Evaluating a team's season is sometimes clear-cut. A team can overachieve and go further than even its most stalwart supporters ever dreamed or underachieve and fade to obscurity.
The women's basketball team's season, however, cannot be so easily defined.
Although the Jumbos missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006-07, the adversity overcome to get within striking distance of a bid perhaps revealed more about the team's strength than a deep postseason run would have.
"I don't want to see this season as a disappointment; it is something to be celebrated," senior tri-captain guard Lindsay Weiner said. "The NESCAC was very even-keeled this season, and while we won some big games, we also lost some. But to have come so far from my freshman year when making the NCAAs was a big deal, to now, where it is almost expected, says a lot about how we've progressed."
The season started off promisingly as the Jumbos, despite losing senior guard Vanessa Miller in the fall due to a lack of eligibility and junior tri-captain forward Kate Barnosky to a knee injury, rattled off wins in 10 of their first 11 games. The team was led by senior tri-captain guard Colleen Hart, but major contributions from junior guard Tiffany Kornegay, freshman forward/center Ali Rocchi and freshman guard/forward Liz Moynihan helped spur the squad on.
Tufts suffered its first major setback against Williams on opening weekend of conference play with both Miller and Barnosky back on the court. At Cousens Gym, the Jumbos rallied down the stretch to force overtime, but fell just short thanks to a buzzer-beating tip-in by Ephs sophomore Danny Rainer.
The team rebounded the following weekend with a 62-49 victory over Bowdoin, who finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the Northeast region and is currently in the Sweet 16 of the NCAAs. But as the game wound down, horror struck as Hart came down awkwardly on her ankle.
"It was a very bittersweet moment because we pulled off that big win that we really needed, but at the same time it was juxtaposed with not knowing when we would have Colleen back on the court," Miller said.
Then, to make matters worse, Barnosky was forced back to the sidelines with recurring knee problems. The next day, the short-handed Jumbos fell 67-54 to Colby.
In the two weeks that it took for Hart to fully recover, Tufts staggered its way to a 3-3 record that included its only truly unsightly loss, a 63-48 beating from regionally unranked Trinity.
On the positive side, Miller showed a potent offensive touch rarely seen throughout her defensive-minded Tufts career. Her hot streak included NESCAC Player of the Week honors for a three-game span in which she averaged 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.0 steals and 4.0 assists.
"I always prided myself in being the kind of player that does for the team what needs to be done in any given game," Miller said. "With Colleen gone, the thing that we really needed was scoring, so I did my best to try to make up for that."
With Hart back, the Jumbos reeled off three straight wins by an average of 19 points, led by the sudden outburst of sophomore guard/forward Collier Clegg, a transfer from Colorado College.
In a three-game stretch, Clegg had 26 points against Worcester State, 15 against Endicott and 18 in a win on Senior Night against NESCAC foe Bates, which finished one spot above Tufts in the final regional rankings. The Jumbos locked up the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament with the victory against the Bobcats.
Tufts drew Williams in the first round and got out to a dominant start. But the Ephs cut into the Jumbos' lead, eventually tying the game late in the second half. In overtime, the Jumbos could not keep up, falling 69-64 and effectively losing their final hopes at an at-large bid.
"Although those two losses [versus Williams] were tough, we played hard and we didn't give up," Weiner said. "It is still something to come out of those games forcing overtime instead of just getting blown out."
While the team fell short of the postseason, the Jumbos still managed to pile up their fair share of recognition. Hart led the conference in scoring with 16.0 points per game and earned first-team All-NESCAC honors for the third time. She also broke the career points record held by Teresa Allen (LA '89) on Dec. 11 against SUNY-New Paltz to become the program's all-time leading scorer.
Miller was named the conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season while averaging 2.8 steals per game, including a conference-best 2.78 per game in NESCAC play. Kornegay also performed admirably, averaging 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, as one of only two players on the team to start 20 or more games.
The other consistent starter was Rocchi, who was thrown into a challenging role in the post and impressed by averaging 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds.
"Ali had a lot put on her shoulders, she had some big shoes to fill," Miller said. "We've had a line of successful post players in the last few years, and, especially when you get into the NESCAC season, you are dealing with players that are no joke. She really had to grow up fast."
The Jumbos will lose a lot this offseason with the graduation of Weiner, Miller and Hart. But there is still plenty to look forward to as coach Carla Berube has unsurprisingly stacked the team with young talent — five or six recruits are ready to compete for playing time next year. There is little doubt Tufts will contend for an NCAA berth again in 2012.
"Every year is a learning experience, and next year that can look back at this year and become a better team," Weiner said. "Individually, if every player works hard to improve every aspect of their game, especially the freshmen and sophomores, then they have a lot to look forward to."
