WORCESTER, MA (November 13, 2026) -- Sophomore guard Tessa Lozner scored a career-high 28 points on 12-of-16 shooting, as the Tufts University women's basketball team started the Clare Fitzpatrick era with a solid 73-65 road victory over Clark University in the 2026-27 season opener in non-conference play. 

The win was the first in the head coaching career for Fitzpatrick, who served as a long time Division I assistant before being named as the head coach of the Jumbos back in May. She becomes the fourth head coach in the last five for the Jumbos to win their first game as boss of Tufts women's basketball program. 

The first quarter was a clinic for both teams offensively, as Tufts shot 11-of-18 from the floor for the period but Clark answered by shooting 62.5 percent as the Jumbos led 26-25 after 10 minutes. Tufts trailed early, but used a 7-0 run after being tied at 12 to make it 19-12 after a lay-up from Lozner. 

Clark rallied to take a 25-23 lead with 19 seconds to play in the first, but Lozner converted a traditional three-point play to give the Jumbos the one-point edge going to the second frame. The Cougars (3-1) regained a narrow edge on a triple from Cyriah Coleman, but first-year Nyah Yao answered with a triple of her own to start an 8-0 run for the Jumbos to take a 34-28 lead. 

Tufts would push its lead up to as many as nine on a bucket from junior Abi Stone, but Clark hit a triple at the buzzer of the first half to pull to within six at 41-35 going into the break. Lozner had 19 points for the Jumbos in the first half, while Yao came off the bench to post eight points as well in the opening 20 minutes. 

After the halftime intermission, Clark regained a narrow 42-41 lead early in the third quarter but the Jumbos wouldn't back down going on an 8-2 run to regain the lead. Tufts pushed its lead up to as many as five before taking a 56-52 lead into the fourth quarter after Yao hit a pair of free throws just before the end of the period. 

The fourth quarter would be all Jumbos, as they hunkered down defensively holding Clark to just 25 percent shooting in the fourth in pulling away. On the other side, Tufts shot 58 percent overall in the fourth quarter on 7-of-12 from the field to seal the victory. 

Lozner eclipsed her previous career-high of 24 points set last year at Williams, as the standout guard went 12-of-16 overall and hit two of her three-pointers while adding four rebounds and two assists. Yao came off the bench to make four of her six field goals and both three-pointers, while going 4-of-5 at the line to finish with 14 points. 

The scoring was spread out from there, as sophomore Abby Congdon tallied seven points, five assists and four rebounds, and Stone recorded six points. Junior Siobhan Stapleton tallied four points, nine boards, two assists and three blocks, while Annie Aspesi finished with five points and six rebounds. 

The Jumbos shot 52.7 percent (29-55) overall for the contest, while adding a 6-of-17 clip from behind the three-point arc. Tufts edged out a win in the rebounding column, 38-33, and totaled a 42-28 points in the paint advantage. 

Atiya Watson had 17 points to lead the Cougars in scoring, while Coleman had 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss. 

Tufts will look to get to 2-0 on Sunday, November 15, as it will host the 2026-27 season opener against Pomona-Pitzer at noon in Cousens Gymnasium.