SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team battled #5 Bowdoin College blow-for-blow in a high-scoring first period, but the nationally ranked Polar Bears used a dominant second stanza to build up a lead and the Garnet Chargers could never recover in a 68-56 defeat on Monday afternoon at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Senior Jelena Perovic led Union (3-1) with 14 points and added seven rebounds, followed by classmate Grace Ceseretti with 12 points and a team-leading eight caroms. Abbie Quinn paced three Polar Bears in double figures with a game-high 18 points, and Grace Kinum just missed the game's only double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds for Bowdoin (4-0).
 
Both teams were firing on all cylinders in a high-paced first period that saw Bowdoin finish with a slight 28-26 lead. Union shot 64.3 percent (9 of 14) from the field and 4-of-6 from long range over the opening 10 minutes, led by Ceseretti with eight points. At one point the teams scored on eight straight possessions, capped by a three from senior Kate Peek that put the home team up 12-9 just over three minutes in. The lead changed hands eight times in total during the opening frame, with two Perovic freebies giving Union its last lead at 26-24 before Bowdoin closed with the final four points to take a lead after one period.
 
The Polar Bears asserted themselves at the start of the second, outscoring the Garnet Chargers by a 13-2 margin over the first 4:35 to take a 41-28 lead. Back-to-back buckets by junior Morgan Schultz lowered the deficit to nine with 4:32 to go, but the visitors scored the final seven points to take a 48-32 advantage into halftime.
 
After the red-hot first period, Union connected on just 3-of-11 attempts (27.3 percent) in the second stanza and continued to be cold from the field in the third, hitting on only 3-of-15 shots (20.0 percent) as the visitors extended their lead to 24 (65-41) after 30 minutes.
 
While they could not come back, the Garnet Chargers battled hard in the fourth period, outscoring Bowdoin by a 15-3 margin and holding the Polar Bears without a point for over nine minutes after the visitors hit a three in the opening minute. Perovic and senior Grace Ardito had six points each and first-year Ryley Tate-Padian had three in the period, which saw Union limit Bowdoin to 1-of-10 shooting with four turnovers.
 
Union finished the game shooting 36.4 percent (20 of 55) from the field compared to just 37.5 percent (24 of 64) for Bowdoin, but Union's edge in long-range accuracy was canceled out by a 9-of-17 effort from the charity stripe and Bowdoin's 46-31 advantage on the glass.
 
The Garnet Chargers will take some time off for Thanksgiving before getting back to action on Friday, December 5 in the team's Liberty League opener against St. Lawrence University at Viniar Athletic Center beginning at 5:30 p.m.