BRUNSWICK, Maine – The first trip to the Sweet Sixteen will have to wait at least another year as the Mount Saint Mary College women's basketball team fell to Bowdoin College, 61-53, in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday evening in Maine. The Knights finished the season with a record of 26-3.

Bowdoin jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage but Mount Saint Mary junior Jen Mocanu (Belford, N.J.) singlehandedly kept her team in contention, scoring 11 of the Knights' first 14 points. The visitors were able to grab their first and only lead of the game when sophomore Kate Hartnett (Floral Park, N.Y.) hit a spinning lay-up with 7:30 left in the period, but Bowdoin closed the half on a 15-1 run. Senior Katie Bergeron (Bradley, Maine) fueled the intial 8-0 surge with a three-pointer to force a Knight timeout. Junior Amy Hackett (Bangor, Maine) capped the run with a trifecta late in the stanza to give the hosts a 32-19 lead at intermission.

Mount Saint Mary came out firing in the second half, and used a 17-5 run, sparked by a three-pointer from sophomore Charnelle Saint-Laurent (Dix Hills, N.Y.) three pointer, and were able to draw within one point (37-36) on a trifecta by sophomore Charneice McCullough (Wyandanch, N.Y.) with 11:04 to go. Junior Ellery Gould (East Sandwich, Mass.) stemmed the tide for Bowdoin with a baseline three-pointer and hoop-and-harm on the next possession to push the lead back to seven points, 43-36, with nine minutes remaining. Bowdoin pushed lead to double digits with under five minutes to play, but the Knights were able to trim the lead to five points after a three-pointer from junior Amanda Horvers (Kingston, N.Y.) with under two minutes to play. The Polar Bears put the game on ice by nailing six free throws in the final 1:51 to seal the win.

Sophomore Kaitlin Donahoe (Amherst, N.Y.) enjoyed a tremendous game for Bowdoin, scoring a career-high 19 points and grabbing a career-best 10 rebounds. She also dished out four assists and connected on 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Bowdoin also got 14 points from Bergeron and Gould scored 12 points off the bench, including three three-pointers.

The Knights were paced offensively by 13 points from Mocanu and 10 from Horvers. Bowdoin held a 34-29 edge in rebounding and held Mount Saint Mary to 38% shooting for the game.

The Polar Bears advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the ninth time and will play Babson College in the third round at a site to be determined.