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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Women's basketball continues to struggle

Earlier this season, top-ranked Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski made a bold move to jumpstart his slumping offense during a game against Kentucky - he pulled the starters. The young players sparked the team, and the Blue Devils rolled to a 98-95 overtime victory. On Tuesday night, the women's basketball coach Janice Savitz tried a similar technique as the slumping Jumbos were trailing Brandeis, but even with multiple lineup changes, the team could not find its rhythm and lost 63-53.

Having lost three of their last four in the new year, the Jumbos (6-5) have not resembled the team that reeled off four straight wins to end 2001. Brandeis (6-6), although not a particularly talented squad, played an aggressive game on Tuesday and hit enough shots to hold the lead for the entire contest.

In the opening eight minutes, the Judges jumped out to a 17-8 lead. Despite important three pointers later in the period from Tufts sophomore Maritsa Christoudias and freshman Erin Connolly, Brandeis capitalized on turnovers and went into the locker room with a 35-24 lead. Tufts shot an improved 36 percent from the field, but made only one free throw in the opening 20 minutes compared to Brandeis' nine.

The second half began well for the Jumbos as senior co-captain Jayme Busnengo stole the ball following the inbound pass and traveled the length of the court for an easy lay-up. The forward scored a team-high 12 points on the night on 4-5 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe. Averaging 9 points per game over the past four games, Busnengo has shot 54 percent from the field compared to a mere 28 percent for the rest of the team.

Although the momentum seemed to favor Tufts early in the second half, Brandeis went on a 7-0 run, pushing the score up to 42-26. At this point, Savitz pulled her starters for a long stretch and went with a much younger lineup that included four freshmen and a sophomore. The tall lineup, featuring four forwards, brought Tufts to within nine points with ten minutes remaining.

"The people that came in did a nice job of getting us back into the game," junior Emily Goodman said. "We have totally revamped our offense. By going inside more, it will free people up for open shots [outside]. A lot of our shots were forced [on Tuesday night]."

With many of the starters back in the game, Tufts seemed rejuvenated enough to pull off the comeback as Connolly and junior Erin Harrington drained back-to-back threes, making the score 49-42 with 5:50 to go. Over the next two minutes, Busnengo hit a layup and nailed four free throws, bringing Tufts to within four. But this was as close as the Jumbos would get. Brandeis ran down the clock and hit enough shots to stave off any further comeback, ultimately finishing off Tufts 63-53.

"They are a good team, and every year it has always been a close game," Goodman said. "They were disciplined and worked hard. We have trouble closing out games - we need to work on that and not get ourselves in such a big hole."

The Judges exhibited balanced scoring, with four players finishing in double figures, led by senior guard Jen Curran's 15. Besides Busnengo, Harrington was the only Jumbo in double figures, finishing with ten points. Junior point guard Hillary Dunn recorded five assists and also picked up four steals on the night.

Thus far, Tufts has only played in non-conference contests, but on Saturday it will begin the NESCAC schedule against 9-2 Bates in Lewiston, ME.

"We would really like to prove ourselves in the NESCAC," Goodman said. "It would be good for team morale."