Berube leads team to success after just two seasons

As the Dallas Cowboys discovered with Bill Parcels, sometimes all it takes to turn a program around is a new coach.

In just her second season at the helm of the women's basketball team, coach Carla Berube has led her squad to a 17-5 record going into tonight's final regular season game at MIT, and has guided the Jumbos to a first round home game in the NESCAC championship tournament for the first time in Tufts' women's basketball history.

Before Berube arrived for the start of the 2002-2003 campaign, the team failed to make the playoffs in two of the previous three years. It also finished dead last in the NESCAC with a 1-8 mark against league opponents in 2001-2002.

"I brought in my style of basketball and my style of coaching," Berube said. "[That included] instilling a work ethic and a belief in playing your hardest at all times. [We want] to be a powerhouse in the Boston area and get up to the top of the NESCAC."

Two seasons later, these hopes are beginning to become a reality. With its 7-2 league mark at the end of this season, the Jumbos finished tied for second in the league. Due to a stroke of bad luck, however, Tufts received the fourth seed in the tournament and will host number five Williams -- a team it beat last Saturday on the road, 59-37 -- in a quarterfinal game in Cousens Gym.

"We're very excited," Berube said. "Basically what we were working for all year was to get a first round playoff game at home, and to finish second in the conference is quite a feat."

In taking a floundering program from the conference cellar to a tournament first round home game, Berube took inspiration from her alma mater, the University of Connecticut. Berube was a crucial role player in the Huskies' 1995 NCAA Division I national championship run, and the squad had a dominant 132-8 record over Berube's four year career. As a senior captain, she led her team to a 33-1 record in the 1996-1997 season. Her 1,382 career points are 17th all time at UConn and her 138 games played in a Husky uniform rank second on the all time list.

Though Berube coached as an assistant for two years at Providence College, she derives her coaching style from that of UConn.

"She models herself after [UConn] coach [Geno] Auriemma," sophomore point guard Julia Verplank said. "She pushes us really hard and expects a lot."

"A lot of who I am now [comes from] what I picked up [at UConn]," Berube said. "The style of play, what it takes work ethic wise, how intense and competitive practices need to be; it seems to work there, so I thought I could try it out here."

Berube's intensity and Div. I attitude are in direct contrast to former head coach Janice Savitz' approach to coaching Div III basketball.

"[Savitz] was complacent," senior tri-captain Maritsa Christoudias said. "She didn't push us and also didn't meet up to the high levels of passion that were on the team."

This gap in fervor for the sport between coach and players has disappeared since Berube arrived on the scene.

"A lot of people have this notion that in Div III it's not going to be as intense," freshman Taryn Miller-Stevens said. "But [Berube] expects the most out of us. Just the way she talks about basketball shows she's passionate about the sport and about coaching. We feed off that and it filters into the way we play."

The future looks bright for Berube's Jumbos. Her first recruiting class has made substantial contributions to the squad this season and will continue to help Tufts in coming years. Berube's success and reputation could help lure even more talent to play at Tufts down the road.

"She definitely was a big appeal for the school," Miller-Stevens said. "I'm from Connecticut and went to her games. I knew she was coming from a good program and had good coaching along the way."

Tomorrow's playoff game against number five seeded Williams will kick off Berube's second playoff run as a coach. The squad lost at Bates in the first round last year, and the team expects a hard fought match against an Ephs team that was not in top form when Tufts beat it last weekend in Williamstown.

"We all know it's going to be a really tough game," Miller-Stevens said. "Williams didn't shoot very well last week and they are a great shooting team. We have to come ready to play, bring our A game, and leave it all on the floor."

The Jumbos will look to take full advantage of playing at home in front of rowdy fans.

"The fans have been great all year," Berube said. "[Against] Bowdoin it was incredible; it was just a great atmosphere to play college basketball. The fans are our sixth man, they definitely help. Hopefully they will come out for our biggest game of the year. It's going to be a good time."