Hartford, Conn. - Junior guard Lora Trenkle (Surry, Maine) scored a team-high 17 points and added six assists to lead the visiting Bowdoin College Polar Bears to a 75-48 victory over the Trinity College Bantams in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) women’s basketball season opener for both teams this evening at Ray Oosting Gymnasium. Trinity falls to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the NESCAC with its second straight loss, while the Polar Bears, ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 7 in the nation, improves to 11-1 overall and 1-0 in the league with their fourth win in a row.

Trinity forced Bowdoin into 17 first half turnovers, but could not take advantage of the Polar Bears on the offensive end. The Bantams made just nine out of 31 shots from the field in the half and missed all nine of their three-point attempts. Trinity freshman forward Jennifer Gargiulo (Boxborough, Mass.) had eight points and all of her game-high 10 boards in the first half to help the home squad stay within a point at 21-20 at intermission.

Bowdoin opened the second stanza with a 12-0 run en route to a 54-point half to pull away from the Bantams. Sophomore forward Erika Nickerson (Benton, Maine) led the way for the Polar Bears, scoring 12 of her 14 points in the second half. Senior co-captain forward Kristi Royer (Lewiston, Maine) added 14 points, five assists, and three steals for Bowdoin, which shot 65.6 percent from the field (21-32) in the second half. Gargiulo led all scorers with 18 points, along with four steals, while sophomore forward Michelle McCaffrey (West Springfield, Mass.) tallied 13 points for Trinity.

^{B- Lora Trenkle 6-11 (2) 3-3 17, Kristi Royer 6-10 2-2 14, Erika Nickerson 7-10 0-0 14, Alison Smith 3-3 (1) 0-0 7, Lindsay Bramwell 1-1 5-6 7, Courtney Trotta 2-3 (1) 0-0 5, Ashleigh Watson 2-5 (1) 0-0 5, Vanessa Russell 1-5 (1) 1-2 4, Connie Pellegrini 1-4 0-0 2, Lauren Withey 0- 0-0 0, Jess Reuben 0-0 0-0 0, Justine Pouravelis 0-0 0-0 0, Beth Damon 0-0 0-0 0, Kristina Fugate 0-0 0-0 0, Maren Leuer 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 29-54 (6) 11-13 75.}

^{TC- Jennifer Gargiulo 6-11 6-8 18, Michelle McCaffrey 5-13 3-4 13, Deidre Savageau 1-2 3-4 5, Rebecca Bell 2-10 0-0 4, Tracy Nesbit 1-5 1-2 3, Liz Bontempo 1-6 (1) 0-0 3, Lindsey Freeman 1-2 0-0 2, Kerri Stumpo 0-4 0-0 0, Danielle Harsip 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals: 17-53 (1) 13-18 48.}