Following a career night from its senior co-captain and a couple of assists from its NESCAC rivals, the women's basketball team is in the driver's seat.
The nationally ranked No. 16 Jumbos swept weekend games against a pair of conference rivals at Cousens Gym over the weekend, knocking off Wesleyan 75-63 Friday night before trouncing Conn. College 85-67 the next day to improve to 15-2. The victories, coupled with final-minute losses by both Bates and national No. 4 Amherst over the weekend, moved Tufts into sole possession of first place in the NESCAC with three conference games remaining. "We're happy with two wins," senior co-captain Kim Moynihan said. "Any weekend where you come away with two wins in the NESCAC is a good weekend. Being in first place is great for now, but we know that the only thing that matters is where we stand at the end of the year."
At 5-1 in NESCAC play, Tufts has a half-game lead on Amherst and Bowdoin, both of whom are 4-1. The Jumbos own the head-to-head tie-breaker with the Polar Bears -- courtesy of a 67-56 victory over Bowdoin on Jan. 24 -- and have a chance to earn the tie-breaker with the Lord Jeffs next weekend. The Jumbos travel to Amherst for a game that could decide whether or not they capture their first NESCAC regular-season title and home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Against Wesleyan, trailing 30-20 with 1:31 to play in the first half, the Jumbos rode Moynihan's back and seized control of the game. After a layup by junior forward Julia Baily cut Wesleyan's lead to eight, Moynihan tallied 14 consecutive, unanswered points -- going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field during the run -- to help Tufts open up a 36-30 advantage 2:49 into the second half.
"My teammates just did a good job of getting me the ball when I was open," Moynihan said. "It wasn't a one-man effort. Everyone stepped it up that game; there was a definite difference in our energy level."
The Cardinals held it to a two-possession game for the next 8:05 before a three-pointer from Moynihan put the Jumbos ahead 55-47. It was her final bucket on a night in which she tallied a career-high 26 points. From there, Tufts never looked back, building as much as an 18-point lead, thanks in part to a lock-down defensive effort. Over the final 10 minutes of the game, Wesleyan scored as many points off of free throws as it did off of field goals (eight), as Tufts clamped down on a team that shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half.
In addition to leading all scorers, Moynihan put together a strong performance on the defensive end, limiting senior guard Ali Fourney, the NESCAC's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game heading into the weekend, to 4-of-12 shooting. Wesleyan's other premier scoring threat, graduate co-captain Lucy Sprung, was also held below her season average.
In the absence of junior Casey Sullivan, who sat out the weekend with a right foot injury, Tufts received a spark from a pair of freshman reserves. Forward Rachel Figaro shot 4-of-4 from the field, while guard Tiffany Kornegay added eight points, four rebounds and three assists.
In its Saturday afternoon tilt against Conn. College, a team that hasn't had a winning record since 1997, Tufts was able to empty its bench in an easy victory. With their reserves playing more total minutes than their starting five, the Jumbos led by as many as 30 in the second half before cruising to their fifth double-digit NESCAC victory of the season.
Tufts had four players reach double figures in scoring, including sophomore point guard Colleen Hart, who led the team with 17 points. Kornegay had another productive game off the bench, totaling a career-high 11 points in 19 minutes.
Following tomorrow night's contest against non-conference foe UMass Dartmouth, the Jumbos will have two days off before they hit the road for another critical weekend of conference play. The marquee matchup will be Saturday afternoon's showdown against Amherst in a rematch of last season's NESCAC championship game.
