The women's basketball team matched its highest score of the season last night after a torrid second half of shooting, en route to an 84-76 victory over Gordon College in Cousens Gym. Tufts has now won two straight in the wake of its three-game losing streak last week, pushing its record back above the .500 mark.
"This team beat Clark, which is a team that we lost to," junior forward Emily Goodman said. "So this was a good win. And we've got to play two very good teams this weekend: Colby on Friday, and Bowdoin, which is undefeated, on Saturday. So it's a good win for our heads more than anything else."
The Jumbos, who currently stand at 9-8 overall and 1-2 in NESCAC play, shot a blistering 57.7 percent from the field in the second half to overcome a 39-37 halftime deficit. Junior forward Erin Harrington pumped in 14 second-half points to finish with a team-high 22 for the night, while senior co-captain and forward Jayme Busnengo scored 12 of her 16 points after the break.
Aside from their hot shooting, though, the Jumbos also benefited from a defensive change after a tight first half. Tufts came out in an aggressive full court press, leading to three straight steals and a 19-7 Jumbo run that put them up 55-45 with 12 minutes left to play.
"In the second half, we came out and pressed, which was really effective," junior co-captain and point guard Hillary Dunn said. "That really gave us the momentum we needed for the rest of the game."
But despite the Jumbos' relentless pressure, the Fighting Scots refused to go down easily, staying within striking distance for the rest of the game. Gordon first responded to the hosts' hot shooting with an 8-2 run of its own, cutting the lead to 58-53 with 9:49 to go.
Tufts then bumped the margin up to 11 three times over the next four minutes; highlighted first by Dunn's driving lay-up at 7:24 and then by sophomore Kate Gluckman's redirection of a rebound to Busnengo for an easy bucket, making it 73-62 with just under six minutes on the clock.
Once again, however, Gordon clawed its way back. After Busnengo's basket, back-to-back threes from sophomore guard Caitlin Reardon and freshman forward Sarah DeLuca pulled the Fighting Scots to within five at 5:11.
Harrington promptly answered with a three of her own and Busnengo scored in the paint off a feed from Gluckman to give Tufts another double digit lead at 3:59, 78-68. But DeLuca then reeled off six straight points and the Jumbos found themselves clinging to a four-point lead at the two-minute mark.
"She was an inside player, and it had been their inside people that were hurting us all night," Goodman said. "Then, when they started hitting from the outside, we just seemed to forget about the inside game for a bit there and focus on their outside shooters."
That was as close as Gordon would get, however. After a short delay due to technical difficulties with the scoreboard, Dunn, Busnengo, and junior forward Emily Goodman combined to make six of eight free throws before time expired. Gordon could only muster a lay-up from DeLuca, who finished with 21 points.
"That's happened in a few games now: we've had to stop when something happened with the clock," Goodman said. "So we're used to it. It might have taken them out of their momentum, though."
In the first half, things were a bit different, as Gordon capitalized on an impressive shooting touch of its own and led by as many as six. Junior forward Barbara Goodwin poured in 13 points for Gordon on 6-7 shooting, while DeLuca had eight - the majority of them coming in the paint.
"Our main focus during halftime was that we had to get back on defense," Busnengo said. "I mean, it was obvious: transition defense was killing us. They had so many lay-ups and back door cuts and things [in the first half].
And the Jumbos did just that, as their defense produced nine second-half steals and, according to Goodman, set the stage for the team's strong shooting,.
"When we came out in that press, got a few quick steals, and then went up in the first two minutes, that gave us a confidence boost and accounted for the high shooting percentage," she said.
Goodman finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, while senior forward Katie Kehrberger added ten points and seven assists. Harrington and Busnengo pulled down six boards apiece, and Dunn had six assists.
This weekend, Tufts will host Bowdoin on Friday at 7 p.m., and then Colby beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
