Sports

Women's Basketball | The defense that launched a contender

Late in the second half of a vital matchup against Amherst College, Tufts found itself needing a defensive stop.

Women's Basketball | The defense that launched a contender

Late in the second half of a vital matchup against Amherst College, Tufts found itself needing a defensive stop.

Women's squash swept in NESCACs

In what has been a trying season for the Tufts women's squash team, the Jumbos hit another rough patch during last weekend's NESCAC tournament.

Women's Fencing | Jumbo fencing falls 13-14 to NYU in close bout

he season this past Saturday against NYU at Carzo Cage, the Jumbos came within a single bout of victory, finishing 13-14 on the weekend after going 4-0 at the Wellesley Invitational. "The team fought hard against NYU this past weekend, despite it being a small meet," junior sabre captain Shelby Bean said. "We only lost by a single bout, but that was a huge improvement over past years." For the Jumbos, though, it was an impressive feat to come so close to a nationally respected squad. "It's never fun to lose that close, but it shows we're competitive with NYU, which has a lot of recruited fencers," senior team captain and foil squad captain Kelly Manser said. Beginning with the epee squad, freshman Julia Malleck helped lead a strong overall effort, winning all three of her bouts. Fellow epees sophomore Katharine Lynch and senior Abigail Hepworth finished with two victories apiece, giving the Jumbos an early 7-2 lead over NYU. Against NYU's foils, Manser led a squad featuring junior Mailin Li and sophomore Flora Lang that felt like a mismatch between the Jumbos' former walk-ons versus NYU's recruited fencers. Despite an improved effort since the previous year, the foil squad came down 0-9 against NYU. Finally, in the sabre division, freshman Alexandra Boden won both of her bouts, and Bean added two more victories out of her three matches. Junior Julia Hisey, who typically fences epee, contributed another victory, and sophomore Sarah Innes-Gold finished the squad's final bout of the day with a victory. Innes-Gold gave the sabre fencers a 6-3 win over NYU, but the Jumbos still missed out on victory in a narrow 13-14 defeat. "Sabre did well, as did epee," Manser said. "Foil, compared to last year, probably didn't do better in terms of wins, but we're doing a lot better overall." Manser, whose foil squad is still trying to improve with an inexperienced base of fencers added that a better attitude has contributed to their strength. "We…are pushing ourselves more, which has really paid off," she said. The loss against NYU came for the Jumbos just a week after a 4-0 finish at the Wellesley Invitational multi-team meet, in which the Jumbos overcame four regional foes in UMass Amherst (14-13), Mount Holyoke (17-10), host team Wellesley (18-9), and Boston University (20-7). "The 4-0 was a huge step for the team and a great confidence boost for the rest of the season. It was entirely a team effort and wouldn't have been possible if every fencer hadn't been doing her part," Bean said. Individual highlights included a 3-0 performance by Boden against UMass Amherst, 3-0 performances by Lynch and Boden against Wellesley and 3-0 victories by Hisey and Innes-Gold against BU. Perhaps most impressive among the Jumbos' wins was its 18-9 match against host Wellesley, as they took overall wins in each weapon, including a 3-0 record for Manser, who helped boost the team's foil squad past Wellesley's. Tufts' performance this weekend across the three weapons was highlighted by a 33-3 finish by the Jumbos' sabre squad across both meets, in addition to a total winning record of 22-14 by the epees in their match. "Every single squad had several moments of greatness, that showed not only how far we've come as a team, but how far each of us have come as individual fencers," Manser said of last week's competition. The team's next challenge comes on the road at BU this Saturday, Feb. 9, where it hopes to carry over its momentum from its Wellesley meet victory over the regional foe.

