WILLIAMSTOWN, MA (January 26, 2024) -- Senior forward
Maggie Russell continued her outstanding play of late, as she poured in a game-high 29 points to go with a team-best 11 rebounds as the Tufts University women's basketball fought off a late rally by host Williams College for a crucial 63-57 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win inside Chandler Gymnasium.
Russell has been on fire of late, as the Morristown, New Jersey native has tallied at least 24 points in each of her last three games including Friday night's 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the floor. She now sits with 1,335 points for her career, which is fifth all-time and just two points behind Melissa Baptista for fourth on the Tufts career scoring list.
The Jumbos needed all of Russell's points on Friday evening, having to rally from an early deficit in the opening stanza. Williams (9-11, 1-5 NESCAC) came out of the gates fast, as Cortland McBarron capped an early 10-2 run over the first four minutes of the contest. Russell and sophomore
Annie Aspesi would help lead the comeback for the Jumbos, as Russell pushed in eight points while Aspesi contributed seven of her own to deadlock the game at 15 points heading the second quarter.
Tufts (11-6, 3-2 NESCAC) took its first lead of the game on a traditional three-point play from Russell early in the second, and went on a 13-2 run over the remainder of the quarter to take a 31-21 edge into the locker room for halftime. In the second, Tufts forced Williams into 27.3 percent shooting while also allowing just six points in the stanza.
After the break, the host Ephs started to slowly work themselves back into the game with the first six points of the quarter before a Russell lay-up stopped the spurt. Williams pulled to within three at 36-33 on a McBarron jumper, and following six points from Russell, a triple right before the quarter buzzer by Williams made it 42-38 going into the final 10 minutes.
Senior
Callie O'Brien gave Tufts some breathing room with a triple to start the fourth quarter, but Williams once again made a charge midway through the period. With the Jumbos up 53-45, Williams scored the game's next eight points to tie the game at 53 on a Arianna Gerig lay-up with 3:08 left. Senior
Samantha Sousa quickly answered with a clutch triple for Tufts, but Gerig scored and hit the free throw that went with the bucket to deadlock the game at 56.
After a timeout, Russell put Tufts back up on a nice play and dish from Sousa, setting up a crucial driving layup from junior guard
Annika Decker for a four-point edge at 60-56. Williams would miss its next three-point attempt, and Sousa made three of her four attempts at the line to lock in the win for the Jumbos.
Sousa finished with 15 points, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line, adding four boards, three assists and two steals. Aspesi tallied a new career-high with 10 rebounds, and O'Brien scored six points as well in the win.
Tufts shot 22-of-61 (36.1 percent) from the floor, and held an important 9-1 edge in second chance points. Tufts also turned the ball over just 12 times for the game, and limited Wlliams to just 3-of-16 shooting from deep (18.8 percent)
Williams had four players in double digits, led by the 15 points from Mairi Smith. Gerig added a double-double of 11 points and 16 rebounds, but was just 4-of-19 from the floor on Friday night. Tatum Leuenberger also scored 11 points, and Ellie Tounkara finished with 10 points in defeat.
The Jumbos will stay out on the road for another big NESCAC game on Saturday, January 27, heading to Middlebury, VT for a showdown with Middlebury College (12-7, 4-2 NESCAC) at 3 p.m.
--JUMBOS--
