Kean Advances to Elite Eight

UNION, N.J. (3/12/10) – For the third time in the last four seasons, the Kean University women's basketball team advances to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament after defeating Bowdoin College, 62-51, on Friday evening. 

Freshman guard Naimah Clemons (Newark, N.J.) (pictured right) recorded a double-double with 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds to lead the #2 Cougars (29-1), who won their 29^th straight game and set a new program record with 29 wins.   

For the Polar Bears (22-7), junior Katie Bergeron (Bradley, Maine) finished with 17 points.

Kean faces University of Rochester in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, this time for the right to advance to the Final Four on Saturday evening. 

Bowdoin took an early 7-4 lead just 81 seconds into the game, before the Cougars used a 9-2 run to take a 13-9 lead with 14:24 remaining in the first half.  The Polar Bears responded, as Bergeron hit a three-pointer to open a 7-0 Bowdoin run and the Polar Bears later scored six straight points to take a 28-19 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Kaitlin Donahoe (Amherst, N.Y.) with 4:12 left in the opening half.

The Cougars answered by scoring the final 11 points of the first half, as Clemons scored six points and Kean sophomore guard Brittany Powell (Tinton Falls, N.J.) added five points to give the Cougars a 30-28 lead at the break.

Clemons scored 11 points in the first half, while Bowdoin senior forward Leah Rubega (Norwich, Conn.) had six points and nine rebounds in the opening half.

In the second half, Bowdoin scored the first four points to take a 32-30 lead on a jumper by Bergeron and a lay-up by Rubega, before the Cougars forced five straight Bowdoin turnovers and turned it into a 12-0 run to take a 42-32 lead on a lay-up by junior forward Tiffany Patrick (Piscataway, N.J.) less than five minutes into the half.

The Cougars pushed the lead out to 13 points on a pair of free throws by Powell with 12:44 left and would again lead by 11 points at 54-43 with under nine minutes to go, however the Polar Bears scored eight unanswered points and would pull to within 54-41 on a three-pointer by Bergeron with 5:07 remaining.  Those would be the final points however for Bowdoin, as the Cougars scored the final eight points of the game to seal the victory.

Patrick (pictured left) recorded her 14^th double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while adding five blocks and four steals, while Powell added 17 points and five steals.  After missing the first two games of the NCAA tournament with an injury, Kean senior guard Melissa Beyruti (Union City, N.J.) came off the bench and played nine minutes. 

Rubega finished with 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds for the Polar Bears.    

The Cougars take on Rochester on Saturday at 6 p.m., as they look to advance to the Final Four for the second time in program history and avenge last season's loss to Rochester in the NCAA tournament.