Jumbos close out regular season with win on Seniors Night

For the third year in a row, the Jumbos are undefeated during the NESCAC regular season. With a dominant 62-37 win over Williams on Seniors Night, No. 6 Tufts captured yet another 10-0 conference record and is primed to host this year's NESCAC championship over the next two weekends. Having beaten every team in the conference, Tufts will be the top seed and favorite heading into the postseason, though the road to a third consecutive NESCAC crown will not come without adversity.

"We feel that being undefeated in the regular season is a great accomplishment and something that we are extremely proud of, but it inspires us to keep on pushing forward to win even more," Michela North, a junior, said. "We look ahead one game at a time and make sure we focus on each game just as much as the next. Every team in the NESCAC is out to get us and will play to their fullest potential, so we always need to bring it too."

In honor of those Jumbos playing in the last home regular season game of their respective careers, Cousens Gymnasium was decorated with signs and streamers to host to a pregame ceremony. The four seniors — Michelle Wu, Maura Folliard and tri-captains Emma Roberson and Nicole Brooks — started the game against Williams and continued to have an impact throughout the contest. Each one of the seniors scored and recorded at least one rebound, as every Tufts player who was suited up to play got time on the floor.

This group of four seniors has been along for quite the ride over the past four years, although they're most likely far from done. They were just sophomores when Tufts captured its first NESCAC championship in 2014. While there is still a lot of work to be done to secure the program's third NESCAC crown, this accomplishment — finishing 10-0 in the regular season yet again — is an impressive feat on its own.

"It was the perfect way to end their last regular season," Lauren Dillon, a sophomore, said. "They've had such a successful career and brought so much to this program that the only way it felt right was to get a huge win."

While the game started out a little shaky for Tufts, the Jumbos were never in any real trouble. Williams sophomore Amanni Fernandez, who is currently fifth in the NESCAC with 15.4 points per game, started out strong as she scored four points, pushing the Ephs' lead to 7-2 halfway through the first quarter. Tufts struggled mightily on the offensive end at first, scoring just 10 points in the first quarter on 4-for-19 shooting from the floor and 0-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Jumbos' defense, however, gave them a little cushion so that by the end of the first period they were holding onto a 10-9 lead. By the middle of the second quarter, Tufts had a lead it would not relinquish. Folliard kicked off a 12-1 run with a 3-pointer which lasted until Dillon answered with a 3 of her own more than two minutes later. Led by North and sophomore Melissa Baptista, both of whom scored eight points in the first half, Tufts built a 30-18 lead going into the intermission.

The third quarter saw Tufts go on another big run, with Williams' offense becoming stifled. The Ephs shot just 25.9 percent from the floor (15-for-58) for the game and converted 3-of-17 from downtown.While Williams held a 45-40 advantage in rebounding, Tufts outscored its opponents 21-3 on points off turnovers. During the Jumbos' 13-3 run in the final half of the third quarter, Dillon posted eight points. In the fourth quarter, Tufts' lead would grow as large as 30 points on two occasions before settling on a 25-point margin of victory. With the game never in doubt in the second half, the Jumbos began emptying their bench to give their seniors and the whole roster more playing time before the postseason begins.

Baptista had a stellar performance all the way around, packing the stat sheet with a game-high 15 points, six rebounds, three blocks, two steals and two assists. At times she created offense out of her strong defensive play, with steals leading to fast break layups.

Dillon also scored in the double digits, pouring in 11 points along with her three assists and three steals. Junior Josie Lee had eight points and five rebounds, while North finished with a team-high eight rebounds. On the other side, Williams senior Oge Uwanaka reeled in a game-high 10 rebounds and tacked on six points. Junior Devon Caveney added six points and seven rebounds.

Though this game against the Ephs proved to be all Jumbos throughout, the team acknowledges how hard it has had to work — and must continue to work — if it wants to keep on winning.

"It's no easy feat -- we had a lot of close and hard-fought games," Dillon said. "On the other hand though, our end goal is that NESCAC championship. Coach let us have that night to be happy, but now we're on to the next and have our sights set on the quarterfinal game versus Middlebury this Saturday."

Though no win can ever be taken for granted in NESCAC tournament play, the Jumbos are the clear favorites in the first round. Middlebury is tied for the second-worst scoring offense in the league in overall play this year, while Tufts has the second best defense. The Jumbos will host the Panthers at Cousens Gym at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.