Winter break was full of ups and downs for the women's basketball team.
Despite compiling a mediocre 3-4 record, the Jumbos gave some of the best teams in New England a run for their money, in addition to starting off their NESCAC competition with two consecutive victories.
While the Jumbos faltered at the beginning of break, dropping four straight games after beating Plattsburgh on Dec. 30, they bounced back and edged Amherst, 58-53, and Trinity, 56-49, on Friday and Saturday.
Opening the conference schedule against the Lord Jeffs, the Jumbos trailed by eight points at the half. Led by senior Valerie Krah, who finished with 19 points, the Jumbos went on a 16-0 run midway through the second half, when junior Khalilah Ummah knocked down two free throws. With the lead in hand, the Jumbos never looked back.
The next day, the Jumbos took the court again against a NESCAC rival, taking on Trinity in Hartford. Led by another senior guard, Taryn Miller-Stevens, who compiled 13 points, five rebounds and six assists, the Jumbos dug an early nine-point hole for themselves, but pulled to within two points at the half. As in the game against Amherst, the Jumbos came alive in the second half, taking the lead early and staying ahead the rest of the way.
"Both at Amherst and Trinity we got off to a rough start," senior co-captain Laura Jasinski said. "But we were able to come back and keep control of the game in the final minutes. Winning these two games was very important for us to in order to get a strong start in NESCAC, especially because all of the teams are very evenly matched this year."
"It was great to get two NESCAC wins at Amherst and Trinity," Miller-Stevens said. "This definitely bolstered our confidence, even though we did not play as well as we would have liked to. With four girls [on our team] being from Connecticut, we had a huge fan base on Saturday."
While these two games went well for the Jumbos, the women suffered a tough losing streak in the beginning of January, competing against some of the best teams in New England. After dropping three in a row in early January, the Jumbos traveled to Emmanuel, then 10-1, to play the Saints.
The Jumbos took a one-point lead into halftime, but Emmanuel emerged from intermission with something to prove, and the Jumbos fell 72-64, despite a 21-point effort from Ummah.
"The Emmanuel game was a tough one for us," Jasinski said. "They are a very athletic team, and we had to change up our lineup at points, playing four guards at a time as well as slowing down the pace of the game. We were in control of the game for over 30 minutes, but we lost it in the last few minutes, which was very frustrating."
The Jumbos started off the winter break in Worcester at the WPI Invitational Tournament, where they dismantled Plattsburgh 61-37 before falling to WPI in the title game of the tournament, 61-55.
The Jumbos opened 2007 against the No. 17 Brandeis Judges, a team it nearly beat last season. Krah and Jasinski posted 10 points apiece against the Judges, but it was not enough, as the Jumobs fell 57-45.
Brandeis shot 26.9 percent from the field; however, they made up for this poor shooting at the free throw line, outscoring the Jumbos 26-8 from the charity stripe - something that has plagued Tufts throughout the season.
While the team endured some disappointing losses, the break was a positive one for a team looking to peak during the second half of the season.
"Overall, break was great for our team," Jasinski said. "It's always a time for us to spend a lot of time together and come together as a team. As far as our record goes, we ran into a tough losing streak. We got ourselves in some holes in very winnable games and were unable to finish. But at the same time we showed that we can play with anyone."
The team will play Worcester State today before hosting NESCAC rival Bates on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Cousens.
