As it turned out, the women's basketball team lost more than just some ground in the NESCAC standings over the weekend.
On the heels of its worst performance of the season - a 63-46 loss at conference rival Williams on Sunday - the Jumbos fell from No. 14 to No. 21 in the most recent D3hoops.com poll, which was released Monday night. The ranking is Tufts' lowest since Dec. 31, 2007, which was also the last time the Jumbos did not appear in the Top 25. The seven-position drop was the furthest any team has fallen in a one-week span since NYU fell 13 spots in late January.
The No. 14 ranking had tied for Tufts' highest-ever position in the D3hoopos.com poll, a mark it also reached on Jan. 13 on the strength of a program-best 12-0 start. But as with their most recent ascent to the No. 14 spot, the Jumbos held onto the position for just a week. A Jan. 18 loss to NESCAC foe Amherst dropped the Jumbos to No. 18.
Tufts had been steadily rising since the setback, climbing back to the No. 14 ranking ahead of its contest at Williams. But the team shot a season-worst 27.5 percent from the floor en route falling 63-46 to the Ephs, just the Jumbos' second loss of the season.
Tufts was hardly the only upset victim in Div. III last week, as five of the 13 teams ranked ahead of the Jumbos, including three in the Top 10, also lost. In all, 18 of the 25 teams appearing in Monday's poll were either unranked or ranked in a different position the week before.
