WATERVILLE – Sometimes it feels like no matter what you do against the Bowdoin women’s basketball team, it’s not enough.

Colby’s first-half defense Saturday was so effective that Bowdoin’s two top scorers, Jill Henrikson and Katie Bergeron, had a combined two field-goal attempts and zero points by halftime.

But the Polar Bears keep bringing players off the bench and playing harassing defense themselves, so the Mules’ reward for an outstanding defensive performance was an eight-point deficit.

Bowdoin never trailed in the second half and went on to a 65-56 victory, its 14th straight.

“I think that one of our strengths is our depth, definitely,” Bowdoin Coach Adrienne Shibles said. “We definitely look to our bench for points.”

Led by Amy Hackett with 13 points in 20 minutes and Nicole Coombes with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Bowdoin’s bench scored 21 points in the first half and 29 in the game. But Colby was also hurt by its own offense.

The Mules (10-3) made just six of their 24 field-goal attempts (25 percent) in the first half and committed nine turnovers. Colby shot better in the second half, but still finished at 36 percent for the game.

“The first half, we were so concerned about Bowdoin’s pressure that we weren’t really executing our (offense),” Colby Coach Christine Clancy said. “We weren’t getting the ball movement that we usually get. I thought our offense was looking a lot better in the second half.”

Colby had its last lead at 19-18 on two free throws by Diana Manduca (12 points) with 3:57 left in the first half. The Polar Bears (14-1) ended the half on a 13-4 run to lead 31-23 at the break.

The Mules, who were down to nine players because of injuries to Jayde Bennett (concussion) and Jennifer Nale (leg), got clicking in the second half and even had a chance to tie the game at 35 before committing a turnover.

Led by Jil Vaughan (12 points) and Rachael Mack (10), Colby pulled within 43-39 with 9:31 to play after a three-point play by Kelly Potvin.

Then Bowdoin (14-1) picked up the tempo, swarming on defense and making big plays on offense. Henrikson’s nifty pass to Kaitlin Donahoe finished off a three-on-one break and gave the Polar Bears a 51-41 lead.

Donahoe finished with 17 points and played strong defense on Colby guard Aarika Ritchie, who missed her first eight shots.

A 3-pointer by Henrikson gave Bowdoin its largest lead at 59-45 with five minutes left. Colby got no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

“I think we took a couple of possessions there for granted and that came back to bite us in the end,” Clancy said. “We’ve got to play every single possession like it’s the last one.”