Women's basketball wins sloppy game against Clark

It was not pretty, but the women's basketball team collected its 13th win in 15 contests after defeating Clark University 73-65 last Tuesday in Cousens Gymnasium. The game was filled with runs, giving spectators the illusion one team was about to blow the other out until the other mounted a small comeback.

At 8-7 entering the contest, Clark should have been a beatable opponent for the Jumbos, who are the eighth ranked women's basketball team in New England. On the first defensive stand of the game, junior guard Maritsa Christoudias stole the ball and pushed it up court. While she did not score on that possession, Tufts later jumped to a 2-0 lead. But for the next five minutes, Clark capitalized on numerous Jumbo mistakes to mount an 11-0 run and push coach Carla Berube to call a timeout after being down 11-2.

"It looked like we were not as intense as we should be," Berube said. "It's happened in the last couple games and that's not good enough. We need to start the game like we play the last two minutes."

The timeout must have worked, as Tufts mounted an 11-2 run of its own. Capped by a three-pointer by sophomore guard Erin Connolly, the Jumbos tied the game at 13 with 10:32 left in the first half. However, Clark then retook the lead, scoring six of the next eight points. Berube had seen enough of the up and down pace and called a timeout with 8:12 remaining in the half. At that point in the game, the pace had resulted in Tufts having seven turnovers and Clark having three.

"I didn't change anything," Berube said. "I said that wasn't us."

After two Clark free throws following the timeout, the Jumbos were down 21-15. This game was a contest of runs and Tufts contended by scoring the final 15 points of the first half, amassing a lead of 30-21. The Jumbos disallowed Clark from scoring a single point in the last seven minutes of the half.

During this run, only two players did the scoring. Freshman guard Jessica Powers added two points, but the highlight was center Allison Love who scored 13 of her career high 31 points during the 15-0 run.

"(Love's) getting open and we are finding her," Berube said. "She has a nice offensive game."

Love attributes her career game to team chemistry. Love believes that if one team member has an off night, others will be there to fill that void.

"Recently I've stepped up my game," Love said. "But it is a team effort."

For most of the second half Tufts controlled the lead, increasing its advantage to 11 points with 16:30 left in the game. But, as the theme of games past has proved, no lead is safe. Clark cut the Jumbo's lead to 50-47 with 10:15 left in the contest. With 9:45 remaining, Clark guard Heather Kamyck completed the 20-9 run by knocking down a three pointer to tie the game 50-50. Although the team blew a second half lead for the third time in four games, Berube was not fazed by the lapse.

"I didn't feel it slipping away," Berube said. "I got a lot of confidence in our girls that we were not going to let it go."

Tufts and Clark traded baskets for the next two minutes before the Jumbos made the last run to put away the Cougars. From the 7:34 mark to the final buzzer, tufts outscored Clark 20-11 to seize a 73-65 victory.

"We were making silly turnovers," Love said. "But had to step up like it was a NESCAC game. We persevered and came through and won."

Although the team pulled out a victory, Berube was not completely pleased with the game. She feels the second half was far better than the first, but playing a complete game is imperative for NESCAC success.

"To come out with a win in a tight game helps us out," Berube said. "Hopefully we will come out and play 40 minutes of Jumbos basketball out next time out."