Box Score
MEDFORD -- In a battle of 9-1 teams, the Tufts University Jumbos took down the Middlebury College Panthers, 70-54, in the NESCAC women's basketball opener on Friday night at Cousens Gym.
Middlebury jumped out to a six-point lead early, 12-6, with junior Maddie Moreau (Canton, NY) netting a pair of three-point shots in the first six minutes of the contest. Tufts then battled back and took the advantage on junior Tiffany Kornegay's (Carver, MA) jump shot with 12:13 left in the half.
The offenses stalled during the middle portion of the first half as there were only a total of five points between the two teams in almost six minutes of action. The only tie of the game came at 17-17, which was broken on a three-pointer by sophomore Bre Dufault (Hampden, MA) to give the Jumbos a lead they would never relinquish.
The Jumbos pushed their lead to eight during the half at one point and went into the locker room with a five-point advantage, 31-26, paced by Kornegay's nine points. Middlebury turned the ball over nine times in the first half, while Tufts took care of the ball with just three turnovers. Moreau scored eight first-half points for the Panthers.
The Panthers hung around in the second half and even pulled to within one point, 35-34, with 16:58 to play. The two sides would trade baskets for a few minutes before the Jumbos were able to push the margin up to ten for the first time all night on a three-pointer by first-year Liz Moynihan (Storrs, CT) with 10:07 to go.
Moynihan then connected on a second shot from long range to put Tufts up 58-45 as the Jumbos pulled away. The largest margin of the night was 23 at 70-47 before Middlebury scored the final seven points of the game.
The Tufts defense forced 19 Panther turnovers which led to 14 points. Middlebury shot 39.0% (23/59) for the night, while the Jumbos finished at 44.3% (31/70).
The game's leading scorer was senior Colleen Hart (Needham, MA) as she finished with 19 points on 9 of 17 shooting for Tufts. She earned a double-double with 10 assists and turned the ball over just one time in 33 minutes of action. The Jumbos had three other double-figure scorers in Kornegay with 15, Moynihan with 10 and first-year Ali Rocchi (Fairfield, CT) with 10.
Both Moreau and senior Lauren Sanchez (Seattle, WA) finished with 12 points for the Panthers. Junior Stephany Surrette (Worcester, MA) had a game-high eight rebounds for Middlebury.
Tufts is now 10-1 on the season and open up league play at 1-0, while Middlebury falls to 9-2 and 0-1 in the NESCAC. The Jumbos are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host Williams College at 4 pm. Middlebury plays at Bates at 4 pm as well.
Game Statistics
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