The women's basketball team may be at a shortage for guards these days, but don't tell that to freshman Maritsa Christoudias.
Christoudias scored 21 of her 23 points in the second half on Sunday, leading the Jumbos (2-1) past Lasell College (3-3), 81-53. Tufts, which led by just nine at the half, scored 14 straight points out of the locker room, putting the game out of reach for good.
Sophomore center Emily Goodman, who finished with 22 points on 10-17 shooting, started the second half with a three-point play from underneath the basket, putting the Jumbos up 38-26. Christoudias promptly stripped Lasell point guard Ashley Bardin of the ball two plays later, and scored her first points of the half. On the ensuing Lasell inbound, Christoudias again stole the ball and converted two more points, and then hit an open jumper on Tufts' next possession. She added another basket less than a minute later, putting the Jumbos up 47-26. She would hit two straight three pointers later in the half to put Tufts up 59-30, before leaving the game because of foul trouble.
"I told her after the first half she had to look for her shots more," Tufts coach Janice Savitz said. "She's capable of doing that in every contest."
Christoudias, playing in just her third game in a Tufts uniform, had nine steals on the day, to go along with three assists. She completed ten of her 14 shots, including nine of ten in the second half, and nearly had more points (23) than minutes (24).
"Our strategy was to hustle," Christoudias said after the game. "We knew Goodman could score, but we tried to get everybody involved." All nine Jumbos that played scored.
Goodman, who had eight rebounds on the day, was the focus in the first half, scoring 15 points and taking advantage of a very small Lasell squad. The Lasers did not have an answer for Goodman early on, and struggled all day on the boards, while six Jumbos racked up five or more rebounds. Junior forward Jayme Busnengo led the team with 12 boards, to go with ten points, while freshman Kate Gluckman added seven. The Jumbos' 52-27 rebounding edge came after they were outdone on the boards, 50-44, in Tuesday's 69-47 loss to Babson College.
"The boards have got to be a major point this season," Savitz said. "I hope they understand that it's necessary to be successful."
But while the Jumbos were solid defensively and shot an impressive 49.3 percent from the field (including 18-31 in the second half), they struggled to hold on to the ball, committing 30 turnovers. Lasell was even sloppier, giving the ball away 34 times.
"We're not taking care of the ball enough," Savitz said, "and we can't afford to do that."
The Jumbos are averaging 25 turnovers a contest through the first three games.
Part of that might come from players being tired out; sophomore point guard Hillary Dunn had five assists and committed six turnovers, but had to play 37 of the game's 40 minutes. She has missed just six of the team's 120 minutes through the first three games of the season. Junior Katie Kehrberger, a two guard who played the three when Christoudias was in the game, got 33 minutes and had nine assists, while Busnengo played 30 minutes.
The minutes problem should change after winter break, with likely at least two of the team's four injured players coming back, including point guard Shira Fishman and two guard Meghann Gill. The question Savitz will be faced with, then, is how to mix the two experienced captains with the youngsters Dunn and Christoudias at guard. But Savitz is looking forward to a healthy squad.
"It'll be fun," she said, "but I think that right now, people are getting valuable minutes."
"It'll make us twice as strong," Christoudias said. "We have so many young people, and when we get the seniors back we'll definitely improve."
Until then, though, Christoudias will continue to take the shots. And if she hits them like she did on Sunday, Savitz' team is in good hands.
