Women tally eighth straight victory with win over Johnson & Wales

A win is a win. That is the philosophy the women's basketball team adhered to after thrashing Johnson & Wales 72-41 on Wednesday evening. Although many team members agreed the victory came despite shoddy play, the Jumbos still managed to increase their winning streak to eight games in their final game before the NESCAC season begins tonight against Conn. College.

"This win is our eighth in a row, which ties the Tufts record," senior captain Hillary Dunn said. "Even though this was a sloppy game, we achieved our ultimate goal of tying the record."

Tufts finished with 24 turnovers and Johnson & Wales mishandled the rock 40 times. The surplus of mistakes was mainly due to the pace of the match. Johnson & Wales pushed Tufts to play a fast break style of game they are not used to.

"It shouldn't matter who we are playing'" junior guard Maritsa Christoudias said. "It is always about our style of play. Tonight was not an example of the type of team we are, we let them control the pace."

Dunn admitted that Johnson & Wales is not the best competition the team will see; so mistakes the Jumbos made against the Wildcats will not slide against stiffer NESCAC competition.

"With a lot of important games coming up, we cannot play as sloppy as we did today," Dunn said. "We had a lot of turnovers. The other team wanted to play a run and gun game and we got caught up in that momentum and ended up playing their game and not ours."

Although the team felt its performance was subpar, it still won by 31 points. Despite the sloppy play, the Jumbos feel that their overall game is hard for opponents to compete with, as evidenced by the large margin of victory.

"If we run, we get easy points'" Christoudias, who led the team with 19 points and eight rebounds said. "The majority of our points were off of fast breaks and foul shots."

Foul shots proved to be an important component of Tuesday's win. Although the Jumbos are last in the NESCAC with a team free throw percentage of 62.5 percent, they were able to make 68.8 percent of their foul shots against Johnson & Wales. Free throws accounted for 22 of 40 points Tufts scored in the second half. Christoudias led the way making eight of nine free throws.

"We weren't doing well foul shot wise," Christoudias said. "This game proves how important those shots are."

Freshmen Jessica Powers and Julia Verplank played solid defense, as they tallied three steals each. Powers finished with ten points and Verplank with five.

Although Johnson & Wales was an easier opponent for the Jumbos, Dunn does not feel the team has achieved its 8-1 record by feasting lesser opponents.

"We have played some really good competition and are ready for league games," Dunn said. "Babson (62-54) and Wellesley (56-51) [both of whom the Jumbos defeated] are at the top of their divisions every year."

Tonight's game against Conn. College at 7 p.m. in Cousens Gymnasium is important to the team not only because it is its first league game, but also because the Camels earned their only league victory against the Jumbos last season, in overtime 82-77.

"It's going to be a tough game, they have been getting better," Dunn said. "They really embarrassed us last year, we want to get revenge."

The Jumbos jump right back into action for a home game at 3 p.m. on Saturday against Wesleyan. The Cardinals eliminated the Jumbos from playoff contention in the second to last game of last season with a 65-60 victory.

"If we play our best it should be a really good game. We are pretty evenly matched," Dunn said.

Even with an eight game win streak and an 8-1 record, the season is still far from over.

"Hopefully with two wins this weekend, we will prove a lot to people and gain the respect we deserve," Dunn said.