Women's basketball comes through in crunch time

With 4:09 remaining in the women's basketball game against Bates last Saturday, it seemed like the team had wrapped up its second NESCAC victory as it led 59-51. But, for the next two minutes the Jumbos offense sputtered, while the Bobcats began to cut into Tufts' lead.

At the 2:15 mark Tufts was only up 59-57 and after two Bates free-throws, Tufts had once again blown a lead late in the second half. With the contest knotted up at 59-59, memories of the team's loss to Wesleyan the previous week crept into the minds of fans and player's alike.

"Yeah, it was in the back of our minds," senior captain Hillary Dunn said. "But we were determined not to let that happen again."

Against Wesleyan, Tufts was up by seven points with 1:31 left in regulation, but squandered that lead as the Cardinals went on a 7-0 run. The Jumbos eventually went on to lose that game in overtime. Although the outcome of the Wesleyan game loomed as a not so distant memory, freshman Julia Verplank did not focus on the potential for another letdown.

"We were thinking about this game," Verplank said. "We focused on the here and now, about Bates."

After Bates tied the game, Tufts called a timeout. Coach Carla Berube pulled her players together during and tried to rally her troops in hopes of preventing another second half meltdown.

"We were going to run our play," Berube said. "It came down to the defensive end. Bates threw a zone on us at the end, we lost a little composure."

While the run was somewhat unexpected, the fast paced style of both teams lends itself to making big runs and mounting comebacks.

"Both times it happened it was with teams that have the same type of playing style," junior Maritsa Christoudias said. "We do a lot of fast breaking and run the floor. So it's not that we 'let up' per say, it's that they picked a great time to make a run."

After the timeout, freshman Jessica Powers nailed a three-pointer with 0:50 left, before Verplank made a steal and a layup to put the game out of reach.

"It was a huge play and it pretty much sealed the victory," Dunn said. "Julia has really quick hands and she is a really good defender."

Flash back to the team's loss to Bates last year, a 40 point drubbing away from home, and it is apparent that something is different in the program. Against a Bates team that lost just two seniors from last season, the Jumbos were not only able to hang around, they were able to come away with the win.

"We wouldn't have been in the situation to win last year," Christoudias said. "And that was basically the same team we played this year. It was almost literally a rematch."

There are several differences between this year's team and last year's, but the most important may be Berube. Under last year's coach Janice Savitz, the team was 1-8 in NESCAC play, while under Berube the team already has two conference wins, and is 12-2 on the season.

"Coach this year expects everything from us, and we play like it," Christoudias said. "The coaching style is completely opposite from last year, and the fact that she cares about the game as much, if not more than us keeps us motivated.

"We're a very fast paced team this year, and we have a lot of different offenses. The chemistry, the leadership, the attitude, everything did a complete 180 in one season. We definitely would not have won that game the way it was last year."