The women's basketball team finally got some competition. The winter break schedule, which included games against four nationally-ranked teams as well as Tufts' NESCAC opener, pit the Jumbos against some of the best Div. III has to offer.
The team's 1-5 performance holds mixed meanings for the Jumbos' season. Close games against No. 3 Brandeis and No. 19 Emmanuel seemed to be positive signs, but both were coupled with a disappointing loss to unranked NESCAC foe Colby. A subsequent loss at the hands of top-ranked Bowdoin set the Jumbos back to 0-2 in league play as the team's previously spotless overall record now stands at 8-5.
The team returned to campus on Dec. 31 to prepare for its first contest of the break as Southern Maine traveled to Medford for the Jumbos' first home game since the Jumbo Invitational tip-off tournament.
Then ranked 14th nationally, the Huskies handed Tufts its first loss of the season, 86-64. Shooting 61.7 percent from the floor and rattling off a 22-7 run to close the first half, Southern Maine built an 18 point margin which would prove to be insurmountable as the Jumbos shot well below their season average of 47 percent and only two of 25 from beyond the arc.
That game would set the tone for much of the break, but the team was able to briefly get back on track with a 68-59 win over Fitchburg State on January 8. Trailing by six at halftime, the Jumbos chipped away at the Falcons' lead, led by 12 second-half points from junior Jessica Powers. A pair of free throws from sophomore Taryn Miller-Stevens ignited the Jumbos, who scored the last 10 points of the game to overtake the Falcons. Powers' 16 points were matched by 13 from both senior co-captain Allison Love and sophomore Valerie Krah.
However, the defining moment of the game, and much of the break, came not in the Jumbos' sprint to the finish, but in the first-half play that sent junior starter Julia Verplank to the ground with a knee injury. Verplank has been a solid player on both ends of the floor this season, leading the team in both rebounds (6.0 per game) and assists (3.5 per game), and directing the offense from the point guard position.
"We were definitely a little out of sync without Julia running the point," Love said. "Jess [Powers] moved over to point guard and Taryn [Miller-Stevens] stepped up, but it definitely changed our game."
The squad would have to play the rest of the break without Verplank, who has a partially torn ligament and hopes to return sometime next week.
Next, on Jan. 13, the Jumbos faced Emmanuel. Despite playing without Verplank and Krah, who was out with the flu, and dismal offensive play from their other main offensive weapons. Powers and Love combined for only eight points on 3-27 shooting, the Jumbos clung to a 21-18 lead at halftime due to equally poor shooting from the Saints.
The lead flip-flopped throughout the second half and the game came down to the final minutes, but Tufts missed its last 11 shots of the game and Emmanuel scored the final seven points to come away with a 54-47 win. Twelve points from senior co-captain Erin Connolly were not enough to augment only three from Powers, who usually averages nearly 12.5 per game.
The Jumbos then headed to Maine to take on Colby for both teams' first conference game. Play was tight during the first half and the Jumbos headed to the locker room with a one-point lead. The Jumbos were again plagued by shooting troubles and turnovers. The squad connected on only a quarter of their attempts during the first half, giving the Mules a 10 point edge on points from 24 Tufts turnovers.
With only five points each from Powers, Love, and Connolly, the Jumbos were just slightly edged by the Mules, 59-54, for their second loss of the season.
On January 15, the Jumbos took on then-No. 1 Bowdoin,
a consistently high-caliber squad. A solid first half for Tufts disintegrated during the second period as the Polar Bears set off on a 21-4 run, while holding the Jumbos to their worst shooting half this season at just 23.3 percent. Tufts left Bowdoin with a 62-48 loss.
Tufts finished its winter break schedule at Cousens Gym on Tuesday against third-ranked Brandeis. After a stretch during which poor team shooting contributed to the teams' losses, the Jumbos shooting touch seemed to have returned against Brandeis as the Jumbos shot seven for 14 from three-point land to lead by four at the half.
The Judges came alive in the second half though, taking the lead and extending it to as many as 13. Tufts cut the deficit to four on back-to-back-to-back three-pointers with just under two minutes remaining, but was unable to narrow the gap. Twenty-seven team fouls from the Jumbos translated into 20 points at the stripe for Brandeis.
Tufts' winter break action was considerably more challenging than the team's December schedule. The competition was tougher and the stakes were higher as the Jumbos ventured into NESCAC territory and into the top 25.
Citing the strength of schedule as well as injury and illness problems, Love commented on the team's difficulties.
"Coming back from break, we knew we had a really hard stretch. These were some very talented teams. I think we're starting to get our rhythm back, though."
Powers sensed the turnaround too.
"We need to run our offense the whole way through and play the whole 40 minutes," she said. "We're getting open shots from our plays and we need to hit them, and I think we started to do that against Brandeis."
The Jumbos will have a chance to turn their season around with a string of NESCAC games through the end of January. Tomorrow they will face Williams at home. The Ephs ended the Jumbos' 2003-2004 season in the first round of the NESCAC tournament.
