Oftentimes, athletic programs schedule games against weaker opponents to start off the year, hoping simply to get back into the flow of competition and not to face a true test of their abilities. The Tufts women's basketball team is not one of those programs.
The Jumbos had their resiliency tested in the very first weekend of their season as they took part in the Rino's Pizza Tip-Off Classic in New Paltz, New York. Tufts opened its season by falling in double overtime on a buzzer-beater to host SUNY New Paltz, but the team rebounded the very next day by comfortably cruising past York College 68-60 in the consolation game of the four-team tournament.
Tufts dominated much of the second half in its season opener against the New Paltz Hawks, but the Jumbos were never able to pull away — not even after establishing a at 59-52 advantage, their largest lead of the game, with 3:34 left to play.
New Paltz rallied in the final points of the game, putting together a run that tied the game at 61 with 57 seconds to go. A quick basket by senior forward Julia Bailey gave Tufts the lead again, but a foul by junior tri-captain guard Colleen Hart on the following possession sent Hawks senior guard Nicole Sarcone to the charity stripe with the game on the line.
"The refs were calling it pretty tight," Hart said. "Honestly, it was a pretty touchy foul. They put her on the line, and they were a great free-throw-shooting team."
Sarcone came through in the clutch, sinking both and sending the game into overtime.
"We definitely gave up a couple of chances to bury them," Bailey said. "Three of our starters were also playing a little tentatively late with four fouls."
In the first overtime, the Jumbos went up by five but again could not seal the deal. Instead, a 7-0 run by New Paltz gave the Hawks a 70-68 lead and forced the Jumbos to call a timeout with 13 seconds left. Following the stoppage, Tufts sophomore guard Tiffany Kornegay hit a layup with five seconds left and sent the game into another extra period.
The second overtime was an even closer affair, as neither team was able to pull ahead of the other by more than two points. In the end, sloppy play cost the Jumbos, who coughed the ball up twice in the final minute with the score tied. On the final possession, Hawks senior Maggie Farrell penetrated the Jumbos' defense and made a layup as time expired.
"They just wanted it more than us," Bailey said. "We were tired, and it had been a long game."
Despite having four senior starters, New Paltz had fallen behind 12-0 in the first 3:30 of the game thanks in large part to two three-pointers from Hart.
"We just wanted to come out strong and set the tone," said Hart, who finished with 31 points, the most by a Jumbo since 2001. "We started off aggressively and put the other team on their heels."
But Tufts cooled down and only made one of its next 11 shots from the field, which allowed the Hawks to surge back and take a 23-18 lead. The two teams spent the rest of the first half exchanging blows, ultimately entering the locker room knotted at 31 following a Hart three-pointer.
Hart led both teams in scoring, draining six out of nine attempts from three-point range, while sophomore forward Kate Barnosky (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Bailey (21 points, 10 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles.
The next day, the Jumbos again found themselves in trouble, as an early 9-2 deficit to York had them fearing a 0-2 start to the season.
"We missed a couple easy shots in the beginning," Bailey said. "But I think once we found our rhythm, we were able to run our offense like we practiced."
Tufts did indeed find its groove, outscoring the Lady Cardinals by 25 in the rest of the first half, including respective runs of 19-2 and 12-2. Ultimately, the Jumbos took a comfortable 37-19 lead into the locker room after being led by Bailey's 14 points and seven rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
The rest of the game consisted of futile attempts by York to fight back into contention. Tufts continued to play well, stretching the lead to as much as 22 points while never allowing it to fall under 14 until the waning minutes of the game.
An 8-1 run by the Lady Cardinals in the final two minutes brought the lead to a reasonable eight points, but the final score was not indicative of the dominance the Jumbos showed throughout.
Tufts shot 45 percent from the field, while holding York to 36.8 percent. Junior guard Lindsay Weiner and Kornegay each tallied seven points off the bench for Tufts.
But for all the efforts that the Jumbos' reserves put together, Bailey stole the show. The five-foot-11 forward finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds, her second double-double in as many days.
"We know that she is going to be a huge contributor for us, and we need her to play like that," Hart said. "It was awesome for her to start off like that. She's our most prominent presence down low, and we need teams to focus on her."
For York, junior guard Maimouna Dabo finished with 23 points and seven rebounds. However, her individual effort was not enough to lift the Lady Cardinals in the face of such a well-rounded performance from the Jumbos, who had five players finish with at least seven points.
The Jumbos will play another contest on the road this Tuesday at Endicott before taking a five-day break for Thanksgiving. With a young and relatively inexperienced roster, Tufts will undoubtedly look at its first two contests as a point of learning.
"It was tough to lose that first game," said Hart, who was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 23 points on the weekend. "But I think we did learn a lot from it. We have a brand new team, a lot of new faces, and I think the weekend was good for us."
