Box Score MEDFORD – Led by 17 points from senior Cailin Harrington the No. 1 Tufts women's basketball team earned a 76-63 win over Williams on Saturday afternoon in Cousens Gym. The Jumbos honored their four seniors, Erica DeCandido, Sadie Otley, Lilly Paro and Harrington prior to the start of today's game.
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| Lilly Paro was one of four seniors honored on Senior Day Saturday |
Tufts improves to 24-0 overall and 10-0 in NESCAC play with the win. Today's win completes the first undefeated regular season in program history, and also helped the Jumbos push their winning streak to 24, which is also a program record. The Jumbos broke the program record of 22 straight wins with last night's win over Middlebury, and extended it today to 24 games. The previous record of 22-straight wins the Jumbos accomplished in both the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons. This is the fourth season in program history the Jumbos finish with a perfect 10-0 record in NESCAC play. They also did that three years in a row back in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Williams falls to 17-7 overall this season and 6-4 in NESCAC games.
The Jumbos used a strong first quarter to jump out to an early lead. DeCandido opened up things up with a layup, and then the Jumbos forced an Eph turnover that lead to a three from Harrington. After an Eph layup from Emily Chang, the Jumbos pushed their lead to six thanks to a three from junior Emily Briggs. The Ephs got a layup and the free throw after from Katie Brule, but sophomore Molly Ryan moved the Jumbo lead back to six with one from downtown.
The Ephs got a couple of free throws from Maggie Meehan, and then a layup from Brule to cut the Jumbos lead to two just about halfway through the quarter. But, the Jumbos responded with a layup and the free throw after from Otley, and then sophomore Sofia Rosa made a layup to put them ahead by seven, 16-9, with 3:48 to go in the first. An Otley layup pushed that lead to nine with 3:07 to go. Down by ten with less than a minute to play in the first, the Ephs chipped away at that deficit with a couple of layups from Morgan Dauk that cut the lead to six. The Jumbos were ahead, 24-18, at the end of one.
The Ephs cut that lead to four at the start of the second with another jumper from Dauk. But, the Jumbos answered with a three from Harrington and then a jumper from Briggs to move their lead to nine again. After an Eph layup, the Jumbos got a layup from Otley and a jumper from DeCandido to go up by 11, 33-22, just about two minutes into the second quarter. They pushed that lead to as many as 14 in the second.
Down by 14 with 4:52 to go in the second quarter the Ephs made a comeback. They outscored the Jumbos 13-2 in the final 4:08 to cut that Jumbo lead to three. Meehan turned in three free throws, Emily Chang a layup and a free throw and Mikaela Topper five points, thanks to a three and a layup, during that span. The Jumbos took a 40-37 lead into the break.
Briggs drained a three to open second half scoring and push the Jumbo lead back to six. After a Topper layup for the Ephs, Harrington moved the lead back to six with a layup of her own. Chang sunk a three for the visitors and the two teams traded baskets. A three from Ryan put the Jumbos back ahead six, 50-44, about halfway through the third quarter. Briggs added a three after that to increase the Jumbo lead to nine. They held on to that lead, and Topper made a three at the end of the third quarter to bring the Ephs within six, 58-52, at the end of three.
After Topper cut the lead to four to open the fourth quarter, the Jumbos got a layup from DeCandido and then a three from Ryan. That pushed their lead to nine about two minutes into the fourth. They controlled the rest of the fourth quarter, and led by as many as 16 on their way to the 76-63 win.
Harrington led the Jumbos with 17 points and nine rebounds. Briggs finished with 14 points and three assists. Otley added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and a couple of steals. DeCandido finished with eight points, nine rebounds and eight assists, along with three blocks. Ryan added 14 points off the bench for the Jumbos and Rosa tallied eight points and four rebounds.
Meehan paced the offense for the Ephs with 17 points. Chang finished with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals. Topper added 15 points, four rebounds and a couple of assists. Brule and Dauk each added six points.
The Jumbos are back in action on February 22 when they begin NESCAC Tournament play. The Jumbos have secured the top seed in the tournament, and will host the No. 8 seed next weekend in quarterfinal play. There is still one game to be played in the NESCAC regular season, so the Jumbos opponent will not be determined until Sunday. The Ephs should be the fourth seed, and should host a quarterfinal game next Saturday as well against an opponent to be determined.
