The Jumbos earned their most dominant victory of the season so far, turning a low scoring first half on both sides into a 63−31 victory that has the team above .500 for the first time.
Despite a three−pointer from freshman point guard Kelsey Morehead to open things up, the Jumbos got off to a slow start in the first half, missing seven of their next nine shots. But Salem State struggled as well, and after nearly nine minutes of play the score stood just 8−7 in favor of the Vikings.
Tufts finally found a rhythm, though, and the Jumbos' end−to−end runs began to pay dividends as they put together a 10−0 run to seize control. After exchanging baskets for the rest of the frame, the Jumbos took a 26−15 lead into the locker room.
"When we are struggling on shooting, we definitely focus our energy on defense and getting points off of that," sophomore guard Caitlin McClure said. "That's what we were able to do; really getting some transition points and that helps us really start our offense and get the flow going."
Senior guard Tiffany Kornegay was at the heart of the Tufts surge, finishing the first half with nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals and four points. Morehead had eight points of her own, but the team as a whole struggled to find good shots, taking far too many shots from the arc and going just 3−for−17 from distance in the first half.
"It was a combination of things in the first half," head coach Carla Berube said. "We were rushing things, taking the first shot we saw instead of working our offense, working the ball into the post, and then having them collapse on us to open things up outside."
The Jumbos came out with renewed vigor in the second half, forcing six turnovers in the first six minutes and turning them into a 19−5 burst that put the game out of reach. Over the course of the second half, Tufts managed to turn 13 turnovers into 19 points.
"We kept our energy up, which is usually our mistake in the second half," Morehead said. "We made sure to keep pushing through and to get shots on defense when our shots weren't falling."
"In the second half, we got more shots in transition, more layups in transit, and easy shots out of breaking their press," Berube added. "It's much easy to score that way then to shoot up threes all half like we did in the first half."
As the half wore on, Berube was able to give more time to some of her younger players, who responded with strong play. Freshman Hannah Foley finished with seven points, four rebounds and two steals, while classmate Hayley Kanner had six points and two boards. McClure had 11 points in her first collegiate start, while Morehead finished with a game−high 15 points while chipping in six rebounds of her own. Though she went down hard after a layup and briefly came out of the game, she still played the most minutes of any Tufts player.
"[The freshmen] are an integral part of this team, and they have done a great job of coming right in and being confident," Berube said. "I'm very happy with how they have matured this early in the season."
With the victory, the Jumbos are now on a three−game winning streak, their longest since February. Following two early losses, they seem to have hit their stride, winning all three since falling to Whitman by double digits.
"We are trying to get four more wins before winter break," McClure said. "We have a lot of competition in January with the NESCAC season starting so we are just trying to get prepared for that, so four strong wins going into it would be great."
The Jumbos are off for a few days before a short drive west to Weston, Mass., for the Regis College Invitational. Tufts will take on Saint Joseph's on Friday and then face−off with the hosts on Saturday. After dropping both games in their first weekend doubleheader of the year, they will look to put up better results against a Pride side they have beaten in two consecutive seasons.
"We'll be better prepared for these next two games," Morehead said. "We know how important these two wins are for the rest of our season."
