Bowden scored two penalties from as many attempts to score the only points in the game.
"I didn't feel the pressure. I've been working on the kicking in the last couple of weeks with Matt Carrington and been hitting the ball well," the first five-eighth said.
He said the match was a real "ding dong" battle, with the Crusaders masters of slowing the ball down, so it was always going to be hard to make breaks.
But the Highlanders had stuck to their guns and gained their first win of the season, which he felt would do much for the side.
"We've got the confidence now from winning and we've got to make sure we can recapture this feeling from week to week," Bowden said.
The win leaves the Highlanders 12th in the table but there is a log jam overhead, with the fifth-placed Blues just four points above them.
Highlanders coach Glenn Moore had praise for his side's performance at the end of the match and said the win had "got the bogey off their back".
"We can now go home to Invercargill with a lot more confidence and self-belief.
"We've grown hugely over the past few weeks and I think that is crucial heading home to Invercargill. These guys have got a great work ethic."
He said the players had done the right things near the end of the match, a result of countless trainings.
It was great to beat the Crusaders two years in a row, and the side had come through the encounter with no major injuries.
Moore said prop Chris King had an exceptional game, and had grown with a little bit of self-belief.
King was a good technical prop and had worked hard at his game.
Lock Josh Bekhuis was outstanding and his game had developed well over the past couple of weeks.
Adam Thomson and Alando Soakai also came in for praise by the coach, who said Thomson had shown why he was in the All Blacks.
All Black coach Graham Henry was in the stand with assistant coach Steve Hansen.
Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said the match was tight and could have gone either way.
He was proud of his players' efforts, and their work in the breakdown had improved from the previous week, but they might have tried a little too hard in the second half.
Commenting on his side's chronic injury toll, increased by the loss of winger Jared Payne and skipper Richie McCaw on Saturday night, Blackadder joked perhaps there was not enough calcium in the water they were using.
McCaw has a medial ligament sprain and is expected to be out for two to six weeks, while Payne had a high ankle sprain.
Crusaders stand-in skipper Kieran Read said the match was a huge battle, but his side failed to capitalise on its chances.
Read said the players had tried not to get desperate, but their options were not quite right in the second half.
