Wilmington (Ohio) proved that nobody's perfect. The Lady Quakers spoiled Bowdoin's attempt to cap an unbeaten campaign with a 59-53 win over the Polar Bears in the Division III Women's Basketball Championship game.

The Lady Quakers earned the school's first NCAA championship in any sport March 20 in Virginia Beach.

Wilmington went to work quickly, jumping to a 9-2 lead early in the first half, but Bowdoin battled back, pouring in eight straight points to take a one-point advantage. The Polar Bears in fact managed to open a six-point lead with 7:15 left in the half and closed the period up by five.

After the break, Bowdoin's lead swelled to as many as nine points, but the Lady Quakers used an 11-0 run in the game's final 3:08 to overtake the Polar Bears and secure the victory.

Wilmington's Tara Rausch, named the tournament's most outstanding player, poured in 19 points to lead all scorers. Rausch and teammates Amy Kincer and Siobhan Zerilla also pulled down double-digit rebounds. Flaherty led Bowdoin with 14 points.

Wilmington (27-6) defeated Rochester, 74-63, to advance to the championship game, while Bowdoin (30-1) won its semifinal by a 64-59 count over Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Rochester downed Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 64-63, in the third-place game.

Sectionals

Rochester 77, New York U. 68; Marymount (Va.) 68, McDaniel 64; Rochester 61, Marymount (Va.) 57.

Wilmington (Ohio) 78, Thomas More 75; Puget Sound 70, Buena Vista 66; Wilmington (Ohio) 63, Puget Sound 60.

Bowdoin 59, Southern Me. 55; Scranton 68, Wittenberg 51; Bowdoin 71, Scranton 58.

Hardin-Simmons 91, East. Mennonite 64; Wis.-Stevens Point 83, Washington (Mo.) 76; Wis.-Stevens Point 72, Hardin-Simmons 67.

Semifinals

Bowdoin 64, Wis.-Stevens Point 59

Bowdoin: Eileen Flaherty 1-10, 0-0, 9, 2; Alison Smith 4-8, 1-1, 9, 9; Justine Pouravelis 5-11, 2-3, 8, 12; Vanessa Russell 4-6, 0-0, 4, 11; Lora Trenkle 8-12, 7-8, 6, 23; Kristina Fugate 1-2, 0-2, 2, 3; Kristen van der Veen 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Erika Nickerson 2-12, 0-0, 4, 4. TOTALS: 25-61, 10-14, 44 (2 team), 64.

Wis.-Stevens Point: Amanda Nechuta 10-22, 5-8, 8, 25; Andrea Kraemer 2-6, 4-4, 6, 10; Amy Scott 0-6, 0-0, 6, 0; Cassandra Schultz 4-13, 4-4, 2, 13; Tara Schmitt 2-5, 2-2, 2, 7; Amanda Roth 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Nathalie Lechault 2-3, 0-0, 4, 4; Kristi Miller 0-3, 0-0, 3, 0. TOTALS: 20-58, 15-18, 34 (3 team), 59.

Halftime: Wis.-Stevens Point 32, Bowdoin 31. Three-point field goals: Bowdoin 4-9 (Smith 0-1, Russell 3-4, Trenkle 0-2, Fugate 1-2); Wis.-Stevens Point 4-16 (Nechuta 0-2, Kraemer 2-5, Schultz 1-6, Schmitt 1-3). Officials: Bob McEntee, Bob Cesigi, Kathy Cronin-Bean.

Wilmington (Ohio) 74, Rochester 63

Wilmington (Ohio): Siobhan Zerilla 4-7, 5-10, 12, 13; Tara Rausch 5-13, 5-6, 9, 15; Samantha Hood 1-7, 1-4, 5, 3; Emily Cummins, 7-16, 2-2, 4, 21; Amy Kincer 6-15, 4-4, 4, 16; Shawna Thomas 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Kelly Peters 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0; Erica Smith 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Kara Robinson 1-3, 0-0, 3, 2. TOTALS: 26-64, 17-26, 40 (1 team), 74.