Jason Schneiderman | Stoppage Time

Soccer is a cruel and strange business. Beloved players are sold, successful coaches are fired and empathy and fairness are rarely present. Nigel Adkins, former manger of Southampton FC in the English Premier League, can attest to this. One minute he was leading his newly promoted club to a stunning 2-2 draw away at powerhouse Chelsea, the latest in a stretch of 12 matches that yielded only two defeats. The next, he was inexplicably fired by Italian chairman Nicola Cortese and replaced by Mauricio Pochettino, an Argentine who is just now beginning to learn English. On the surface, the change makes no sense. No reasonable person could have expected a better two-and-a-half-year tenure than the one Adkins provided for Southampton. When Adkins was hired in September 2010, Southampton was struggling in the third tier of English soccer. But consecutive promotions brought Southampton back to the Premier League for the first time in eight years. Their opening fixture of the season, away at Manchester City, saw them take the champions to the brink, holding a 2-1 lead late into the second half before ultimately falling, 3-2. Further brilliant efforts against perennial top teams Arsenal and Chelsea, in which Southampton earned well-deserved draws, demonstrated the attacking prowess and belief Adkins was instilling into his team. And when the season was at its high point, as he had his team playing at its highest level, Adkins was fired. The Premier League is no stranger to firings, and in recent years their frequency has become startling. Just this season, Roberto Di Matteo, manager of Chelsea during arguably their most successful season ever - they won both the FA Cup and the Champions League - was fired after just 12 league matches. The change was not totally unexpected, however, as eccentric Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has fired nine managers since he purchased the club in 2003, which the chief executive of the League Manager's Associations called "a serious embarrassment to the owner, the club, the fans and the league." Not surprisingly, Southampton fans have erupted in outrage, calling for a reason as to why their beloved manager was fired in favor of a non-English speaking stranger who was fired less than two months ago from his managing position at Spanish side Espanyol. Cortese has yet to speak to the media or release a statement on Adkins' firing, leading some to believe the chairman did not make the decision in an effort to improve the team. For example, former Southampton star Matt Le Tissier wondered aloud whether the team chairman's decision was from a purely selfish, non-soccer-related perspective. "We have lost just two in 12 in the Premier League and looked like a team that had turned the corner, and now everything is turned upside-down again," Le Tissier said. "I don't know if Nigel was becoming too popular and the chairman didn't like it he does appear to have a bit of an ego problem." If such speculation holds any validity, Southampton owners must take a hard look at Cortese as a long-term chairman. After a string of five years and nine different managers, Adkins was on the way to bringing stability to a team on the rise. Now, the team is once again in an upheaval, and Pochettino has an extremely difficult task ahead of him. In a purely results-driven industry, only time will tell whether Cortese made a good decision in changing managers at such a controversial time. He put his reputation, and likely his job, on the line making this unpopular move, and if the season takes a downward spiral resulting in relegation from the Premier League he will likely discover firsthand how cruel a business soccer really is.

Inside the NCAA | Major conference matchups clear up late season picture

Another week of conference play meant another week of higher stakes as the calendar turns to February. While some teams were completing a climb back to the top, others were continuing to fall. It seems as though no one can hold onto the No. 1 spot for more than a week, with a new team taking the mantle after each of the last four weeks of play. Here's what Week 13 brought us: Indiana earns back top spot after victory over Michigan After two tough losses to unranked opponents earlier in the season, the Indiana Hoosiers have returned to form, defeating the then-No. 1 Michigan Wolverines in a home game on Saturday, 81-73. The new rankings validated Indiana's return to the top with its new No. 1 ranking, a position it had held for the first seven weeks of the season. The game was a team effort, with all five Hoosiers starters in the double-figures and forwards Christian Watford and Cody Zeller finishing with 10 rebounds apiece as well. Zeller was unquestionably the star, as his 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting helped to propel the Hoosiers to a lead they would sustain for much of the game. With the exception of sophomore point guard and leading National Player of the Year candidate Trey Burke, the Wolverines struggled to get into their rhythm offensively the whole night and instead found themselves chasing the Hoosiers until the final buzzer. Indiana will resume play Thursday on the road at Illinois before a trip to Columbus, Ohio to take on the No. 10 Ohio State University on Sunday afternoon. Pittsburgh tops 'Cuse yet again Syracuse had lost eight out of their last 10 games against the Pittsburgh Panthers going into Saturday. And things didn't get better, as the Orange shot an ugly 36.7 percent from the floor while only making 3-of-14 attempted 3-point shots, numbers that contributed to yet another loss, this time 65-55. The loss marked the first time Syracuse has lost consecutive games in nearly two years. Led by an unwavering defensive intensity and Tray Woodall's 13 points, the Panthers improved to 18-5 on the season and an impressive 13-1 against Top 10 teams at home for the last decade. While C.J. Fair of Syracuse led both teams with 20 points, Michael Carter-Williams, the standout sophomore who leads the nation with over eight assists per game, only dished out two, as Syracuse lost its second Big East game and slipped into a tie for first in the loss column with Marquette. The Orange will be back home at the Carrier Dome to take on St. John's after a win over No. 25 Notre Dame on Monday, while Pittsburgh, now No. 23 in the country, has winnable games against Seton Hall and No. 17 Cincinnati later this week. Oklahoma State takes down Kansas in biggest Big 12 upset of the season When Travis Ford's Oklahoma State squad dropped three of its first five games to open up 2013, analysts started to believe the Cowboys would be an afterthought yet again in the Big 12 this season. However, that chatter was quickly put to rest Saturday when junior guard Markel Brown and freshman standout point guard Marcus Smart combined for 53 points on 17-for-34 shooting to take down the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence. With the win, the Cowboys snapped both the Jayhawks' overall 18-game win streak and its 33-game home winning streak in Phog Allen Fieldhouse. Brown especially was terrific, nailing seven of his 10 3-pointers to keep the Cowboys in the game against such an impressive opponent from beginning to end. With his performance, Smart now becomes arguably the best freshman point guard in college basketball and is a potential top-five overall pick come this summer's NBA draft. Freshman Ben McLemore led the way for the Jayhawks, finishing with 23 points and scoring double figures for the 19th time on the year. No. 5 Kansas will play two unranked opponents this week before heading home to face No. 13 Kansas State on Monday, while Oklahoma State will take the court again tonight against Baylor. Miami Hurricanes jump up six spots in Top 25 after close win against N.C. State Despite a double-double from Wolfpack big man C.J. Leslie, N.C. State was unable to hold off the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes, who remain undefeated in the ACC at 8-0 with impressive wins over powerhouse No. 4 Duke and now N.C. State. Down one point with just over 10 seconds left in regulation, the Hurricanes ran a play to sophomore Shane Larken, who proceeded to pull up from the right side with time ticking away. Larken missed the mid-range jumper, but senior center Reggie Johnson was there for the save, as he tipped in the shot with 0.8 seconds left to seal the win for Miami. The Hurricanes were led by senior guard Durand Scott, who tied Leslie for a game-high score of 18 points and will look to continue their in-conference win streak when they host North Carolina later this week.

