Tufts begins season with tournament win at Ramada Invitational

The Tufts women's basketball team enters its season as the team to beat in the NESCAC, and in the entire northeast, coming off a season in which it reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. The Jumbos began the season competing in the Ramada Roundball Invitational at University of New England (UNE) this weekend.

"After reaching the Final Four, we now have a huge target on our backs," senior tri-captain guard Hannah Foley said. "We know everyone will play their best game against us, and we will be giving them our best game as well."

"We treat every game like we are playing the best team in the country," she said. "Especially the first game of the season, you can't think at all about how you or your opponent were in the past. It is a new season and a new team. I think we had to shake off some first-game jitters and rust, but we've been working really hard this fall, and we were excited to show how hard we have worked."

In the tournament's championship game, Tufts faced off against UNE in a rematch of last year's second-round NCAA tournament thriller in which Liz Moynihan (LA '14) launched a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of overtime to dash UNE's championship aspirations. Points came primarily in short bursts, as both offenses were kept at bay, which suited the Jumbos' game plan.

"Everyone's role is primarily defense," senior tri-captain forward Hayley Kanner said. "Our program preaches fundamentally sound defense, which leads to easy scores. Coach has instilled a sense of urgency on the defensive end, and when our defense has high energy and great communication, the offense follows suit."

Both teams were slow out of the gate, due to a great extent to each other's gritty defense. They combined for a mere 13 points in the first 10 minutes. Tufts led 28-21 at the half, and six minutes into the second period, sophomore guard Josie Lee connected on a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 40-30.

"We were familiar with UNE and their style of play," Foley said. "They have almost the exact same personnel as last year, so I think we prepared really well on the defensive end. We knew what hurt us last year, and we weren't going to let that happen again. Offensively, we struggled at times with their zone, which they execute very well. I think it is in part due to how early in the year it is, but people stepped up and made shots and plays when we needed them, and that pulled us through."

UNE senior forward Kelly Coleman, who was ubiquitous on the floor, went nine-for-10 from the free throw line, sinking two of her 20 total points, which led all scorers from the stripe with about six-and-a-half minutes remaining to bring the score to 50-48. That was as close as things would get, however, as senior tri-captain Kelsey Morehead drained her lone 3-pointer on the day to ice the game. A smattering of points here and there, a timely turnover and a clutch 3-pointer -- that was the winning formula.

The day before, Tufts took on Keene St. to begin its season. Whereas the championship game brought Tufts' defensive prowess to the fore, the first game showcased Tufts' offensive skills.

After a 9-point deluge in the first four minutes, Tufts never looked back en route to a resounding 79-48 win over Keene St. Tufts' smothering defense hounded its opponents throughout the contest, holding them to 32.2 percent shooting, while the offense was firing on all cylinders.

"In the Keene St. game, I thought we were doing a good job of attacking and hitting open shots, which allowed me to get good positioning for offensive boards and easy put-backs if they didn't fall," Kanner said.

Foley and Kanner led the way, with Foley hitting four of five from downtown and Kanner sinking eight baskets. Both grabbed six rebounds and recorded two assists. Morehead, running the point, dished out seven assists.

Having secured the lead for good, Tufts emptied its bench and was rewarded with some quality court time from its reserves. In particular, first-year forward Melissa Baptista made the most of her minutes, as she scored 10 points on four-of-10 shooting and nabbed six rebounds, three of them on the offensive glass. She also flashed her defensive skills to the tune of five steals, and was perfect from the foul line.

"Because of the depth that we have, other teams have a tough time matching up to us," Morehead said. "A lot of teams are worried about defending our posts inside that they will give our guards more room to shoot."

The gaudy stats -- 50.8 percent from the field overall, 71.4 percent from deep -- made it seem as though there was no long, intervening offseason, that Tufts had transitioned seamlessly from a grueling NCAA tournament back to the regular season.

It is unanimously held among the team that, while Tufts was pleased with its showing, and regardless of the individual accolades (Foley's MVP award and Kanner's all-tournament team selection), there remains work to be done.

"I think this weekend's success was a great stepping-stone to where we want to be," Morehead said. "We especially knew that UNE was a very solid team, and we knew that they really wanted to beat us after our close game with them in the NCAAs last year. I think the win showed some of our toughness, but I think this weekend also showed a lot of the things we need to work on to become an even better team."

"It's a very long season, and we have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be in March," Foley said. "But we are just taking it one day at a time, getting back after it tomorrow at practice to prepare for our game Tuesday. We really just want to get better every day."

The Jumbos will have the opportunity to do so Tuesday, when they kick off a two-game homestand against Hartwick College at Cousens Gym.