Looking Back (Jan. 20) | New York Giants 23, Green Bay Packers 20
For kicker Lawrence Tynes and the New York Giants, the third time was the charm.
The Giants earned a trip to face the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl with a 23-20 overtime win over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game. Tynes, who hit a 47-yard field goal to win the game, was nearly the Giants' goat after missing two field goals down the stretch in the fourth quarter.
Both offenses struggled early, as sub-zero temperatures and 24-mph winds took their toll. The lone big play of the opening half was by Packers wide receiver Donald Driver, who turned a 19-yard pass from quarterback Brett Favre into a 90-yard touchdown to give Green Bay a 7-6 lead, which was extended on a Mason Crosby field goal just before the half.
The second half was back and forth, as the tandem of running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw each scored a touchdown for New York, while Favre found tight end Donald Lee for his second touchdown pass.
With the game tied at 20, quarterback Eli Manning marched the Giants down the field twice, but Tynes could not convert on a 43-yard field goal or a 36-yarder at the end of regulation.
Luckily for New York, Favre returned to his careless ways of last season, throwing an interception on the second play of overtime. That set up the game winner by Tynes, giving the Giants their second straight upset and third straight road victory in the playoffs.
Looking Ahead (Jan. 26) | Women's Basketball: Tufts At Bates
To emerge from this weekend with a winning conference record, the women's basketball team will have to overcome the challenge of a perennial NESCAC power hungry for revenge.
The nationally-ranked No. 18 Jumbos will travel to Bates on Saturday to take on a Bobcats team that has not finished lower than third in the conference since 2001. This year's Bates squad, which sits at 10-5 on the season and 1-1 in NESCAC play, is as formidable a foe as its predecessors, with a starting lineup that includes three former All-NESCAC selections in junior Val Beckwith and seniors Sarah Barton and Meg Coffin.
The teams will be facing off for the second time this season. In the schools' first meeting, a Jan. 12 matchup at Cousens Gym that did not count against the teams' conference records, Tufts saw a 20-point lead it built in the opening 12 minutes dwindle down to five in the final minute before it held on for a 66-57 victory. The Jumbos had three players - freshman guard Colleen Hart, junior guard Kim Moynihan and junior center Katie Tausanovitch - in double figures, while the defense limited Bates to just 32.8 percent shooting.
The victory was the Jumbos' third straight over Bates, a streak that includes a 52-39 Tufts win in last year's NESCAC semifinals.
