While most college students hit the road today, hoping to avoid the heavy Thanksgiving traffic, the basketball and hockey teams will stick around for their last games before the brief holiday hiatus.
The men's basketball team, after starting the season 1-1 in the Tufts Tip-Off Tournament, will play two non-conference road games in the next five days against Western New England and Brandeis. The Jumbos topped both teams at home last season. Against Western New England, then-junior tri-captain Dave Shepherd and senior tri-captain Dan Martin each scored 17 to top the Golden Bears 91-81. Then, in Martin's absence, Shepherd led the Jumbos to a comeback overtime victory over Brandeis, hitting a crucial lay-up in the final seconds to force overtime, where the Jumbos blew out the Judges in OT, 86-72. This season, the Judges have started out 2-0, while the Bears, after starting off against a pair of tough NESCAC opponents in Bates and Williams, are 0-2.
The women's basketball team will take on 1-1 Western New England at 5:30 p.m. today, looking to notch its record over .500 and string together two consecutive victories. The Jumbos ran into rocky terrain in their first matchup of the season in the Endicott College Tip-Off Tournament against Suffolk on Friday night. Coach Carla Berube's team recovered from the two-point loss, however, and handily defeated Endicott 62-42 in its Saturday matinee. The team will again look to its strong post play and bench production if it wants to leave for break on a high note.
The hockey team is still looking for its first win of the season today against non-conference Southern New Hampshire. The Jumbos will need to rebound from this weekend's back-to-back losses to NESCAC powerhouses Middlebury and Williams with tonight's road match-up. The Jumbos, who converted three of their 16 power-play opportunities this weekend, will look to continue their success on special teams. But if the team wants to thwart Southern New Hampshire's quest for a four-game winning streak to open the 2006-07 campaign, Tufts will have to avoid the penalty box.
News and Notes: Senior co-captain Stacey Watkins is the field hockey team's first All-American since 2000, picking up a Third Team nod when National Field Hockey Coaches Assocation announched its selections yesterday. The honor caps a season that included First Team All-NESCAC and All-New England West selections. Watkins was one of nine NESCAC players named to an All-American team with Bowdoin leading the league with three.
