Box Score BOSTON – The No. 1 Tufts University women's basketball team held an opponent to 50 points or less for the 17th time in 19 games this season on Tuesday evening, as the Jumbos defeated Emmanuel, 69-48, in Boston, behind a combined 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks by senior captain Michela North and junior forward Melissa Baptista.
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| Jacqueline Knapp scored 11 points, going 4-for-7 from the field. |
The undefeated Jumbos (19-0, 6-0 in NESCAC) scored 21 points in the second and 22 in the fourth, as North (game-high 16 points, game-high seven rebounds) and Baptista (13 points, game-high five blocks) shot a combined 9-for-17 from the field and 11-for-13 from the free-throw line.
The Jumbos also received a great deal of energy from their other three starters in senior captain and guard Josie Lee (eight points, six rebounds), junior captain and guard Lauren Dillon (six points, six steals, five assists, four rebounds) and sophomore guard Jacqueline Knapp (11 points, three assists, three steals). Lee and Dillon both drew offensive fouls during the course of the game and continuously fed North and Baptista with great entry passes. Dillon equaled a career high with six steals and went 2-for-2 from downtown, while Lee went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc.
The Saints (12-6, 8-1 in GNAC) were led by a 10-point, five-rebound effort by senior forward Alexis Ezell, while senior forward Jen Chalk finished with nine points, four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore guard Madison McLaughlin scored nine points off the bench, going 3-for-5 on the three-ball, and junior guard Alisha Fox tallied eight points off the bench.
The Jumbos built a 9-4 lead with 5:52 left in the first quarter on back-to-back made free throws by Knapp, but then the Saints responded with a 5-0 spurt to end the quarter. The spurt concluded with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by McLaughlin at the end of the first from two steps beyond half court, evening the score, 9-9.
The Jumbos took the momentum back early in the second, opening the quarter on an 11-0 run. North collected the first seven points of the frame, as she tallied a layup off a great cut, attacked the hoop off the dribble, earning an old-fashioned 3-point play and hit a fadeaway jumper in the paint. Baptista knocked down a free throw and freshman guard Sadie Otley drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the circle off a great pass by Dillon, giving the visitors a 20-9 lead with 6:01 left in the second.
McLaughlin provided her heroics again for the hosts at the end of the second, as the Westerly, Rhode Island, native buried another buzzer-beating, 3-point shot from just inside half court on the right sideline, trimming the Jumbos' lead to 30-22 heading into intermission.
The Jumbos opened the third on a 15-2 run, as the run started with four consecutive points by Baptista and concluded with a layup by Knapp off a steal by Baptista, giving the visitors a 45-24 lead with 4:55 remaining in the frame.
The hosts responded once again, as Fox converted a layup on a great drive down the lane with 12 seconds left in the third, trimming the deficit to 47-34 heading into the fourth. Fox tried to inspire her team for an upset victory, as she nailed a pair of free throws with 7:27 left, and the hosts were staring at only an 11-point deficit, 52-41.
The Jumbos put the game completely out of reach with a game-clinching, 12-point spurt, which featured great team-oriented basketball. Baptista scored off a great drive to the basket from the free-throw line, Lee nailed a trey from the right baseline off a pass by Baptista, Dillon buried a 3-pointer in the rhythm of the offense and Knapp converted back-to-back layups, as the Jumbos claimed a 64-41 lead with 4:35 left in the game.
The Jumbos' feasted all day at the line, making 17-of-20 attempts, while shooting 46.9 percent from the floor (23-for-49) and 46.2 percent from 3-point range (6-for-13). The Jumbos and the Saints were both careless with the ball at times, as the visitors finished with 18 turnovers and the hosts finished with 22.
The Jumbos will be back at Cousens Gym in Medford, Massachusetts, on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tilt against NESCAC Conference-rival Bates.
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