CHICAGO (November 15, 2025) -- The Tufts University women's basketball team opened the
Meredith Mesaris era with a bang Saturday afternoon, as they helped the new Jumbo head coach earn her first win with the squad with a 84-51, season-opening victory over Marian University in play at the Midway Classic, hosted by the University of Chicago.
The Jumbos were slow to take off in the early going offensively, but started to hit their stride midway through the first half, as Tufts put five players in double-figures for the contest. The highlight of the game came from sophomore guard
Claire Kolkhorst, who nailed 5-of-6 from three-point land en route to a career-high 19 points.
Tufts and Marian were tied through eight minutes of the game, but an 8-2 run to finish off the opening 10 minutes gave the Jumbos an 18-12 edge through the first frame. The Tufts' lead would swell up to as much as 16 in the first half, as
Stella Galanes made the score 33-17 with a free throw with 5:57 to go in the second quarter.
Marian (0-3) cut into the Tufts' edge slightly before the intermission, but the young Jumbos squad was able to take a 39-27 lead into the halftime break. The second half would see the Jumbos slowly pull away, outscoring their foes 25-11 in the fourth quarter thanks to 56.3 shooting in the final period to pull away for the victory.
The Jumbos shot the ball well from the floor on the afternoon, going 33-of-67 (49.3 percent) from the field on the day. That included shooting over 50 percent in each of the final three quarters. Tufts was also 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) from three-point land.
Tufts posted a big 44-16 edge in points in the paint, and clamped down defensively in the second half while along just four made field goals over the final 20 minutes.
Kolkhorst added seven rebounds to her scoring output, but career-highs, while senior forward
Sarah Crossett tallied 13 points and eight rebounds as she was a solid 5-of-6 from the field.
First-year guard
Tessa Lozner settled in and had a great debut for the Jumbos, going 6-of-9 overall for 12 points, recording five rebounds and three assists as well. Fellow newcomer
Abby Congdon chipped in with six points and three steals as well.
Galanes was also in double-figures for the Jumbos with 13 points, going 6-of-8 at the charity stripe, and
Annie Ryan came off the bench to record nine points while posting a team-high four steals. Sophomore
Abi Stone also had six points and four caroms in nine minutes of action.
Tufts takes on host University of Chicago Sunday at 2 p.m. local time inside Ratner Athletics Center in the Midway Classic finale.
--JUMBOS--
