Tufts defeated Husson 64-44 on Saturday and St. Joseph's (Maine) 65-44 on Friday to secure passage to its sixth consecutive NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
A fast start to the third quarter drove the Jumbos to victory over the Husson Eagles in their Div. III NCAA Championship second round meeting at Cousens Gym on Saturday evening. The match started off at a furious tempo, with both sides trading scores early on. Husson was able to drive through Tufts' defense early on to make a couple of lay-ups. However, it was Tufts that managed to pull away first with a 7-0 run with 3:06 to play in the first quarter to make it 19-10. Husson responded with five unanswered points of their own to keep the game close. The Jumbos picked up 22 rebounds in the first half alone and picked up 14 second-chance points, allowing them to build a 10-point lead going into halftime.Junior guard and NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Dillon was one of the stand-out players on the floor, as she successfully defended against the North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Chandler Guerrette,limiting Guerrette to just four points in the first half. Nevertheless, the Jumbos did face some trouble defending three-point shots. Eagles’ senior guard Darla Morales was 5-of-9 from behind the arc.
“We were playing some really good teams with a lot of talented guards and we knew they were all three-point shooters,” Dillon said. “We definitely could have defended the three a little bit better knowing that they made some great shots. I think going forward we know we have to step up our perimeter defense and get our hands up so that they can’t even get the shot off.”
On the offensive side, Tufts senior tri-captain center Michela North and junior forward Melissa Baptista were dominant in the paint. North finished the game with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Baptista picked up five offensive rebounds. According to Berube, the team deliberately built their game plan around targeting size mismatches in the paint.
“We knew we had a size advantage and we needed to take advantage of that, and I thought our guards did a great job of finding [post players], making some pass fakes and throwing it in there and hitting some open shots on the perimeter will open things inside,” Berube said.
Tufts started the third quarter with a 10-0 run in the first 3:20 to lead by 20. Sophomore guard Jacqueline Knapp put up eight points in the third – she finished the game with a team-high 13 points. Tufts also stepped up its defensive aggression in the second half, registering four steals in the fourth quarter and a total of 10 in the game.
“We’re typically that team that plays 40 minutes man-to-man. We felt we weren’t able to go with that today, so we went with 2-3 zone,” Eagles coach Kissy Walker said. “I thought it slowed down the pace a little bit and kept us in the game. We played a very good 2-3 zone in the first half but then [the Jumbos] really started spreading us out and hit some open shots, so we had to switch it up to go man-to-man, and the first couple of minutes in the third quarter obviously hurt us.”
The day before, the Jumbos saw off the St. Joseph's Monks 65-44. Baptista got a three-pointer to sink in the Jumbos’ first possession, just as the shot clock ran out. Baptista followed this up with a lay-up on Tufts’ next possession; she scored seven of her 13 points in this quarter alone. She set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Jumbos raced to a 10-0 start. Their 11 defensive rebounds allowed the Jumbos to finish the first quarter with a 20-4 lead.
The pressure continued as Tufts put up a strong second quarter. When the Monks crowded the paint, the Jumbos found a way to work the ball along the perimeter and find open players to hit deep shots. Tufts shot 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from the three-point range, and senior tri-captain Josie Lee sunk a couple to up the pressure on the Monks. Off the bench, junior guard Jennie Mucciarone also added a three, and she led the bench with 11 points.
It was not all smooth sailing for Tufts, as the Monks found a way to adjust in the second half to match the Jumbos ball-for-ball. Sophomore guard Kelsi McNamara sunk two threes to keep the pressure on the Jumbos – McNamara would finish the game with a team-high 17 points.
“The defensive intensity wasn’t there [in the second half] like it was in the first half, that’s usually what gets me most frustrated,” Berube said. “Just taking good care of the ball, making good decisions, I don’t think we did a great job on that. St. Joseph’s had a really great guard that I just wanted to make sure our hands were up against her, but it was a great win.”
The Jumbos eventually gained their biggest lead in the game (29) with 6:17 left in the final quarter, as they eliminated the challenge of the Monks. Knapp once again led the team with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Reflecting on the weekend, Dillon explained that the Jumbos are hitting their stride when it counts.
"I think the team played very well as a whole, we’ve been a little banged up across the board the past couple of games, and I think our bench did a really good job stepping up throughout the game,” Dillon said. “We had Harrington and Mucciarone coming off the bench and scoring some huge buckets and getting rebounds, stops on D that we really needed."
Tufts will next face the University of Scranton Royals in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday in St. Louis, Mo. Scranton beat SUNY Polytechnic 76-65 to earn their Sweet Sixteen spot. Scranton will be a familiar opponent for Tufts, as these two teams have played each other twice in the last two years, with the match-up split evenly at one apiece.
