Box Score MEDFORD - Jumbos women's basketball captured their 14th win in a row and 22nd overall as they downed the Colby Mules (16-7, 4-5 NESCAC) with a 64-45 victory. Tufts advances to 9-0 in conference play and will play Bowdoin College (21-2, 9-0 NESCAC) in the regular season finale tomorrow. Lauren Dillon led the Jumbos with 13 points on 50% shooting, while Colby junior guard Mia Diplock led all scorers with 14 points on 57% shooting.
Both sides struggled to find their offensive game in the early going, despite the clear size advantage Tufts had down low with 6'2'' Hayley Kanner and Michela North anchoring the front court. Colby did well to pack the paint and double down on the bigs as soon as the ball entered the post.
After several early miscues, both teams got going behind some hot shooting. The Jumbos had three straight conversions on three straight possessions. A Hannah Foley jumper, a Melissa Baptista three, and a Josie Lee old-fashioned three-point play put the Jumbos up seven a little over five minutes in.
But Colby would respond with some excellent shooting of their own. With under ten minutes to play in the stanza, senior guard Brooke Chandor and junior guard Carylanne Wolfington nailed long-range bombs on two consecutive trips down the floor to bring the Mules to within two at 16-18.
Much of the remainder of the half consisted of back-and-forth play. Foley converted a three with under four minutes to play, but after a Colby timeout, Wolfington answered with her second three of the night. Diplock cut the deficit to three on the Mules' fourth connection from downtown.
A five-point run at the end of the half punctuated by Dillon's second three with five seconds to go would give the Jumbos an eight point lead going into the break at 32-24. The Mules shot 67% from three-point land, converting on four of six long balls, which aided them in keeping the game tight and was especially crucial since the Jumbos dominated the glass with ten offensive boards compared to Colby's one.
The Jumbos began the second frame with a renewed intensity and quickly increased their lead to 17 points with less than five minutes gone. Dillon tallied her third deep ball of the night and the Mules came up empty-handed on their following three possessions as the number one scoring defense in the nation showed their true stripes, registering a block and two steals on those trips.
Colby's three-point shooting cooled off considerably as they made just one during the half and Tufts was far more efficient offensively, upping their field-goal percentage from 36.4% in the first half to 48.1% in the second. Both North and Kanner found the net more in the second half and finished with ten points apiece.
Down the stretch, the Jumbos executed excellent inside-outside play exemplified by a double-teamed Kanner who kicked to a wide-open Foley for a three ball, putting the Jumbos up 19 with 5:42 to play. The Mules would never make up the difference.
The Jumbos host the Polar Bears at Cousens tomorrow for what will be a showdown for first place in the NESCAC. The top two scoring defenses in the conference will tip off at 3pm.
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