While most seasons end with a definitive buzzer and a cleaning out of lockers, for the women's basketball team a single question remains unanswered: what if?
What will haunt the women's basketball team as they reflect on the 2004-2005 season is not their final 24-point loss to Bates in the first round of the NESCAC tournament, which, while heart-breaking, came at the hands of the nation's No. 1 team and a heavy favorite for the NCAA tournament.
Rather, what will undoubtedly be seen as a pivotal moment in their streaky, occasionally brilliant, and often frustrating season is a second-half play in a Jan. 8 game against Fitchburg State. Just returned from winter break and looking to build on their unprecedented 7-0 start to the season, the Jumbos were roaring back against a Falcon lead when junior point guard Julia Verplank went down with a knee injury.
The Jumbos went on to win the game, but the date marked the last Tufts victory before a runaway losing streak that deflated the early-season momentum and set the team in a hole from which it spent the rest of the season trying to escape.
This tailspin coincided exactly with Verplank's absence on the floor, and even though the Jumbos saw step-up play from sophomore Taryn Miller-Stevens and junior Jessica Powers in the backcourt, the offensive rhythm that had put Tufts near the top of the NESCAC scoring charts seemed off a beat without its starting point guard.
Verplank's injury may not have been the only factor contributing to the streak, as the Jumbos faced five nationally ranked teams during the drought.
"This year we had a lot more adversity than we've seen in previous years with injuries, illness and people playing in positions they haven't played in," coach Carla Berube said. "But a lot of great things happened for us this season, and we had a lot of good wins down the stretch. People shined in ways I hadn't seen before."
Still, it all comes back to "what if." The Jumbos' season ended on Saturday with a first-round NESCAC tournament loss to Bates, currently at its week at the nation's top spot. Tufts' seventh seed in the tournament was due in large part to the five conference losses incurred during the midseason swoon.
Despite mixed results this season, with a final record of 14-10 and 3-6 against league opponents, the Jumbos have a lot to be proud of and a lot to be look forward to next year. The team graduates only two seniors, and the huge contributions off the bench this season bodes well as Berube looks to fill the two starting spots left empty by senior co-captains Erin Connolly and Alison Love.
Several big players will be returning to the court in 2005 for the Jumbos. Starting guards Powers and Verplank, this season's third and fourth high scorers with 11.6 and 8.7 points per game, will look to get some help in the backcourt from sixth-player sophomore Valerie Krah, whose 12.2 ppg were tied for team-high.
Love's absence under the
basket will definitely be felt next season, but sophomore Laura Jasinski and Katherine Miller, the third rising senior for the Jumbos, will look to find their niche on the post.
"Post players are going to have to step up and fill the shoes and points we got from Alli [Love]," Berube said. "But I'm expecting all my players to get better during the off-season, and I think we'll have a lot of people who can contribute next season."
The Jumbos have one more card in their hand, and that is the 6'0" former UConn Husky at the helm.
Having led the Jumbos to their third winning season in as many winters on the Hill, Carla Berube has become a fixture in Cousens Gym, pacing the sidelines and crouched along the bench, watching patterns emerge and game-plans unfold from floor-level.
"She's so easy to respect as a coach," Connolly said. "She puts her heart into basketball and the team and will do anything in her power to make us win. She's tough, competitive, a great player and a great coach."
Since coming to Medford three seasons ago, Berube has amassed a 49-23 record and reenergized a lackluster program. Her edgy, fast-paced, and defense-intensive style has revamped the Jumbos' game plan and turned around a team that had gone 35-55 over the previous four seasons.
Although this season was not perhaps as successful in its final record as the trend of the previous two years might have suggested, Berube has brought her passion, drive, and scrappy style of play to Medford and has infused the Tufts women's basketball program with a new sense of energy and focus.
Tufts' Sports Information Director Paul Sweeney commented on the direction of the women's basketball program.
"[The records] can be misleading," he said. "Today's team would definitely beat the teams from a few years ago. The strength of schedule and the talent just aren't comparable."
Berube commented on the rising strength of competition Tufts faces.
"We definitely have one of toughest schedules in New England," she said. "NESCAC is getting stronger and stronger and outside the conference, we play a lot of top-20 teams. We'll always play the best competition we can because it makes you stronger, and I think it's done that for us."
It's not a fluke. The women's basketball program is on the way up, so continue to expect big things from the Jumbos.
