Women's basketball goes 1-1 in first NESCAC weekend

The women's basketball team (9-2, 1-1) had a bittersweet weekend, going 1-1 in its first NESCAC weekend of the season. The Jumbos showed imperfections by squandering a seven-point lead in the second half en-route to a 79-76 defeat at the hands of Wesleyan, but also shined by setting a new record of nine straight victories with a 86-56 win at home against Connecticut College.

In a contest chock-a-block with runs, the Cardinals had the last word on Saturday at Cousens Gymnasium. After being down 38-32 at intermission, the Jumbos mounted a 10-4 run to tie the game at 42 three minutes into the second half. After trading baskets for the majority of the period, Tufts surged ahead with a 9-3 scoring run with three minutes remaining in regulation.

This barrage of points seemed like all the Jumbos needed to put away the Cardinals and wrap up their tenth straight victory. However, Wesleyan would not go out like Bishop in Juice (mid-90's movie staring Omar Epps) and mounted a 7-0 run of its own in the last 1:30 of the game to force the contest into overtime.

"There were some bad calls against us and they were on fire," junior Maritsa Christoudias said. "They all made their shots, we had some mental breakdowns, but the effort was always there. It was heartbreaking but it wasn't over yet."

After playing evenly for the first 4:45 seconds of the five-minute overtime period, something had to give, but unfortunately for the Jumbos the break was not in their favor. With 14 seconds remaining in overtime and the game knotted up at 76, Wesleyan senior co-captain Shaleen Bowman found herself open and converted her third three pointer of the day. The field goal capped the scoring for the day and left Tufts three points shy, with a 79-76 defeat.

"The fact that it was a three put a lot more pressure on us," Christoudias said. "Throughout the game our mentality was the game is ours. We weren't ready to give it to them. We were going to make them work for it every second of the game for them to win."

Last week senior captain Hillary Dunn said this game would be close, but few could foresee how close this match-up would actually be. Even with the loss, Tufts proved it can play with a quality basketball team as their opponents are ranked 24th in the country, sporting a 13-1, 2-0 NESCAC record.

"We proved a lot to our critics, but we already knew we could play with anyone," Dunn said. "Wesleyan is having a good year, but they are a typical NESCAC team, meaning we have to play our best every single game."

Jumbo followers have come to expect points out of the team's starting backcourt in freshman Jessica Powers who finished with 16 points, Dunn who chipped in seven, and Christoudias, who tallied four points, but were in for a special treat as the frontcourt displayed much talent.

Sophomore Allison Love came off of the bench to score 21 points and grab 11 rebounds in 40 minutes of work, while fellow sophomore Krissy Nierenberg also put in yeoman's work going 6-7 from the free throw line and finishing with 12 points and six rebounds.

"Lately Ally's really stepped up her game," coach Carla Berube said. "She has such a nice shot, I feel very confident in her shooting. Krissy plays hard all the time, that's why she starts. I felt very confident with her late in the game on Saturday."

The Jumbos only turned the ball over 12 times last Friday night against Connecticut College. This is one of the many reasons that the squad cranked out a 30-point victory over a team that defeated them in overtime last season. Additionally, they stole the ball 12 times to Conn. College's six, had balanced scoring with five players in double figures, and shot 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

The Camels owned a brief 29-27 lead with 3:40 seconds left in the first half, but the Jumbos went on a 13-3 run to end the period. The Camels would never again see the lead as the Jumbos kept up a momentum that was generally started by steals that were then converted into easy lay-ups.

Christoudias, Powers, and Love had three steals each with Nierenberg tallying two.

"The two of them (Christoudias and Powers) in the passing lanes on the defense puts pressure on the opposing team's offense," Berube said. "Them getting points on steals, also takes a lot of pressure off of our offense. The rest of the team feeds off that kind of defensive pressure."

However a stat that often goes unnoticed in the Jumbo's fast break play was the assist to turnover ratio of Powers. In 26 minutes of work, she scored 17, but also distributed the ball for seven assists, doing so without a single turnover.

"When she does have turnovers, she is trying to make plays which she has the green light to do," Berube said. "It was nice to see her making smart plays."

In the post, Love (12 points, 11 rebounds) finished with her first of two double-doubles on the weekend and junior Erin Buckley also came off the bench making the most of her 13 minutes with 13 points and six rebounds.

The Jumbos are in action tonight against Brandeis at 7 pm in Cousens Gymnasium. The Judges boast a 7-1 non-conference record, but have stumbled in their first three league contests, posting a 1-2 record. While Brandeis is not a member of the NESCAC, the teams share three common opponents in Wellesley, Regis, and MIT, all of whom both teams defeated.

"They play in a tough conference and have a tough non-conference schedule," Berube said. "It will be a really big test. They beat us in a close one last year, so the girls will be ready tomorrow night."