The Senior Class, Women's basketball
In their last regular season game in Cousens Gym, the seniors of the women's basketball team showed up to play. Finding themselves down by ten points with 13 minutes left, the Jumbos pulled it together and clinched a top-two finish in the NESCAC standings with the win on Saturday against Middlebury. Senior Valerie Krah was up to her usual antics, putting up 18 points and seven assists while classmate and co-captain Libby Park contributed six points and six rebounds in addition to two blocks. Senior Taryn Miller-Stevens and senior co-captain Laura Jasinski notched key hoops in the final minutes to clinch the win, and Jasinski made back-to-back shots with five minutes left, while Miller-Stevens made key free throws to seal the deal in the last 30 seconds.
On Friday in a win over Middlebury, the women clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament. Krah contributed 21 points and also took sole possession of the school three-point record, as she hit her 127th trey nine minutes into the first half. Jasinski and Park proved to be a force under the hoop, each pulling down 11 rebounds, and Jasinski added eight points to the effort.
Brian Kumf, Men's Basketball
It was quite a weekend for the senior tri-captain from Milford, Mass. On Friday night, Kumf exploded for a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Middlebury, following up his excellent performance with 19 points and seven rebounds in a win over Williams on Saturday. The last time Kumf scored more than 20 points in a game was against Amherst in the overtime thriller last March in the Sweet Sixteen, when he poured in 21.
Usually recognized for his hustle and rebounding, Kumf stepped up his offensive production on Friday after junior forward Jake Weitzen, who is second on the team in scoring, went down with a knee injury that kept him out of the entire second half. Kumf made the most of his opportunities from the floor, shooting six-for-nine against Williams and nine-for-12 against Middlebury. Neither team had any answer in the post for the 6'4" power forward, who has had to play against bigger opponents all winter.
Kumf's excellent play came just at the right time for the Jumbos, who will finish out their NESCAC schedule when they host Bowdoin and Colby this weekend. These will also be the last regular-season conference home games for Kumf and fellow seniors Brian Fitzgerald, Dave Shepherd, Ross Trethewey, and Jason Grauer, a class that will be remembered for turning around the men's basketball program, which went 8-17 in its freshman year.
