MEDFORD, MA (January 8, 2023) -- Babson College guard Kelly Walsh made a driving lay-up with six seconds to play to snap a 76-76 tie, as the No. 14 Beavers earned a 78-76 victory over the No. 23 Tufts University women's basketball team in a non-conference thriller from Cousens Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (10-4) contest was back-and-forth the entire game, as it featured 17 ties and seven lead changes. The Beavers (11-1) took a three-point lead into the fourth quarter, and pushed their edge up to a game-high eight points with 6:56 to go in regulation on a Megan Bauman jumper. The Jumbos rallied back on six consecutive points from
Mikayla Paquette to make it a one-score game with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter.
The two teams exchanged three-pointers on the next two possessions, but senior
Callie O'Brien drilled a triple after a make by Babson to pull Tufts to within one at 69-68 with 2:09 to play. The game would stay as a one-possession game the rest of the way, as Babson's Katelyn Mollica made it 76-73 with 16 seconds left on a pair of free throws.
After a Tufts' timeout, sophomore
Sofia Gonzalez caught the inbounds and drilled a 30-foot three-pointer from straight away to tie the game with 14 seconds left at 76.
The Beavers quickly got the ball up the court off the inbounds, and Walsh drove down the left side and finished with a lay-up for the eventual game-winner. The Jumbos didn't have any timeouts to advance the ball, but got a decent look from the top of the key as time expired but the shot rimmed out twice as Babson held on.
The Jumbos led by two after the opening 10 minutes, and were up by as many as five points three times during the second quarter before taking a 40-35 lead into the locker room after a triple at the halftime horn by Gonzalez. Tufts came out and quickly took its biggest lead of the game at 42-35 on a
Sophia Davis bucket, but a 7-0 run from the visitors tied the game at 42. The game would stay as a one-possession game the remainder of the third quarter, as a Walsh score put Babson ahead 57-54 to set up the thrilling fourth.
The host Jumbos shot 39.7 percent from the floor for the contest (27-68), as junior
Maggie Russell tallied a big double-double of 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Gonzalez tallied 13 points, six rebounds and three helpers, making three triples on the game, and junior guard
Hannah Kelly came off the bench to post 10 points and four caroms.
First-year
Sarah Crossett was in foul trouble but scored nine points as well as tallying three assists, and Davis, O'Brien and
Annika Decker all had six points. Paquette also chipped in with eight points and four rebounds in eight minutes of action.
Tufts won the rebounding edge 40-39, and also held a 25-11 lead in bench points along with an 11-6 edge in second chance points. Tufts was also 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) from the free throw line.
Babson got a game-high 20 points from Walsh, as she was 8-of-13 from the floor on the game while adding five boards as well. Bauman shot 6-of-11 en route to 16 points, and Samantha Smith and Mollica each registered 13 and 12 points, respectively. The Beavers went 46.2 percent (30-65) from the field in the win.
Tufts will jump back into New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play on Friday, heading to No. 15 Amherst College Friday evening at 7 p.m.
--JUMBOS--
