Teams: Women's Basketball: Team Overview

►Read about Colleen Hart in the Boston Globe
►Hart is second-fastest to 1,000 points in team history
►Baily wins second NESCAC Player of the Week award
►Coach Berube becomes program's all-time wins leader
►Hart wins share of Conference Player of the Week award
►Bailey snags team's second NESCAC honor
►Hart earns NESCAC's first Player of the Week
►Hart named D3Hoops Preseason All-American
►Alumni Questionnaire

With back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, the Tufts University women's basketball team continues to establish itself on a national level. After an exciting run to the "Elite Eight" in 2008, Tufts lost a tight 57-55 game to eventual "Final Four" participant The College of New Jersey in the second round last season.

Nine Jumbos who played in NCAA games are back this season as head coach Carla Berube's squad is again expected to be one of the best in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The Jumbos have played in two of the last three conference championship games and have a 22-5 record against NESCAC opponents since 2007.

The team's final records of 22-5 last year and 26-4 in 2007-08 are the two best win totals in team history. Last season, Tufts had regular-season victories over NCAA qualifiers Eastern Connecticut and Emmanuel and then defeated Moravian in the NCAA first round. The Jumbos opened the 2007-08 season with a school record 12-game winning streak. The team had an outstanding run in the NCAA's, defeating site host Mount St. Mary College, 54-38, in the second round and upsetting University of Mary Washington - a "Final Four" participant in 2007 - 48-45 in the "Sweet 16" before losing closely against Messiah in the "Elite Eight."

Adding to the excitement of the 2009-10 season are the renovations made to Tufts University's historic Cousens Gymnasium over the summer. Previously too short to host NCAA Tournament games, the court was rotated 90 degrees in order to lengthen it to NCAA standards. Many other upgrades were made, including handicap accessibility and improvements to the lobby, bathrooms and sound system. One of the truly distinctive basketball venues in the nation - it was featured in the NCAA News as a "One of a Kind" facility - these modifications enhance the playing and viewing experience while maintaining the "feel" of this historic venue.

Berube was selected by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association as the New England Coach of the Year for the 2007-08 season. She was also voted NESCAC Co-Coach of the Year. In seven seasons at Tufts overall, Berube has coached the Jumbos to a 125-53 record for an outstanding .702 winning percentage. A 1997 UConn graduate, she was a member of the 1995 NCAA Division I national championship team. She played professionally in the American Basketball League before getting into coaching as an assistant at Providence College. She was hired at Tufts in 2002 and her tenure has been marked by the team's emergence regionally and now nationally. She was the NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2006-07.

Berube's recruits have been among the league's best in recent seasons. Kim Moynihan was the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year last season. Khalilah Ummah and Colleen Hart were the NESCAC Player and Rookie of the Year, respectively, in 2008. Ummah was also the conference's Defensive Player of the Year that season. Hart was voted All-NESCAC at point guard as a sophomore last year. The Jumbos were the #12 team in the final D3hoops.com national poll for 2008 and finished 2009 at #19. Berube has now coached five of the six most successful teams in Tufts history. The Jumbos are 66-17 overall during the last three seasons.

As members of NESCAC, Tufts plays in the nation's most competitive small college conference academically and athletically. Three teams from the conference were awarded berths into the 2009 NCAA Tournament, with rival Amherst College advancing to the "Final Four." Tufts plays a non-conference schedule that includes three tournaments this season and games against regional powers such as Emmanuel and Brandeis. In December, Tufts travels to play at the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The NESCAC is a group of highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities that share an academics-first philosophy for intercollegiate athletics. Basketball players at Tufts consistently receive recognition for their academic efforts. Four team members were honored on the NESCAC All-Academic team for 2008-09.

Located right outside of Boston, Tufts offers a well-rounded collegiate experience to student-athletes. Within its picturesque small-college campus, Tufts is a major university with "an unprecedented diversity of programs, exceptional faculty and staff, and bright and talented students," according to President Lawrence S. Bacow. The Athletics Department sponsors a varsity program of 28 sports that is among the most competitive in the NCAA's Division III. Tufts finished 10th in the 2009 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, which awards points based on NCAA performances. The University's proximity to a world-class city renowned for its academic institutions is also a major draw.

Ian Davis and Jessica Duff will assist Berube in '08-09. In his second season at Tufts, Davis was a varsity athlete at Mount St. Mary College and was a student assistant on the women's basketball team. Duff is a 2009 Wellesley graduate, where she was a two-time All-Conference selection and two-time captain in basketball.