LEWISTON, ME (January 20, 2024) -- Host Bates College scored a lay-up at the buzzer from Elsa Daulerio to earn a 62-60 win over the Tufts University women's basketball team in New England Small College Athletics Conference (NESCAC) action from Alumni Gymnasium Saturday.
The Jumbos (10-6, 2-2 NESCAC) trailed by as many as eight points with five minutes to play in regulation, but junior
Sofia Gonzalez nailed back-to-back triples to pull Tufts to within two with four minutes left. Tufts got as close at down one with 1:32 to go on a pair of free throws by senior
Callie O'Brien, but the Bobcats (16-2, 4-0 NESCAC) once again made it a two-score game with 53 seconds left after a freebie by Alexandra Long.
On the next possession, junior
Annika Decker was fouled and hit both free throws to make it 60-58. After a missed field goal by Bates, Tufts called timeout and got a game-tying lay-up from senior
Samantha Sousa with 0.8 seconds to play in regulation. Bates called a timeout, and on the ensuing play Long tossed in the inbounds over everyone to Daulerio who caught the ball on the right side of the basket and got the shot off just before the buzzer to win it for the home team.
Tufts had led early on in the game at 4-0 after two early field goals by
Maggie Russell, and held its last lead at 12-11 with three minutes left in the first quarter. Bates would increase its lead up to 23-16 early in the second quarter, but Tufts chipped away to trail by only five at the halftime break at 33-28. In the third quarter, Bates led for the entire period, but it was a two-score game for the full 10 minutes as the Jumbos hung around while pulling to within two going into the fourth quarter after two Sousa free throws.
Russell tallied a double-double with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting, pulling in 10 rebounds before fouling out late. Gonzalez tallied 14 points and five rebounds, connecting on 4-of-5 from behind the three-point arc. Sousa pulled in 11 rebounds and dished out five assists in addition to her eight points, while
Callie O'Brien added six points. Tufts was strong at the line, making 73.7 percent (14-19), and finished 21-of-60 from the field for the contest (35.0).
Bates had three players in double figures, led by Daulerio and her 19 points. Morgan Kennedy tallied 13 points, and Long finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Bates shot 46.4 percent for the game, making 26 of their 56 shots on the night.
Tufts will continue its three-game road conference swing, heading to Williams College next Friday, January 26 at 7 p.m. for play from Chandler Gymnasium.
--JUMBOS--
