MEDFORD, MA (January 6, 2023) -- The No. 23 Tufts University women's basketball team held the visiting Camels of Connecticut College to just 23.6 percent shooting, cruising to 55-38 win in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) opener for both squads in Cousens Gymnasium Friday night.
The Jumbos (10-3, 1-0 NESCAC) were stifling defensively in the opening 20 minutes, holding their visitors to just four made baskets in the first half as the Camels shot 4-of-29 over the first two quarters. In the opening quarter, Tufts fell behind 5-4 at the 6:24 mark on a three-pointer by Jaycie Rojik but the Jumbos would not give up another field goal for 14:45 of the first half. During that stretch, the Jumbos would go on a 22-2 run powered by eight points from
Sofia Gonzalez to take a 26-7 lead.
Connecticut College would stop the run with 1:57 to go on the clock in the first half on a Rojik basket but Tufts would take a 29-12 lead into the halftime intermission. The Jumbos shot 34.5 percent in the first half. Tufts came out of the locker room and quickly made its lead 20 points on a three-pointer by Gonzalez, but the Camels chipped away and got their deficit down to 12 with under a minute to go in the third quarter.
The Jumbos would come right back with a 12-0 run to regain total control as it cruised to the conference victory. Tufts has now won 12 straight NESCAC openers dating back to the 2009-10 season.
Tufts had 10 players enter the stat sheet in the score column on Friday night, led by Gonzalez with her 11 points. Gonzalez also pulled down eight points and dished out three assists, while
Maggie Russell poured in eight points and corralled a game-high 12 rebounds, as she now is one of three players in the conference averaging a double-double on the season. Junior
Mallory Folliard scored six points in 11 points, while
Mikayla Paquette returned to the lineup to post six points in six minutes.
First-year
Sophia Davis got her first career start in Friday night's game, and scored five points to go with a career-high seven rebounds, while
Hannah Kelly came off the bench to tally five points and four boards. Senior
Callie O'Brien was 2-of-3 on the night, dishing out three assists and pulling in three rebounds, and
Ayah Harper posted a season-high four points as well. Tufts shot 34.4 percent from the floor for the game, but was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe (83.3 percent).
The Jumbos also held a huge edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Camels 56-29 including pulling down 19 offensive rebounds for the second straight game. The plus-27 rebounding margin was the best this season for the Jumbos, and the highest since Tufts equaled that number in a NCAA Tournament win over Clarks Summit University last season. The dominance on the glass led to a 14-3 edge in second chance points, while the hosts Friday also posted a 27-8 advantage in bench points.
Rojik led all Camels (4-8, 0-1 NESCAC) with 14 points, while teammate Molly Cronin also finished with 10 points in the loss.
Tufts will be right back in action on Sunday afternoon, hosting No. 14 Babson College in Cousens Gymnasium at 1 p.m. in the final non-conference home tilt of the 2022-23 season for the Jumbos.
--JUMBOS--
