MEDFORD, MA (February 1, 2025) -- The Tufts University women's basketball honored its four seniors with a huge 68-59 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) victory over Trinity College in play from Cousens Gymnasium.
Prior to the game, the Jumbos (14-6, 5-2 NESCAC) celebrated seniors
Sofia Gonzalez,
Annika Decker,
Caitlyn O'Boyle and
Mikayla Paquette for their careers on the court.
Once the game got going, Trinity (16-5, 5-2 NESCAC) jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before sophomore
Stella Galanes drilled a three-pointer to get the Jumbos on the board. The two teams would give the lead back-and-forth in a fast-paced first quarter before a 6-0 run pushed Tufts to a 13-10 edge after one frame.
The momentum continued into the second quarter for the Jumbos, scoring the first six points highlighted by a three-point play by first-year
Monet Witherspoon to lead by nine at 19-10. Trinity battled back to make it a two-point game at 22-20, but Witherspoon answered with a triple to start a run that ended with the Jumbos up 10 at 31-21. The Jumbos would eventually lead 32-23 going into the half, as Galanes, Gonzalez and Witherspoon each had eight first-half points.
The second half started by Trinity pulling to within six early, but the Jumbos lead grew back up to 13 on a three-point play from O'Boyle with 5:25 left in the frame. Later a pair of Galanes free throws gave Tufts its largest lead of the game of 14 at 51-37, taking a 51-39 lead to the fourth quarter.
The Bantams final push came in the fourth quarter, as Olivia Vick pulled Trinity to within four at 53-49 with five minutes left in the game. The biggest shot of the game for Tufts came with just under four minutes to go, as Witherspoon nailed a corner three to end a three-minute drought to make it a seven-point lead at 56-49.
Witherspoon would score the game's next three points to give Tufts a 10-point lead, and the Jumbos went 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to lock down the win.
Galanes finished with a career-high 20 points Saturday afternoon, going 5-of-10 from the floor including making three of her five three-pointers. Galanes was also 7-of-8 from the line, adding three rebounds.
Witherspoon tallied 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and Gonzalez finished with 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Paquette added six points and three rebounds in 10 minutes of action, and Decker finished with four points, three rebounds and six assists.
O'Boyle returned to the contest to post three points and four rebounds after leaving early in the game with a bloody eye. First-year
Siobhan Stapleton finished with six rebounds as well for the Jumbos.
Tufts shot it well on Saturday, including making 42.1 percent (8-19) from three-point land while connecting on 21-of-48 (43.8 percent) from the floor overall. The Jumbos also made 18-of-26 at the line, and posted a slight 37-33 edge on the glass.
Vick tallied all of her team-high 19 points in the second half for the Bantams, and Melissa Whitmore added 12 points for Trinity.
Tufts will finish its regular season on the road now, traveling to Amherst College next Friday, February 7 at 7 p.m. in Amherst, MA for conference play.
--JUMBOS--