Men's Squash | Squash struggles at NESCAC Championships

The men's squash team, ranked No. 30 in the country, entered the NESCAC Championships ready for action after knocking off No. 33 MIT for the second time this season the week before. The Jumbos made strides in every position in the lineup after that 6?3 win and carried the wave of confidence to Trinity College for the conference tournament this weekend.

Men's Track & Field | Jumbos take third with slew of top finishes

In an effort that produced two wins and 11 total scoring performances, the Tufts men's track and field team finished third out of 20 teams Saturday in the Tufts Stampede. The Jumbos finished with 69 points - 93 points fewer than MIT, the meet winner, and 16.5 behind Williams, who finished in second place.

Women's Track & Field | Tufts women victorious in second home meet of the season

Men's Hockey | Jumbos playoff chances suffer massive hit with two losses to Conn. College

It's been the same story all season long.The hockey team enters the third period with a win easily within its reach, and then it all crumbles. In four of Tufts' last seven conference games, the Jumbos have either been winning or tied at the end of the second intermission. They have lost all seven.

Ethan Sturm | Rules of the Game

Men's Swimming & Diving | Men's swimming and diving teams perform well at Wheaton Invitational

Men's Basketball | Jumbos fall short in high-scoring contest at Amherst

Jordan Bean | Sacked

Women's Basketball | Jumbos beaten on a prayer, fall to Amherst 54-48

Women's Swimming & Diving | Strong end to the season for half of women's team

Women's Squash | Women's squash outlasts Boston College

Going into Wednesday night's match against Boston College, the women's squash team knew it was headed for a tough test. Despite three straight losses against in conference opponents Conn. College, Bowdoin, and Colby this month, the Jumbos were confident going into their Senior Night matchup.

Women's Swimming & Diving | Jumbos sweep Wheaton on Senior Day

The Tufts women's swimming & diving team dominated Wheaton College in their final dual meet of the season on Senior Day. The Jumbos won all 16 events as they dispatched the visiting Lyons with a 169?98 victory, closing out the year with a 3?5 record.

Men's Swimming & Diving | Young Jumbo squad take care of business on Senior Day

The men's swimming and diving team's final dual meet of the season at home against Wheaton College began with a celebration of the squad's outgoing seniors. But it quickly turned into a tour de force of the Jumbos' underclassmen and juniors. Freshmen Tyler Lueck, Cam Simko and Michael Winget and junior diver Johann Schmidt each had two first?place finishes in individual events. Freshmen Anthony DeBenedetto and Tanner Wiest, sophomore John Devine and juniors Drew Berman and Kyle Savidge added wins of their own, as the Jumbos took an early lead by winning the first nine swimming events and maintained it en route to a 163?100 win.

Squash | Tufts squash gets much needed victory

After a string of difficult matches in which the men's squash team struggled to find its form, their three matches this past weekend were a vital chance to a tune?up before the NESCAC Championships next weekend.