Basketball is a game of runs and luckily for the Jumbos, their runs were just a little bit better than those of their opponents on Tuesday night when Tufts knocked off Babson 70-55, to improve its perfect season record to 4-0.
After Babson scored the first basket of the game, Tufts responded with a 26-0 spurt. Junior guard Jessica Powers scored 11 points during the run, and the Jumbos eventually led by as much as 26 points, 31-5.
"We played incredible defense at the beginning of the first half," senior co-captain Erin Connolly said. "We can stay with any team in the NESCAC; any team out there when we play defense like that."
Babson appeared rattled by the Jumbos' tenacious man-to-man defense early on, calling three timeouts in the first 10 minutes of the game. With less than five minutes to go in the first half, however, Babson made their run. They closed the first half on a 12-1 spurt, capped off by a three-pointer at the buzzer, which trimmed the lead to 15 at halftime.
Another Babson run to open the second half eventually cut the Tufts lead to just four points, at 41-37. The Jumbos answered with a 13-5 spurt of their own that pushed the advantage back to double figures, where it stayed for the duration of the game.
"[Babson] made a great come back," Connolly said. "But we were able to pull it together and get the victory over a good team."
Sophomore Valerie Krah led Tufts with 19 points and five three-pointers, including one to key the decisive second half run. She also added four assists and five steals. Senior co-captain Allison Love finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Powers had 18 points. The Jumbos had 16 steals and forced Babson into 22 turnovers.
Babson was led by Erin Conroy and Caitlin Finn, who finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Despite the game's swings, Connolly was hesitant to classify her team as streaky.
"I wouldn't call us that," Connolly said. We just have to do a better job putting teams away, and make sure we don't have any lapses that let them get back into games."
The Jumbos have feasted on non-conference opponents up to this point of the season, winning their four games by an average of 39 points. However, no lapses should be expected from this team.
"We're very focused for any game," Connolly said. "Our upcoming games are going to be more and more challenging; we're going to be facing better competition, but we're ready for it."
Tufts will be back in action tonight on the road against Gordon College. Last Dec. 4, the Jumbos beat the Fighting Scotts 91-58 in Cousens Gym in non-league action. This season, Gordon has yet to win a game at 0-3. Its most recent loss came at the hands of the Colby White Mules before Thanksgiving.
The Jumbos will then play two more games on the road, against Wheaton and Suffolk, before returning to Medford in January over Winter Break against Southern Maine. The team will kick off its NESCAC season on Jan. 14 at Colby.<$>
