BRUNSWICK, Maine    –  Senior Jaycie Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) had a team-high 17 points to lead four players in double-figures as the No. 21 University of Southern Maine Huskies upset the No. 7 Bowdoin College Polar Bears 67-59 in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament Saturday night at Bowdoin's Morrell Gymnasium.
 
With the win, Southern Maine advances to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. The Huskies will face University of Wisconsin La Crosse on Friday, March 13 (tba) at New York University.
 
Christopher was 4-for-8 from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line to lead Southern Maine, adding four rebounds and an assist.  Senior Avah Ingalls (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy) had 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists, while sophomore Dakota Shipley (Bath, Maine/Brunswick) added 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.  For the second game in a row Husky freshman Izzy Morelli (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) came off the bench to provide offense adding 11 points, four rebounds, and an assist.  Morelli was 3-for-5 from three. 
 
Bowdoin's Abby Quinn led all scorers with 20 points (9-for-12 FG), six rebounds, and two steals.  Maria Belardi had 15 points, while Grace Kinum tossed in 10 points and snagged a game-high nine rebounds to go with four assists.
 
The Records:
No. t21 Southern Maine (27-2)
No. 7 Bowdoin College (25-3)
 
Today's game marked 57^th meeting between the University of Southern Maine Huskies and the Bowdoin College Polar Bears, and the first meeting since January 9, 2024 (a 56-39 Bowdoin win).  It marked the first time that Bowdoin and Southern Maine faced each other in the NCAA tournament, last squaring off on March 11, 2006 (a 56-53 Huskies' win to earn a spot in the 2006 Final Four). 
 
Defeating the Polar Bears for the first time since November 12, 2012 (72-58), Southern Maine now leads the series 33-24, snapping a 10-game losing streak to Bowdoin with the win.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Trailing Bowdoin 12-10 after a Belardi steal and layup, Southern Maine closed out the first quarter on an 8-3 run to lead by a possession 18-15 headed into the second.  Graduate student Liz Cote (Conway, NH/Kennett) and Shipley each drained a three in the run.  Cote, Shipley and Ingalls each had six points in the first, and both Shpley and Cote were 2-for-3 from three.
• After a scoreless 90 seconds to start the second quarter, both teams exchanged baskets over the next several possessions. Bowdoin trailed by two, 24-22, following a Kinum layup, but the Huskies' Morrelli knocked down a corner three off of an assist from Christopher to put USM ahead 27-22 with 6:01 to play. Bowdoin answered right back, however, with a three of its own from Belardi following an offensive board and assist from Quinn for another two-point game, 27-25 at 5:33.
• After Belardi's three, both teams went cold for nearly two minutes before Morrelli struck again to put the Huskies up 30-25 which was quickly extended to 32-25 at 3:18 on a layup from Shipley. Both teams again turned up empty over the next 1:30. Bowdoin's Kinum made a jumper to cut the deficit to 32-27, but Christopher scored four straight to give Southern Maine a nine-point lead with 47 seconds to go, 36-27.  However Bowdoin's Rachel Storey drained a long three making it 36-30.  One of two free throws from Ingalls at the six-second mark had USM up 37-30, but Bowdoin made it a four-point game just before break as Carly Davey canned a buzzer-beating three to trail 37-33.
• In a low scoring third, Bowdoin outscored the Huskies 10-7. The Polar Bears scored the first three points of the quarter at the free throw line, and held the Huskies to just two free throws from Christopher for the first 6:48 of the third.  Quinn's layup at the 6:33 mark had the Polar Bears down by a point, 39-38, but both teams went scoreless for the next 3:20 before Cote canned a three to put USM head by a possession, 42-38, at 3:12  Christopher scored a layup at 1:22 extending the Huskies' lead to 44-38 before Bowdoin scored five unanswered on a three from Payton Collins and a layup from Quinn to trail 44-43 headed to the fourth.
• Morelli continued her heroics in the fourth scoring a three on USM's first possession, as Southern Maine outscored Bowdoin 8-4 in the first 2:25 of the frame. After Morelli's three, Christopher converted an and-one play, and Ingalls made a layup off of a feed from Morelli to give USM a 52-47 lead with 7:22 to go.
• Bowdoin cut the lead to a single point, 54-53, with 4:06 to play as Quinn powered in a layup and Melissa Leon hit a three to sandwich two free throws from Christopher, but Husky sophomore Lucy Wiles (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy), previously held scoreless, scored two tough baskets in the paint to put USM up 58-53 with 2:02 to go.
• A Shipley steal on the next possession led to two more free throws from Christopher for a 60-53 lead with 1:40 to play, making it a 6-0 Husky run. Down by seven, Quinn made it a four-point game for Bowdoin with an and-one play with 90 seconds left, but closed out the game up 7-3 on 7-for-8 from the free throw line for the 67-59 final.

Inside The Statistics:

• Southern Maine finished the game shooting 40.0 percent (18-for-45) from the field, and 34.8 percent (8-for-23) from three-point range.  The Huskies were outstanding from the free throw line making 23-of-25.  Bowdoin shot 37.3 percent (22-for-59) from the field, and 7-for-30 from three.  The Polar Bears were 8-for-13 from the free throw line. 
• Bowdoin led in rebounds 35-32, and had an 11-4 advantage in offensive rebounding.  The Polar Bears scored eight second-chance points.
• Both teams were even on turnovers.  Bowdoin committed 16 to the Huskies' 15, but Southern Maine scored 15 points off of Polar Bear miscues to Bowdoin's eight.

 

-cac-