A fast start to the third quarter drove the Jumbos to victory over the Husson Eagles in their Div. III NCAA Championship second round meeting at Cousens Gym on Saturday evening. The match started off at a furious tempo, with both sides trading scores early on. Husson was able to drive through Tufts' defense early on to make a couple of lay-ups. However, it was Tufts that managed to pull away first with a 7-0 run with 3:06 to play in the first quarter to make it 19-10. Husson responded with five unanswered points of their own to keep the game close. The Jumbos picked up 22 rebounds in the first half alone and picked up 14 second-chance points, allowing them to build a 10-point lead going into halftime.Junior guard and NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Dillon was one of the stand-out players on the floor, as she successfully defended against the North Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Chandler Guerrette,limiting Guerrette to just four points in the first half. Nevertheless, the Jumbos did face some trouble defending three-point shots. Eagles’ senior guard Darla Morales was 5-of-9 from behind the arc.
“We were playing some really good teams with a lot of talented guards and we knew they were all three-point shooters,” Dillon said. “We definitely could have defended the three a little bit better knowing that they made some great shots. I think going forward we know we have to step up our perimeter defense and get our hands up so that they can’t even get the shot off.”
On the offensive side, Tufts senior tri-captain center Michela North and junior forward Melissa Baptista were dominant in the paint. North finished the game with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Baptista picked up five offensive rebounds. According to Berube, the team deliberately built their game plan around targeting size mismatches in the paint.
“We knew we had a size advantage and we needed to take advantage of that, and I thought our guards did a great job of finding [post players], making some pass fakes and throwing it in there and hitting some open shots on the perimeter will open things inside,” Berube said.
Tufts started the third quarter with a 10-0 run in the first 3:20 to lead by 20. Sophomore guard Jacqueline Knapp put up eight points in the third – she finished the game with a team-high 13 points. Tufts also stepped up its defensive aggression in the second half, registering four steals in the fourth quarter and a total of 10 in the game.
“We’re typically that team that plays 40 minutes man-to-man. We felt we weren’t able to go with that today, so we went with 2-3 zone,” Eagles coach Kissy Walker said. “I thought it slowed down the pace a little bit and kept us in the game. We played a very good 2-3 zone in the first half but then [the Jumbos] really started spreading us out and hit some open shots, so we had to switch it up to go man-to-man, and the first couple of minutes in the third quarter obviously hurt us.”
The day before, the Jumbos saw off the St. Joseph's Monks 65-44. Baptista got a three-pointer to sink in the Jumbos’ first possession, just as the shot clock ran out. Baptista followed this up with a lay-up on Tufts’ next possession; she scored seven of her 13 points in this quarter alone. She set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Jumbos raced to a 10-0 start. Their 11 defensive rebounds allowed the Jumbos to finish the first quarter with a 20-4 lead.
The pressure continued as Tufts put up a strong second quarter. When the Monks crowded the paint, the Jumbos found a way to work the ball along the perimeter and find open players to hit deep shots. Tufts shot 10-for-22 (45.5 percent) from the three-point range, and senior tri-captain Josie Lee sunk a couple to up the pressure on the Monks. Off the bench, junior guard Jennie Mucciarone also added a three, and she led the bench with 11 points.
It was not all smooth sailing for Tufts, as the Monks found a way to adjust in the second half to match the Jumbos ball-for-ball. Sophomore guard Kelsi McNamara sunk two threes to keep the pressure on the Jumbos – McNamara would finish the game with a team-high 17 points.
“The defensive intensity wasn’t there [in the second half] like it was in the first half, that’s usually what gets me most frustrated,” Berube said. “Just taking good care of the ball, making good decisions, I don’t think we did a great job on that. St. Joseph’s had a really great guard that I just wanted to make sure our hands were up against her, but it was a great win.”
The Jumbos eventually gained their biggest lead in the game (29) with 6:17 left in the final quarter, as they eliminated the challenge of the Monks. Knapp once again led the team with a game-high 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Reflecting on the weekend, Dillon explained that the Jumbos are hitting their stride when it counts.
"I think the team played very well as a whole, we’ve been a little banged up across the board the past couple of games, and I think our bench did a really good job stepping up throughout the game,” Dillon said. “We had Harrington and Mucciarone coming off the bench and scoring some huge buckets and getting rebounds, stops on D that we really needed."
Tufts will next face the University of Scranton Royals in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday in St. Louis, Mo. Scranton beat SUNY Polytechnic 76-65 to earn their Sweet Sixteen spot. Scranton will be a familiar opponent for Tufts, as these two teams have played each other twice in the last two years, with the match-up split evenly at one apiece.
“We have to do a good job defending inside with their bigs and just play overall better in the defensive half court,” Berube said. “And we gotta be able to control the backboard. They’re a great offensive rebound team as well. We just gotta keep working on that and working on our execution and I’m just excited to be moving on.”
