MIDDLETOWN, CT (February 9, 2024) -- The Tufts University women's basketball team led after the first 10 minutes of action, but host Wesleyan University held the Jumbos to just seven points in the second quarter as the Cardinals took and held the lead for the remainder of the game in a 73-61 victory for Wesleyan in conference play from Silloway Gymnasium.
The Jumbos (11-11, 3-6 NESCAC) currently sit in the eighth and final spot in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) standings and can clinch a victory with a win Saturday at Trinity College. Tufts can also still make the conference tournament if Bates College knocks off Wesleyan Saturday in Middletown.
As for Friday evening, the Jumbos and senior
Maggie Russell came out of the gates hot as she posted 17 of the team's 21 points in the first quarter, going 8-of-9 from the floor in the period. Tufts trailed 19-17 with a little less than a minute to go in the first frame, but Russell scored on a jumper followed by a
Caitlyn O'Boyle lay-up to give the Jumbos a 21-19 lead at the first break. Tufts shot 52.6 percent in the first quarter.
The second frame though would be the downfall for the visitors on Friday, as Tufts went 3-for-20 in the quarter (15.0 percent) as Wesleyan went on a 8-0 run to take a 10-point lead at 35-25. Russell would drain a three-pointer run before the end of the quarter though to make the deficit just seven at the intermission. In the third quarter,
Sofia Gonzalez hit a jumper with 6:02 left in the quarter to pull Tufts to within three at 39-36, but Wesleyan went on a 12-2 run to take a 13-point edge. The lead would swell up to as much as 14 in the third quarter, but Tufts did rally to make it a two-possession game with seven minutes left at 58-52.
Wesleyan tallied the next five points and scored eight of the game's next 10 points to pull away for its first win over Tufts since 2006.
Russell posted 28 points for Tufts, going 12-of-19 from the floor while adding nine rebounds and posting two steals. Gonzalez finished with 17 points, nine steals, eight rebounds and four assists as well. The nine steals were most in a game since Vanessa Miller tallied nine back on January 9, 2010.
Callie O'Brien tallied six points and O'Boyle came off the bench to post eight points while grabbing six rebounds. First-year
Stella Galanes also finished with four assists, as Tufts went 26-of-71 (36.6 percent) from the floor Friday night.
Wesleyan saw Felicia Fongemie tally 28 points in the win, while Olivia Quinn and Maggie Lee posting 15 and 14 points, respectively. Allie Jones also added 10 rebounds in the win, as the Cardinals connected on eight triples on the evening while shooting 8-of-19 from behind the arc.
Tufts finishes its regular season Saturday at Trinity College at 3 p.m. in Hartford, CT.
--JUMBOS--
