Montclair, NJ (11/26/06) – Senior forward Eileen Flaherty (Fairfield, CT/Lauralton Hall) scored 22 points and pulled down six rebounds as second-ranked Bowdoin scored the first nine points of the game and never looked back as the Polar Bears downed Montclair State, 86-46 in the Red Hawk-Pioneer Classic at Panzer Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. In the other game of the day, senior guard Luci Custis (Roselle, NJ/Clark) had 22 points and five assists as William Paterson defeated Colby College, 79-66.
Flaherty was named the Most Valuable Player of the Classic and was joined on the All-Classic Team by junior Marisa Berne (Falmouth, ME/Catherine McAuley), Custis, Montclair State senior
FERIN CATLETT (Lawnside, NJ/Haddon Heights) and Colby's Tracy Nale (Waterville, ME/Waterville).
Catlett finished with 13 points for Montclair State (2-3), which got 11 points from freshman
JACKIE BERRY (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) and 10 from sophomore
AMY BONK (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens).
Flaherty provided the bookends of the nine-point opening run as she began the game with a three pointer and later added two free throws. Jill Anelauskas (Medfield, MA/Medfield) had the other four points as Bowdoin (4-0) would score 19 of the game's first 21 points. Flaherty had seven in the 19-2 run while Anelauskas collected six.
Meanwhile, Montclair State was cold from the field missing its first six shots and not collecting its first field goal of the game until 12 minutes remaining as Bonk hit a layup to make the score, 19-4. On the other side, Bowdoin was red-hot as the Polar Bears hit on 65 percent (19-of-29) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including 7-of-13 from three-point range. Maria Noucas (Portsmouth, NH/Portsmouth) capped off the sizzling first half for Bowdoin as she buried a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Polar Bears led 52-18 at halftime.
Anelauskas finished with 14 points and six rebounds for Bowdoin while Berne had 13 points. Alexa Kaubris (Rumford, ME/Dirigo) had seven points, four assists and three rebounds while Katie Cummings (Summit, NJ/Oak Knoll) had six points, seven rebounds, four steals and three steals as the Polar Bears finished the game shooting 51 percent (28-of-55). Bowdoin was equally as good from the free throw line going 22-of-25 at the charity stripe.
In the first game of the day, Custis led three players in double figures as the Lady Pioneers moved to 3-2 on the season. Lori Custis (Roselle, NJ/Clark) had 16 points for William Paterson while Michelle Pellichero (Milltown, NJ/Bishop Ahr) added 13 points and seven assists.
Tied at 5-all with 15:51 to play in the first half, William Paterson went on a 12-4 over the next three-plus minutes to build an eight-point lead. Luci Custis ignited the run with a three-pointer and sister Lori followed with a layup after Nale connected on a short jumper. Elisa Brown (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) added another three for WPU and Lori Custis' second basket in the spurt made the score 15-7. After Colby answered with a basket, the Lady Pioneers' Julie Haledjian (Montvale, NJ/Pascack Hills) capped the run with a jumper as William Paterson led 17-9.
William Paterson would get the lead to 39-26 at halftime, but Colby hung around and got the deficit to 70-62 with 3:50 to play as Laura Williamson (Manchester, CT/Kingswood Oxford) hit a short jumper. Pellichero and Luci Custis each hit two free throws as restore the lead to 74-62 with 3:27 left.
Brown had seven points, five rebounds and four steals for William Paterson. Nale finished with 15 points while Katie McCabe (Watertown, CT/Taft School) had 14 and six rebounds. Lauren Duval (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury) contributed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
