BRUNSWICK, MAINE - Cortland was tied with nationally second-ranked and undefeated Bowdoin entering the fourth quarter and trailed by five with less than five minutes remaining before the host Polar Bears pulled away for a 67-54 victory in the second round of the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament.
 
Cortland wraps the season with a 25-4 record - its highest win total since the 2009-10 season and the seventh time in school history the Red Dragons have won at least 25 games. Bowdoin improves to 29-0 and will host Smith College in the "sweet 16" next week.
 
Cortland trailed 17-16 after one quarter and 28-26 at halftime. The third quarter featured six lead changes and six ties, and the teams were knotted at 44-44 entering the final 10 minutes.
 
Bowdoin opened the fourth with a 12-2 run, starting with a Maria Belardi 3-pointer and 3-point plays by Carly Davey and Grace Kinum and capped by a Kinum free throw and two Davey foul shots. Down 56-46, Cortland fought back to within 56-51 on five points from Kaeli McAnally (Islip) - a 3-pointer with 5:29 left and a layup at the 4:45 mark.
 
The hosts, however, scored the next seven points to take control. Belardi hit a trey with 4:06 left, Abbie Quinn made a layup with 2:23 left and Quinn connected again on a jumper with 2:03 left to give Bowdoin a 63-51 lead. A Jackie Funk (Penfield) 3-point play cut the deficit to nine with 1:35 left before Bowdoin scored the final four points.
 
Funk led Cortland with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Joleen Lusk (Cherry Valley/Cherry Valley-Springfield) finished with 12 points and five rebounds. McAnally scored seven points, Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) finished with five points, four rebounds and three assists, and Sophie Bissaillon (East Greenbush/Columbia) scored five points.
 
Bowdoin featured four double-figure scorers. Sydney Jones led the Polar Bears with 17 points and eight rebounds. Davey scored 13 points and added five rebounds and three assists, Kinum scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and had three steals, and Belardi tallied 10 points.
 
Cortland finished the game shooting 36 percent overall but just 18 percent (4-of-22) from the 3-point arc. Bowdoin ended at 41 percent overall and 36 percent (8-of-22) from the arc.
 
Cortland has played in the NCAA tournament four of the last five seasons, and in three of those years (2020, 2023 and this year) the Red Dragons advanced to the second round before losing to a team from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) (Tufts in 2020 and Trinity (Conn.) in 2023 prior to Bowdoin this season).