With graduations, transfers and injuries, teams rarely look the same from year to year. A team's star player one year often gives way to a gaping hole in the squad the next.
But a look into this year's women's basketball team reveals a familiar group of players looking to rally behind the same key pillars that have brought it success in the past: defense, speed and an innate ability to win.
After losing only one starter to graduation, the Jumbos are back with the same core that last season led them to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Though the post presence of Julia Baily (LA '10) will certainly be missed, Tufts still has senior tri−captain Colleen Hart, who led the conference in scoring, and classmate Vanessa Miller, the NESCAC Defensive Player of Year.
Juniors Tiffany Kornegay and tri−captain Kate Barnosky, the team's other returning starters, are dangerous players in their own right. Kornegay began to come into her own toward the end of the last season as a dangerous 3−point shooter, while Barnosky is an expert at giving opposing forwards headaches, forcing them onto the perimeter before beating them off the dribble.
Coach Carla Berube has never been afraid to give her starters heavy playing time and all four returners averaged more than 30 minutes per game last season. Expect more of the same from the Jumbos, who will try to get everything they can out of their key upperclassmen.
"Having our starters back is a great thing because so much of basketball, and the style that we play specifically, is just about being comfortable with your teammates and knowing how they play," Miller said. "Having a group of people who played as many minutes together as we did last year will be great, because we are that much more trusting in each other."
But it won't be entirely smooth sailing for the Jumbos, and their depth will be tested right out of the gates. Barnosky is currently sidelined by a torn meniscus and will be out of action until at least mid−January, while Miller will be using her final semester of eligibility for the second semester, rendering her ineligible until the first week of 2011.
With the Jumbos' depleted starting lineup, opposing teams are likely to double−team Hart and make the Jumbos' younger players beat them. The Jumbos have acquired another weapon in sophomore Collier Clegg, a transfer from Colorado College. In her freshman season with the Tigers, Clegg averaged 14.1 points and 4.5 rebounds and her 5−foot−10 frame will definitely benefit a short Jumbos lineup.
"[Clegg] has a real presence on the court; she plays with no fear," Hart, who was recently selected to the D3hoops.com Preseason All−American Second Team, said. "She attacks the hoop, and she's a phenomenal shooter. With the offense we run, we like to take a lot of [three−point shots], which will be great for her. She has fit in right off the bat, and I am definitely excited to have her."
Even with Clegg, the Jumbos will need to quickly find a way to replace Baily in the post. The spot is up for grabs, and it will likely be filled by committee early on, with seniors Sarah Nolet and Issy Cless, sophomore Samantha Tye and freshman Ali Rocchi all getting minutes.
"Everyone is really stepping up to the challenge," Miller said. "We knew going into the season that height was going to be an issue with us and clearly losing as big of a post presence as Julia Baily was would be an issue for any team. But everyone is just working hard."
With a dynamic offense that includes some of the best shooters in the conference, Tufts has spent much of the offseason focusing on improving its defense. The Jumbos went 21−6 in 2009−10 but were only 2−5 in games in which their opponents tallied 65 or more points.
One of the biggest challenges Tufts faces is compensating for a lack of height, something the squad looks to minimize by having its guards help down low.
"We are really drilling things in practice to get our defense down and basically making it a team game," Miller said. "If another team is bigger than one of our post players, we will play a help−defense and I am very confident in our ability to do that."
Tufts opens its season Saturday in a matchup with Lasell in the Eastern Connecticut Tip−Off Tournament. After another game the following day, the Jumbos will have a week to prepare for their home−opener, a key out−of−conference matchup against Brandeis. The Judges are always one of the top teams in the region and received seven votes in the D3hoops.com preseason rankings.
"[Brandeis] will definitely be a good test," Hart said. "We actually played with them a lot over the summer, so we know how a lot of them play. It's always a grudge match with them, and it will show a lot if we can do some damage against them."
Of course, Tufts will still be shorthanded come the Brandeis game and the Judges will know better than to let Hart beat them — in a 60−50 Tufts win over Brandeis on Nov. 29, 2009, Hart was 3−for−18 from the field and 0−for−8 from beyond the arc but still finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Still, the team is confident that the rest of its young players are ready and willing to step up.
"Colleen is not such a great player just because she shoots the ball," Miller said. "There are a lot of things she does for this team and for this offense that don't involve her putting the ball in the basket. At this point in her career, she is extremely good at recognizing when teams are focusing on her defensively and using that to get her teammates points."
The team will be back with a full roster time for conference play — the first NESCAC game of the season is Jan. 14 against Middlebury at Cousens Gym — and the Jumbos look to be a definite title threat with their wealth of experience. The NESCAC is as dangerous as ever, with four teams ranked in the top 25 — including No. 1 Amherst — but the squad knows it can compete with any of them.
"It's really exciting to come back with a pretty good mixture of experience and some fresh faces," Hart said. "It brings in some new energy but with that experience, we are able to not go into games nervous. We can show up at every game and hopefully make it to the playoffs, and we know we've been there before, and we know what to expect."
