Sandwiching an Amherst loss between a pair of Trinity wins, Tufts will take that momentum and move on to its last conference game of the season -- a showdown with the Bates Bobcats.
Currently ranked 16th in Div. III, Tufts will welcome Bates (16-7) tomorrow. The Bobcats should provide a test for the Jumbos, as they sit just behind Tufts in the NESCAC standings with a 5-3 record in the conference.
The Jumbos will be playing with the added incentive: the contest is also Senior Day for the four members of the graduating class. Tufts has not lost at home since the fourth game of the season back in November and will be hoping to keep that streak alive tomorrow.
"Obviously it is the culmination of a really long career for all of us," said senior forward Katie Tausanovitch, who is also a layout editor for the Daily. "Everyone wants to go out there and give their best performance and have fun and give ourselves a good going away present and thank our teammates for what they invested in us. So it is a big deal for us. It kind of signifies the end of something that has been really great for us."
The game is a rematch of the Jan. 10 battle that Tufts won 66-55 in Lewiston, Maine in a matchup that did not count toward the NESCAC standings. In that contest, four of Tufts' five starters posted double-digits in scoring, led by junior forward Julia Baily with 18 points. The Jumbos overcame a season-high 22 turnovers, which led to 31 points for the Bobcats, and built a double-digit lead for the last 14 minutes of the game.
Tufts' defense was outstanding on Tuesday against Trinity, holding them to just 27.5 percent shooting and dominating the game from the opening tip-off.
But Bates will be a different story; they are tied with Amherst as the top shooting team in the conference and also excel from beyond the arc. The Bobcats are adept at sharing the basketball, leading the NESCAC with an average 18.26 assists per game.
"When we faced Bates earlier in the season, they were just starting to play together as a team and hitting that point that every team hits when chemistry is starting to show," Tausanovitch said. "We know this is a different Bates team that is playing really well, but there is also a lot at stake for us."
Tufts will have to contend with one of the best scorers in the conference on Saturday in senior Val Beckwith, who is second in the NESCAC at 18.3 points per contest. Junior Lauren Yanofsky, however, was the player that hurt the Jumbos the most in the earlier clash, as she caught fire in the second half and finished with 18 points. The forward is the ninth-leading scorer in the league with 12.2 points per game. And with freshman point guard Annie Burns -- who averages over five assists -- at the helm, Bates has a potent offense.
"I think that we learned last time we played Bates that Beckwith is not their only offensive weapon," junior guard Vanessa Miller said. "What it comes down to is playing good team defense and having good help defense."
Although the Jumbos' defense will clearly be tested, if they get a contribution from the bench like they did Tuesday, they should not have many problems. The 31 points from the reserves was the third-highest total for Tufts this season, and their strong play is a good sign for the team.
Although Bates has lost three of their last six games, it will be coming off a win of its own over Trinity on Saturday. The Bobcats will try to keep their grasp on the fourth spot in the league, which would guarantee them a much-coveted home game in the opening round of the NESCAC Tournament. Only Wesleyan, who beat Bates on a last-second jumper on Jan. 31, can push the Bobcats down to the fifth spot if it wins both of its games this weekend at home over Bowdoin and Colby -- and Tufts wins Saturday.
Tufts, meanwhile, still has an outside shot at earning a higher seed if Amherst or Bowdoin slip up in their two games this weekend. While the loss to the Lord Jeffs on Saturday means that Tufts will need both Williams and Middlebury to upset the conference's top team, an upset by Wesleyan or Conn. College over the Polar Bears could help the Jumbos jump up a spot in the conference standings.
First things first, however: Tufts needs to take care of business tomorrow.
"At this point, where we stand isn't terribly important to us," Miller said. "We know that we have done our job to get our spot in the top couple teams in the league. I don't think right now anyone is worried about standings. We are just worried about Bates. We are trying not to think too far ahead because they are a team that is tough to beat."
