The women's basketball team entered postseason play this past weekend as the No. 2 seed and, in theory, the heavy favorite against Conn. College in the NESCAC quarterfinals. On the court, the Jumbos did not disappoint, taking care of business across the board.
Tufts took nothing for granted on Saturday afternoon in Cousens Gym, playing characteristically strong defense and pulling away in the second half to earn a 57-40 NESCAC quarterfinal victory over Conn. College.
Junior forward Bre Dufault and senior forward Kate Barnosky — the team's co-captains — each hit three-pointers out of the gate, and the Jumbos raced to an 8-0 lead. But Conn. College was not prepared to go down without a fight. The Camels stormed back, tying the game at 13 with under 11 minutes to play in the first half. Sophomore Tara Gabelman then hit back-to-back jumpers to give the Camels a 20-18 lead late in the first frame, the team's last of the game. The Jumbos closed the half on a 7-0 run, including five points in the final minute, and went into the locker room with a 25-20 advantage.
Still, the squad knows it was not playing at the top of its game early on.
"I think the team is playing well right now, but we have yet to play our best complete game," senior guard Tiffany Kornegay said. "Our goal is to come out strong minute one and keep the intensity level high through minute 40. We know that at this point in the season, teams we play are going to come out better than before, and we cannot have lapses of bad play. We play our best ball when we are on the same page and making plays off of defensive stops."
The Jumbos turned up the intensity in the second half and distanced themselves from the Camels. Tufts capitalized on 16 Conn. College turnovers to build an 11-point advantage with 11:51 to go, and climbed to its largest lead of the game at the 8:39 mark, 48-30. The Camels would cut the lead to 12, but that was the closest they would come the rest of the way.
Kornegay had one of her best games of the year, leading all scorers with 16 points on 8-12 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds to complete a double-double. She also did an exceptional job of frustrating senior guard Jenn Shinall, who is averaging 13.3 points per game — fourth best in the NESCAC — but finished Saturday with just two points on 1-of-8 shooting. Shinall was all but invisible in the second half, attempting just two shots in 13 minutes.
"I definitely think that Saturday was one of my best games of the year," Kornegay said. "I felt good taking the ball to the hoop and comfortable shooting my jump shot."
Barnosky also had a solid game, finishing with 11 points and seven rebounds on 5-for-12 shooting. Junior guard Jeanna Dunleavy was the high scorer for the Camels with 13.
While the Jumbos offense hit its stride in the second half, it was once again a strong defensive effort that propelled them to victory. The Jumbos held the Camels to just 32.7 percent shooting, in the 11th game of the season in which they held their opponent to 40 points or less, the most in the NESCAC. Besides the team's success against Shinall, they also held Gabelman, the second-leading scorer in the conference entering the game.
"What helped us pull away from Conn. College in the second half was our communication on the defensive end and then making points in transition," freshman guard Kelsey Morehead said. "We forced them to take bad shots, and then we took advantage on the fast break."
Tufts improved to 20-5 overall and further solidified its at-large profile — they currently sit fourth in the regional rankings and likely will remain there this week. Conn. College, which saw its season come to an end on Saturday, finished at 16-7.
With the win, the Jumbos advances to the semifinals against No. 3 Bowdoin. The final two rounds of the NESCAC tournmanet will be held at Amherst.
When the two teams squared off in the regular season on Jan. 13, Bowdoin pulled out a one-point victory at the buzzer. The Polar Bears are led by the NESCAC's most prolific scorer, senior guard Jill Henrikson, who is averaging 17.2 points per game.
Undefeated No. 1 Amherst will take on No. 4 Colby in the other semifinal matchup on Saturday, and the semifinal winners will play for the championship on Sunday.