Rochester: Jessie Graham 0-3, 0-0, 0, 0; Kelly Wescott 3-8, 4-6, 8, 10; Megan Fish 5-8, 0-0, 1, 10; Tara Carrozza 3-11, 2-2, 6, 9; Erika Smith 8-22, 2-2, 18, 20; Danielle Muller 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Emily Bango 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Emily Lyons 3-5, 1-4, 4, 7; Megan Damcott 1-2, 1-2, 5, 3; Megan Krebbeks 1-7, 2-3, 3, 4; Shannon Higgins 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 24-66, 12-19, 50 (4 team), 63.

Halftime: Rochester 35, Wilmington (Ohio) 28. Three-point field goals: Wilmington (Ohio) 5-16 (Rausch 0-1, Hood 0-4, Cummins 5-9, Kincer 0-2); Rochester 3-15 (Graham 0-2, Carrozza 1-5, Smith 2-8). Officials: Joe Cronin, Reta Brown, Jerry Burgess.

Third-place game

Rochester 64, Wis.-Stevens Point 63

Rochester: Jessie Graham 0-2, 0-0, 2, 0; Kelly Wescott 3-8, 2-4, 6, 8; Megan Fish 6-11, 0-0, 7, 12; Tara Carrozza 1-4, 2-4, 5, 5; Erika Smith 8-18, 0-0, 13, 19; Danielle Muller 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Ashley Latimer 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Emily Bango 1-2, 0-0, 2, 2; Emily Lyons 2-4, 5-8, 3, 9; Megan Damcott 1-2, 1-2, 2, 3; Megan Krebbeks 0-4, 2-2, 3, 2; Shannon Higgins 1-2, 2-5, 4, 4. TOTALS: 23-58, 14-25, 48 (1 team), 64.

Wis.-Stevens Point: Amanda Nechuta 7-14, 5-7, 9, 19; Amy Scott 7-11, 2-2, 3, 16; Cassandra Schultz 5-11, 0-1, 2, 11; Tara Schmitt 1-10, 0-0, 0, 2; Andrea Kraemer 4-14, 0-0, 7, 9; Diane Hawkins 0-2, 0-0, 0, 0; Becky Pepper 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Melissa Berry 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Amanda Roth 0-2, 0-1, 4, 0; Nathalie Lechault 0-1, 0-0, 5, 0; Kristi Miller 2-5, 2-2, 5, 6. TOTALS: 26-70, 9-13, 40 (4 team), 63.

Halftime: Rochester 22, Wis.-Stevens Point 32. Three-point field goals: Rochester 4-9 (Graham 0-2, Carrozza 1-2, Smith 3-5); Wis-Stevens Point 2-16 (Nechuta 0-1, Schultz 1-2, Schmitt 0-4, Kraemer 1-7, Hawkins 0-1, Miller 0-1). Officials: Pat Wasp, Phil Streip, John Bannigan.

Championship game

Wilmington (Ohio) 59, Bowdoin 53

Wilmington (Ohio): Siobhan Zerilla 2-5, 0-1, 11, 4; Amy Kincer 3-16, 4-6, 10, 10; Tara Rausch 5-17, 9-12, 11, 19; Samantha Hood 2-9, 1-3, 6, 7; Emily Cummins 3-8, 1-1, 3, 9; Shawna Thomas 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2; Kelly Peters 2-5, 0-0, 4, 4; Erica Smith 2-5, 0-0, 3, 4; Amy Eichner 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Kara Robinson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 20-68, 15-23, 51 (3 team), 59.

Bowdoin: Eileen Flaherty 7-14, 0-0, 5, 14; Alison Smith 2-8, 1-2, 3, 5; Justine Pouravelis 2-6, 0-0, 12, 4; Vanessa Russell 3-10, 0-0, 5, 8; Lora Trenkle 4-10, 3-4, 6, 12; Lauren Withey 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Lindsay Bramwell 1-2, 0-0, 0, 2; Kristina Fugate 2-3, 0-0, 2, 6; Erika Nickerson 1-5, 0-0, 3, 2. TOTALS: 22-58, 4-6, 38 (2 team), 53.

Halftime: Bowdoin 28, Wilmington (Ohio) 23. Three-point field goals: Wilmington (Ohio) 4-14 (Kincer 0-2, Hood 2-4, Cummins 2-5, Thomas 0-1, Smith 0-1, Eichner 0-1); Bowdoin 5-12 (Russell 2-7, Trenkle 1-2, Fugate 2-3). Officials: Ernie Solis, Kristi Vera, Lynn Craun.