The Jumbos' backs were against the wall, and they finally responded.
After a sloppy 61-56 loss to Trinity the previous evening, Tufts stepped up to the challenge on Saturday afternoon, dismantling Amherst 62-41 in the final game of the regular season and averting an early end to the 2005-2006 year.
Friday's loss dropped the Jumbos to 2-6 and a seventh-place tie with Middlebury, and turned Saturday's game into a must-win. With the victory, the team earned sole possession of seventh place, improving its record to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in the conference. Amherst finished the season at 9-14 and 4-5 in league play, placing the Lord Jeffs ahead of Tufts as the fifth seed in the NESCAC tournament.
From the opening tip-off, Tufts controlled the pace of the game. Junior forward Laura Jasinski hit a lay-up after one minute of play to give the Jumbos a 2-0 lead, which they did not relinquish for the rest of the game.
"We came out with intensity from the start," coach Carla Berube said. "The beginning of the game is always important. Yesterday [Friday] we came out flat, but today we were able to turn it around."
The team's scrappy man-to-man defense produced 25 fast-break points off of 27 Lord Jeff miscues.
"When you play good defense, it leads to good offense," Jaskinski said. "We had a lot of energy and we were communicating well. We did a better job in the [open court]; we didn't force shots and pulled back when we didn't have open lanes. We moved the ball around more, didn't rush our shots, and hit the ones that were open."
That style of play yielded a sturdy 37-11 lead heading into the intermission, as Amherst failed to score for the last five minutes of the first half. The Jumbos emerged strongly from the break, building a 30-point lead on a jumper by Jasinski three and half minutes into the half.
The Jumbos' offense had been shaky throughout most of the season, and the strong production on Saturday provided some much-needed momentum heading into the postseason.
"It was a huge relief that our offense came together," senior tri-captain Katherine Miller said. "We were all on the same page, and when not all of our shots were falling, our defense gave us a lift."
After falling behind by a game-high 37 points, the Lord Jeffs outscored the home team 24-8 over the last ten minutes of the game, shooting 60 percent from the floor after a dismal first-half 19 percent.
"We let down a little in the second half," Jasinski said. "We will have to be more consistent [in the tournament] and stay in the game mentally for the whole 40 minutes."
With no Tufts player reaching double digits in scoring, and every Jumbo seeing time on the court, the game was a team effort on all fronts.
As Saturday's game was the last regular-season game at Cousens Gymnasium, the team honored its senior tri-captains, Katherine Miller, Jessica Powers, and Julia Verplank prior to tip-off.
"It felt wonderful to win and go out this way," Miller said. "I couldn't have asked for a better day."
Friday night was a different story, however, as the team trailed 20-7 eight minutes into the game. Trinity came out on fire, hitting seven of its 10 shots. But after the Bantams opened up a 26-14 lead, the Jumbos surged back into the game, scoring the next eight points to draw to within four. Trinity scored one more basket to finish the half with a 28-22 lead.
A short but top-heavy Trinity roster - three Bantams spent the entire 40 minutes on the floor - came to Tufts looking to secure a seed to the NESCAC tournament. As they have much of the season, the Bantams went to leading scorer junior Sarah Cox. Cox spent all 40 minutes on the floor, recording 24 points and nabbing 10 rebounds to lead the Bantams in both categories.
Despite sloppy play, the Jumbos remained close throughout the second half, but Trinity sealed the game from the charity stripe, hitting all eight free throws down the stretch, including six from Cox.
The results of the weekend's games set up a first-round matchup for the Jumbos against second-seeded Bowdoin on Saturday. The Polar Bears' seed actually belies their talent, as they are ranked sixth nationally and have spent most of the season in the top 10. Bowdoin leads the NESCAC in many offensive categories and will pose a greater threat to the Tufts defense than either Amherst or Trinity did.
"It's a whole new game," Berube said. "It's a whole new season. We will be ready."
