In a hard fought, non-conference game, the women's basketball team (1-1) could not withstand an aggressive Babson squad (4-0) and lost 85-71. Despite strong offensive play by the Jumbos, Babson applied constant pressure and created turnovers, and more importantly, the Beavers missed very few shots.
The game began perfectly for both teams, as Babson went up 11-8 in the first three minutes, as neither team missed a field goal. Following an 11-2 Babson run, which pushed the score up to 19-10, coach Janice Savitz called a timeout and began using a zone defense instead of the man-to-man.
Tufts battled back into the game and went on an 8-0 run of its own midway through the first half that was fueled by freshman Erin Connolly's back-to-back three point shots.
"Connolly can shoot the ball really well," junior center Emily Goodman said. "She will be an exciting player to watch as the season goes on."
At 28-26, Tufts was as close as it would come, as Babson proceeded to go on a 9-0 run, capitalizing on numerous turnovers by the Jumbos. Babson led 42-35 at the half, powered by an astounding 63.3 percent shooting from the field. Tufts shot 50.8 percent from the field, but it was not enough to subdue the Beavers.
"I think we played well offensively, but they would always hit big shots," Goodman said. "They just didn't miss any shots."
Goodman led the team with 12 first-half points, and Connolly had nine.
Tufts opened the second half with a jumper by junior Erin Harrington and a lay-up by Goodman, closing the gap to three points. Nevertheless, the constant pressure by the Beavers prevented Tufts from setting up the steady offensive system, which worked well in the victory over Johnson and Wales last week. In last night's game, the Jumbos committed a glaring 31 turnovers, 17 of which were steals.
"Their defense was forcing us to make bad decisions," junior co-captain Hillary Dunn said. "We weren't coming hard to the ball. I think since they were so aggressive, it just rattled us."
In her first game back from an ankle injury, point guard Dunn led the team with seven assists and pulled down four rebounds.
The second half of the game was marked by a series of runs by both teams, but Babson built its biggest lead of the game midway through the second half, 67-50. Just when it seemed that Tufts was out of contention, Harrington and senior Katie Kehberger combined for seven free throws in a 30-second span, as Tufts went on a 14-2 run, bringing the score to 73-66.
As the clock began to run out, Tufts sent Babson to the line as much as possible, but the Beavers hit enough free throws to keep the game out of reach.
"They went on a few big runs, and we had some nice spurts, but it wasn't enough," Goodman said. "They were a fast, physical team. They played really aggressively in transition and I think this frazzled us a bit."
Babson ran up the score on successful foul shots, and walked away 85-71.
"We didn't get that last run," Savitz said. "We made one at the end of the first but we didn't get any in the second."
Harrington led the team with 20 points, and she recorded six rebounds. Goodman, Connolly, and Kehrberger also scored in double digits with 15, 12, and ten respectively. Goodman had a game-high eight rebounds.
For Babson, senior co-captain Meredith Eddy had a game-high 21 points on 9-17 shooting, including 12 first-half points. Senior co-captain Kerri Lally added 14 points, four assists, and four steals.
Once Tufts had the ball on its end, it played well, but the transition game seemed to be its Achilles' heel. Although Dunn - the team's only true point guard - only sat out nine minutes of the game, in those minutes, the team struggled to push the ball up-court.
"Hillary is really a point guard, the other players had to adjust when she came out," Savitz said.
Even with Dunn in the game, Tufts struggled with a physical defense that left the team out of sync.
"We weren't running our press breaker effectively," Dunn said.
"We weren't making the easy passes," Goodman continued. "I don't think turnovers cost us the game; they committed a lot of turnovers too."
The loss should not affect the team too much, as it enters the non-conference Manhattanville Tournament this weekend.
"I think this weekend will give us a nice chance to rebound," Goodman said. "This game was a good wake-up call, and it will give us some stuff to work on."
@s:Women head to Manhattanville
