The women's basketball team didn't disappoint in its 2006-07 home opener last night.
There was no shortage of defense, no shortage of offense, and no shortage of highlight-reel plays. The only thing missing was a real test in the young season, and an outcome that was ever in doubt.
Tufts controlled the game from the tip-off, taking a 43-21 halftime lead on its way to an 82-50 route of the visiting Simmons Sharks.
Coming off an exhilarating victory over the 18th-ranked team in the nation on Tuesday, the Jumbos emerged from the locker room at Cousens confident and intent on notching their fifth-straight win of the season, against the 2-3 Sharks. They accomplished that with little difficulty. Still, the team did not think it came out with the same intensity as it did against Salem State.
"We came into this game knowing they weren't as good as us," junior Jenna Gomez said. "I think when we came out, we weren't as intense as we should have been, especially in the second half when they went on a 10-0 run. We had spurts of good defense, but overall, I think we played down a little bit."
Tufts still played tough enough man-to-man defense to induce 30 turnovers from its opponent - one more than the 29 that Salem State surrendered in the previous game. Even if coach Carla Berube's squad did not perform up to its capabilities on the defensive end, its superior athletic ability was enough to overwhelm the Sharks.
Despite the formidable presence of Simmons' 6'4" center Nikki Cohen -who had at least two inches on every Jumbo -- Tufts controlled the boards on both the defensive and offensive ends, out-rebounding the Sharks 57 to 32 overall, and 29-12 on the offensive glass.
"I think we did a really good job of knowing that our guards were shooting outside shots and reading where the ball was coming and getting into position to get the offensive rebounds," said senior co-captain Laura Jasinski, who tallied eight rebounds.
The Jumbos also nabbed 17 steals, compared to Simmons' nine, and it was those steals that yielded fast breaks and easy jump shots and lay-ups on the other side of the floor, accounting for the team's highest point total of the year. Such high-percentage shots inflated Tufts' field goal percentage to 41.9 on the game -- its best production during the young season.
Simmons started the game in a 2-3 zone defense, which Tufts had been preparing for in practice on Wednesday. The Jumbos had no trouble reversing the ball and finding the open player, forcing the Sharks to switch to man defense for part of the game.
"They stayed in zone for a lot of the game, so our guards did a good job of really moving the ball against that," Jasinski said. "When they switched to man, there was a play or two where we had to switch up the offense. But I think our guards really reacted well and called out the plays and got everybody on the same page."
The only time Tufts didn't appear to be on the same page was during the first two-and-a-half minutes of the second half, when Simmons strung together a 10-0 run, capped-off by back-to-back three pointers that moved the score to 43-31.
"It was a combination of not getting out on shooters, miscommunication with who we're guarding, post players not stepping up for help defense," coach Berube said.
"We threw the ball away a couple times, and missed a few shots. Runs happen, but it's how you react to those runs -- do you go on your own run, or do you just lay down and let them keep scoring? I think we fought back and played the kind of game we needed to play."
After Berube called a time out, her team settled down and controlled the rest of the game, allowing her to rest some of her starters and spread the minutes out to some of the other players. Freshman Casey Sullivan had a career-high 10 points, freshman Katie Wholey contributed seven on 3-of-5 shooting, and
"I was happy to see those who haven't played a lot in the last few games get in there and make some great contributions, and play hard defensively," Berube said.
"Casey came in and did some really nice things. That can only make our team better, having them come in and us being confident with them in the game."
The Jumbos have only one day of practice before taking the Cousens floor again on Saturday afternoon against Wellesley, a team they beat easily last Dec. 10, 66-42.
