HOBOKEN, NJ (December 29, 2022) -- The Tufts University women's basketball team erased a three-point halftime deficit, outscoring host Stevens Institute of Technology 21-7 in the third quarter to earn a 62-49 win in the opening round of the Stevens Holiday Tournament in Canavan Arena Thursday evening.
With the win, Tufts (8-2) moves into the title game Friday evening at 7 p.m. in Hoboken against the winner of George Fox University or No. 7 University of Scranton later Thursday evening. In addition to the third-quarter comeback, rebounding was a key to the Tufts' win as the Jumbos out-rebounded Stevens 60-41. The 60 rebounds were the most in a game for a Jumbo women's squad since recording 67 against Catholic back on December 30, 2008.
The Jumbos trailed 32-29 after two quarters of play, and the Ducks came out of the halftime break and took a quick six-point edge after a three-pointer from Elissa Nsenkyire. Tufts would steal the momentum from that point though, going on a 15-0 run fueled by six points from
Maggie Russell and five from first-year
Sophia Davis.
Tufts continued to build its lead with a 8-0 run to take a 17-point edge at 56-39 after another bucket from Davis with eight minutes left. The Jumbo lead would never get under double-digits, as Tufts allowed only 17 points in the second half while surrendering just six made buckets and 6-of-40 shooting (15 percent).
It was a big game for
Sofia Gonzalez, who finished with her first career double-double of 14 points and a career-high 15 rebounds (6 offensive). Gonzalez was 3-of-7 from behind the three-point arc, while adding a team-leading 19 plus/minus. Russell paced the Jumbos with 15 points and 15 rebounds, her third double-double of 2022-23.
Davis finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, adding three rebounds while playing a career-high 23 minutes, and classmate
Sarah Crossett tallied 12 points, nine caroms, four assists and two steals in the victory. Guard
Annika Decker added a game-high seven assists and three steals in the win, as Tufts shot 32.8 percent (22-67) from the field.
The Jumbos finished with a 30-18 edge in points in the paint, while getting 16 bench points to none from the Ducks. Stevens (9-2) was paced by the game-high 22 points from Jess Broad, who was 9-of-20 from the floor. Nsenkyire also added 12 points in defeat.
Both teams held leads in the first quarter, though the Ducks earned the period's biggest edge of four with 29 seconds to play on a Leyla Castro jumper. Stevens led 15-13 after 10 minutes, but Tufts rallied to take a 25-20 lead with five minutes to play in the first half. Stevens finished the stanza on a 12-4 run to take a 32-29 lead into the break.
--JUMBOS--
