Monday night in Norton, Mass., the women's basketball team put together perhaps its most productive offensive performance to date. Facing a Wheaton squad they met in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, the Jumbos crossed the 80-point mark for the first time this year, shot a season-best 50 percent from the floor and saw all five starters hit double figures in scoring.
As it turned out, they needed all the offense they could get.
Leading by 18 at halftime and by as many as 23 in the second half, Tufts withstood a late Wheaton charge and closed out an 80-71 victory, their sixth win in a row. Outscored 37-28 in the second half, the Jumbos yielded more than 70 points in a game for the first time since their season-opening loss to New Paltz and allowed the Lyons to shoot 44.4 percent from three-point range.
"It wasn't our best effort defensively," coach Carla Berube said. "It was a combination of things: I thought Wheaton ran their stuff well and made some big shots, but I also think we have work to do. We haven't even come close to reaching our potential. Things have been clicking well offensively for us lately, and we just have to pick it up on the defensive end."
It appeared Tufts had the game well in hand when a layup by junior tri-captain Colleen Hart with 7:22 remaining closed out a 19-6 run and gave the team a commanding 74-51 lead. But over the final seven minutes, the Lyons shot 70 percent from the field -- including four of five from beyond the arc -- and outscored the Jumbos 20-6, trimming a potential runaway Tufts victory down to single digits.
"Their posts really started taking it to us," senior tri-captain Vanessa Miller said. "We just had a hard time adjusting, posts and guards included. The guards tried to help down and dig in a little bit, leaving their shooters open for threes. Nobody was quite on the same page when we let them go on that run."
Ultimately, Tufts' lead, built up largely over the course of an electric first half, was too much for Wheaton to overcome. For the period, the Jumbos shot nearly 60 percent from the floor -- at one point draining 20 of 27 shots -- and racked up 52 points, their most in any half since Nov. 25, 2003. Tufts did a good chunk of its first-half damage in transition, turning 11 Wheaton turnovers into 17 points.
"Our strengths are in the transition game and making plays on the defensive end, so we're not necessarily ever walking it up the floor and working a half-court offense," said Berube, whose team has now outscored its opponents by 112 points in the first halves of games this season. "We've gotten a lot of steals from our perimeter players that have led to more possessions, easy baskets and more scoring in the first half, and even in the full game, than we've had in the past."
Another reason Tufts was also able to blow the game open early was its continued sharp shooting from three-point range. For the game, the Jumbos shot 42.9 percent from beyond the arc, with seven of their nine three-pointers coming in the first half.
Through seven games this season, Tufts has already made 52 threes. Hart, now four away from tying the program's three-point record, has led the way with a blistering 26-of-50 clip from downtown.
"[Berube] said when we were learning our new offense that we want layups or three-pointers," Miller said. "What we're really looking to do is drive and penetrate, break down the defense and then find the people on the three-point line that are open. It's been working for us.
"We have a lot of good shooters this year, which maybe hasn't always been the case for us," she continued. "We're definitely looking to utilize that because we do have a big size disadvantage."
Before taking a two-week holiday recess, the Jumbos will play in the Regis College Tournament in Weston, Mass. beginning on Saturday. The two games this weekend will close out a successful first half for the Jumbos, one which has featured a road victory at preseason No. 9 Brandeis and blowout wins over perennial New England heavyweights Salem State and Colby-Sawyer.
Though Tufts' early season success is, on one hand, consistent with the high standards it has set for itself over the past two years, it does come as a bit of a surprise considering the turnover on the team's roster. The Jumbos lost eight players from last season's team -- all listed at 5-foot-8 or taller -- which has forced them to play a smaller-than-usual lineup and use inexperienced players in significant roles. Considering all the changes it has undergone, Tufts, which yesterday climbed into the D3hoops.com national top 25, is content with its 6-1 start.
"There were some questions at the beginning of the season -- just trying to figure out who we are, what our strengths are -- but I've liked how we responded to the adversity of losing some key players from last year," Berube said. "There's a lot of work to be done, a lot of work ahead of us, but I like how this team is gelling."
"Obviously, 7-0 would be much nicer, but nobody's unhappy about 6-1, especially because we've gotten some wins against some teams that I don't think people expected us to beat," Miller added. "We still have a lot of things that we're not happy with, but to be 6-1 is a good position to be in."
