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

Women's basketball opens season with 3 consecutive victories

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Senior guard/forward and co-captain Erica DeCandido shoots a free throw during a game against Bates on Jan. 19.

Led by sophomore guard Molly Ryan, who put up 19 points on Friday, and junior guard and forward Emily Briggs, who hit a career-high 21 points on Saturday, Tufts women’s basketball opened its 2019-2020 season with a 2–0 sweep at the Tufts Tip Off Tournament this past weekend. Following the sweep, Tufts also beat the University of New England on Monday by a score of 76–45.

Going into her first games as head coach, Jill Pace wanted to implement what the team had practiced, as well as improve performance game to game.

“We were looking to put everything we had implemented in practice into the game. Our goals are always to play really tough defense and get stops on defense that lead to our offense," Pace said. "For the most part, one of our big things is getting better every day, taking what we had done in practice and implementing that and then improving.”

In the official season home opener on Monday, Tufts beat the University of New England by a margin of 76–45. Senior guard/forward and co-captain Erica DeCandido scored a game-high 15 points.

Ryan put up the first points of the game off a three-point jump shot; however, the Nor’easters responded with a three of their own just 17 seconds later. Six consecutive, unanswered points from DeCandido gave Tufts a 9–3 lead.

Additional points from DeCandido, junior guard Erin Poindexter-McHan, Ryan, Briggs and sophomore guard Sofia Rosa widened the Jumbos’ lead to 13 points. The Jumbos were in the driver's seat from that point on, driving the lead up to 32 points by the final quarter, finishing with a 31-point margin.

On Saturday, despite trailing after the first quarter, Tufts beat New Paltz 69–53. Briggs and Rosa combined for 34 of the Jumbos’ 69 points.

The game got off to a slow start, with Tufts not getting on the scoreboard until Rosa made a jump shot over five minutes into the game. Rosa and Briggs then added two more baskets to end the first quarter with Tufts trailing New Paltz by one point.

“New Paltz was super physical and it took us a little bit in that game to get our feet under us, but our defense led the way in that game," said Pace. "New Paltz scored seven points in both the first and second quarter, which was huge for us. It was more refocusing our defense in that game and last night, our transition offense was really on — we pushed the ball super well and got a lot of offensive rebounds.”

Points from Rosa, Briggs, DeCandido, senior guard Sadie Otley and Harrington, as well as strong defensive efforts, propelled the Jumbos to take their first lead of the game and end the half ahead 27–14. Tufts held onto this lead and added 42 more points to New Paltz’s 39 in the second half to secure the victory.

The Jumbos boasted a season-high 72.7 free throw percentage and ended the game with 38 rebounds. Their 2–0 record at the tournament displays the hard work and effort the team put into both contests, according to Pace.

“The team worked really hard, and that’s one thing that stayed consistent," senior co-captain Lily Paro said. "We did a really good job of pushing the ball in transition, and we were able to score some great points off those transitions. We played good defense, which always fuels our offense.”

Talking about the first few games and their goals for this season, Paro talked about building a legacy.

“One goal of ours is to always have fun and another thing is to work as a team," Paro said. "We had a great year last year, so we want to continue that success, but we understand that it’s a new team with a new coach, so [we're] also building a new legacy under coach Pace.”

In the first game of the tournament on Friday, Tufts beat Roger Williams University 86–48. Despite the Hawks jumping off to an 11–8 early lead, the Jumbos ended the first quarter with a five-point lead that only grew as the game progressed. Three pointers from senior guard Cailin Harrington and Ryan contributed to this start. Ryan would go on to add two more threes in the second quarter.

DeCandido scored 18 points on Friday, including 10 in the second quarter. Additionally, she made eight of her 13 field goals and added 10 rebounds for the Jumbos.

With three games under their belt, the Jumbos are looking forward to improving their defense, focusing on the little things and growing as a team.

“We still have some things to fix on our defensive side, and we’ll always be working on that to make sure it's as consistent as possible,” Paro said.

Rosa explained further, detailing little things the team can improve on in the future.

“Our defense looked good for the most part, but we still have a lot to improve on and that’s really exciting for our future,” Rosa said. “Also, improving on the little things, taking care of the ball, making sure that we are finishing through with the defensive plays and at the shot clock, and just continuing to get better over the season in general.”

After winning the NESCAC Championship last season, the Jumbos have high expectations for themselves. However, with a new team and a new coach, they are looking to work hard for each other in order to continue their success.

“As a unit, we’re very close," Rosa said. "We really love playing with each other, and that translates onto the court in terms of chemistry.”

“We all really care about each other, so we all want to work really hard for each other, and that’s one thing that’s really going to push us forward and make us a really great team,” Paro added.