Bowdoin with 16 points apiece. Each was 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Hauser added 11 points and Mark Phillips 10 for the Polar Bears, who received an at-large bid after reaching the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship game last weekend.

Tim Jones topped the Colonels (18-11) with 21 points.

Bridgewater State lurked within one point of Bowdoin, 27-26, at halftime of the women’s contest. But the Polar Bears held the hometown Bears to 7-for-27 shooting in the second half while hitting at a 50 percent clip in their own end.

Alexa Kaubris stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals for Bowdoin (19-8), which advances to a showdown with NESCAC rival Amherst tonight. Amherst ended Bowdoin’s streak of seven consecutive conference titles with a one-sided win in last week’s league semifinals.

Caitlin Hynes and Sabrina Cote added 10 points each for the Polar Bears. The sister tandem of Caitlin Feeney (19 points, five assists) and Colleen Feeney (16 points, 18 rebounds) led Bridgewater State (22-5).

Southern Maine (25-4) increased its 38-37 halftime lead to 65-51 and appeared in command against Brandeis, but the Huskies didn’t have an answer for Jaime Capra.

Capra led all scorers with 25 points for the Judges, including seven during a 12-0 run that saw the Huskies kept off the scoreboard for nearly four minutes. Capra, who scored 19 in the second half, capped the run with two free throws that thinned the Huskies’ cushion to 65-63 with 3:20 left.

Freshman Becky Dixon doubled the margin back to four with two free throws before Capra coupled a lay-up and 3-pointer to give Brandeis a 68-67 advantage.

Amber Strodthoff hit four straight free throws in the final 45 seconds to counter a basket by Angela Santa Fe and two Stacey Kent free throws. The Huskies were unable to get off a potential game-tying 3-pointer ahead of the horn.

Strodthoff contributed 13 points off the bench for Brandeis (19-7).

Kent led the Huskies with 22 points. Santa Fe chalked up 20 to go with a team-leading eight rebounds. Nicole Paradis dished out nine assists.

USM started the game 7-for-12 from 3-point range but went 2-for-7 in the second half. Brandeis hit 11 shots from beyond the arc and attempted 30 free throws to Southern Maine’s 11.