The women's basketball team continued to keep pace with the No. 2 team in the nation this weekend, adding two more conference wins to its already impressive 5-0 NESCAC record.
Beating Middlebury 61-50 and Williams, 58-53, on successive days at Cousens, the Jumbos honored their seniors well, by locking up a first-round home game in the NESCAC tournament.
In danger of losing its perfect conference record on Saturday against Williams, coach Carla Berube's squad nursed a double-digit deficit with as few as 13 minutes left.
Bolstered by the outside shooting of senior Valerie Krah and sophomore Kim Moynihan, Tufts slowly climbed back into the game. Krah notched 10 points and four assists in the second half, finishing with a total of 18 points and seven assists on the afternoon.
Off the bench, Moynihan posted eight points in a span of just over three minutes in the second half, including a three at the ten minute mark that cut the deficit to 43-40.
Efforts by Williams' senior guard Maggie Miller, who finished with a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds, kept the Ephs in the game as she traded baskets with junior forward Jenna Gomez and the rest of the Jumbos. Despite the Ephs' efforts, with just under seven minutes to play, Moynihan nailed a three to give Tufts a lead they would never relinquish.
"We have had a lot of good practices recently," senior co-captain Laura Jasinski said. "We have had a bunch of close games with Wesleyan, Amherst, and we have done a really good job of buckling down and taking it one possession at a time."
Playing the last regular-season game of their careers in Cousens, the seniors stepped up and willed their team to victory. Krah paced her team, as she has for the majority of the season, and was a constant force on the offensive end of the floor. Jasinski had two huge buckets to extend the Jumbos' lead down the stretch, while senior center Libby Park had six points and six rebounds. Guard Taryn Miller-Stevens contributed sound defense and nailed key free throws down the stretch to ice the game for the Jumbos.
On Friday night, Tufts built up a large halftime lead and enjoyed a comfortable cruise to victory, which clinched home-court advantage in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament.
"I think that is really important to the team," Jasinski said. "It is huge for our program in general, but also we have done a really good job of winning at home. That adds an extra layer of comfort, without having to travel."
With nine and a half minutes left in the first half, Krah took her first three pointer of the game and hit it for number 127 of her career, passing Carrie Hironaka, who played from 1995-99, for sole possession at the top of the list. Krah turned in a solid performance overall, pacing the Jumbos with 21 points, seven rebounds, and four assists on the night. Gomez added 14 points, while Jasinski and Park each pulled down 11 rebounds.
The story of the game, however, was the Jumbo defense, which held the Panthers to only 28 percent shooting, including an astounding 19 percent in the first half. Tufts also had nine blocks and six steals, as the defensive pressure proved to be too much for the Middlebury squad to overcome.
"I think one thing we have done well is learning from past mistakes and taking that into the next game," Miller-Stevens said. "We have taken something from each game we have played, and built on it. In the past nine games or so, we have done that successfully. Also, our defensive intensity has kept us in every game, no matter if the offense is falling or not."
Next weekend is the final weekend of the regular season, and the team will have another Friday-Saturday doubleheader. The season finale comes at Colby on Saturday afternoon, but Friday night will bring the Jumbos' biggest challenge of the season, as they travel to Brunswick, Maine to take on Bowdoin. The Polar Bears are currently the No. 2 team in the nation, thanks to their stellar overall record of 22-1.
"We look at every game as being important, but at this point in the season, where we are at this game means a lot to this team," Miller-Stevens said. "I think all of us are really excited to play on Friday night, and we are pumped up and ready to go. We are especially proud of the fact that Friday night will determine the regular season champion. We know a lot rides on the game, and we are going to leave everything out there."
