Women’s Basketball | Three Jumbos pick up NESCAC All−Conference honors

After helping the Jumbos to one of their best seasons in school history, three players from the women’s basketball team were recognized Wednesday with NESCAC All−Conference honors.

Senior co−captain Bre Dufault was given the sole honor of NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, graduate co−captain Kate Barnosky was named to the All−NESCAC first team, and sophomore Hannah Foley was selected to the All−NESCAC second team.

Dufault joins a long string of Jumbos who have won Defensive Player of the Year honors under coach Carla Berube, as this marks the sixth straight year a member of the Tufts squad has claimed the award.

Tufts ranked No. 2 in the nation in scoring defense this season, allowing just 1,086 points in 25 games, or an average of 43.4 points per game to opposing teams. And according to multiple players, Dufault was instrumental to this success, as she averaged 5.4 rebounds and 1.76 steals per game in her final season wearing brown and blue.

Meanwhile, Barnosky picks up her second straight All−NESCAC award after another season as an all−around contributor for the Jumbos. She averaged 9.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in her fifth year under Berube, providing a confidence that put the rest of the team at ease in pressure situations.

The forward also impressed with a 12−point, 13−rebound performance against Middlebury on Jan. 5, along with 15 points against Amherst on Feb. 2 in one of the hardest fought games the Jumbos played this season. Following the upcoming NCAA tournament, Barnosky will join Berube’s staff as an assistant coach for the 2013−2014 campaign.

Finally, Foley becomes just the third underclassman to garner All−NESCAC honors over the past two seasons throughout the conference. The sophomore from Massachusetts has been the Jumbos’ go−to scorer from start to finish this year, as she shot 36.4 percent from three−point range and averaged 11.6 points per game, good enough for No. 11 in the conference. Foley’s season high came in a home matchup against Wesleyan in which she scored 28 points.

Overall, Tufts equaled conference champion Amherst’s three honorees this season, and with NESCAC competition in the books, the Jumbos have set their sights on the first round of the NCAA tournament. Berube and company will begin their run at a Div. III championship tonight when they host an NCAA Regional against St. Lawrence at 8 p.m. in Cousens Gym.

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