Tufts continued its slide down the NESCAC ranks on Saturday, losing 68-59 to Middlebury at home. The loss was the team's sixth straight and its seventh in the last eight games.
After taking an early lead, the Jumbos fell behind by seven with just over 11 minutes to go in the first half. Twice they managed to trim the lead to four before falling behind by 11, 33-22, at the break.
Tufts took a 37-35 lead when senior co-captain Erin Connolly hit a three-pointer to cap a 15-2 run. But Middlebury responded with a 21-3 run of its own to give the Panthers a 56-40 advantage. The Jumbos got no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Tufts struggled defensively despite forcing 25 turnovers, allowing Middlebury to shoot 46 percent from the floor and 41 percent from three-point range.
"We had some defensive breakdowns," coach Carla Berube said. "We had trouble getting through their screens and giving up some open shots. We were letting them drive on us, and then when they missed we were giving up too many offensive rebounds."
Junior guard Jessica Powers agreed with her coach's assessment.
"We definitely could have played better defensively," Powers said. "We need to play for the entire 30 seconds. The consistency has to be there on every possession for the entire possession."
Middlebury had 14 offensive rebounds, and a 46 to 32 total rebounding advantage.
"There was a lack of intensity," Berube said. "We saw glimpses of it, but it was not there consistently. They hit some big shots, especially at the end of the shot clock that deflated us a little bit, but we've got to be a team that bounces back from that."
Offensively the team was even less successful, shooting just 32 percent from the field. Powers, Connolly, and sophomore guard Valerie Krah, perhaps the team's three best perimeter shooters, were a combined eight for 36 from the field.
"We didn't capitalize; we didn't execute offensively," Berube said. "We missed some easy, open shots. When we didn't execute, we had some rushed shots and some forced shots."
Powers, who had 11 assists to go with her eight points, put the blame squarely on Tufts' offensive execution.
"We were getting open shots, we just weren't finishing," Powers said. "We haven't been hitting our open shots. That's been our problem since the break. I don't think it was really the defense shutting us down."
Coach Berube pointed to a combination of factors that stalled the offense. Turnovers on key possessions, forced shots, and added pressure on the offense due to the team's defensive struggles all contributed to the loss.
"I hope we didn't run out of gas [in the second half]," Berube said. "I think we just had another letdown. We didn't stay consistent with our fire and our intensity, and that led to them pulling away."
Senior co-captain Allison Love led the Jumbos with 16 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Valerie Krah added 11 off the bench. Middlebury was led by Maryanne Verzosa's 17 points and Micaela McVary's 12 points and 15 rebounds.
The loss to Middlebury came on the heels of the Tufts' closest and most heartbreaking game of the season as the Jumbos fell 63-60 to Williams at home. The game was the fifth straight win for the Ephs and as many back-to-back losses for Tufts.
Ahead by as many as 14 in the first half, the Ephs trailed only twice, late in the game and not by more than two. Love's game-high 20 points was matched with 15 from Krah, but despite having the games two highest scorers, the Jumbos were unable to come away with the win as a desperation three-point shot by Krah fell short at the buzzer.
The closeness of the game was reflected in the stat book. The Jumbos held a plus-four rebound margin, and had 17 turnovers to Williams' 19, and both teams nabbed 11 steals. The slight margin of victory for the Ephs came from 42.9 shooting percentage to the Jumbos' 36.1 and a the 22 points they received from the foul line, compared to only eight for the Tufts.
With the losses to Middlebury and Williams, Tufts falls to 0-4 in the NESCAC, and 8-6 overall. The team is off until next Friday when it hosts Wesleyan for its third straight conference game. The Cardinals, led by NESCAC scoring leader junior Hannah Stubbs, are currently 14-1, 3-1 in league play, and look to be another tough game for a Jumbo squad looking to get their season back on track.
