COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORES
Tufts Invitational
Championship Game: Tufts 74, Endicott 55
Consolation Game: Smith 63, Bryn Mawr 52
At Medford, MA
Saturday, November 20, 2004
MEDFORD – Tournament MVP Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY) scored nine points with five rebounds and three assists as the Tufts University Jumbos won the championship game of the first annual Tufts Invitational, 74-55, over the Endicott College Gulls on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym.
In the consolation game, All-Tournament selection Shelley Harrison (Reston, VA) had eight points, 10 rebounds and five blocks as the Smith College Pioneers defeated the Bryn Mawr College Owls, 63-52, earlier in the day.
Tufts led the championship game by 18 11 minutes into the first half when senior forward Ali Love (Duxbury, MA) hit a jumper for a 32-14 lead. The margin was 17 at the half, 40-23, with nine points by Powers and eight from sophomore center Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA) leading the Jumbos. All-Tournament selection Liz Yuneman (Middle Village, NY) had six for the Gulls at the half. The Jumbos shot 57.1 percent (16/28) against Endicott's 29.2 percent (7/24).
The Jumbos weren't quite able to put the game away early in the second half. The Gulls stuck around and were down just 11, 49-38, on a free throw by sophomore McKenzie Ferguson (Conway, NH) at 13:31. Tufts initiated a 12-3 run from there to push the margin to 20, 61-41, at the 8:28 mark. Sophomores Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) and Taryn Miller-Stevens (Avon, CT) both had four points in the run. The Gulls couldn't get closer than 17 the rest of the way.
Love scored nine points with eight rebounds and was named All-Tournament. Sophomore guard Julia Verplank (Zeeland, MI) had her second-straight stat-filled game with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals. Sophomore Lisa Chartier (Templeton, MA) led Endicott with 13 points and seven rebounds to earn an All-Tournament nod. Yuneman finished with nine points and four steals.
Smith took an early 14-2 lead in the consolation game, but Bryn Mawr bounced back and trailed by six, 30-24, at the half. Senior Deb Charamella (Springfield, PA) stepped up her game for the Owls and had 11 points and four steals in the first 20 minutes. Sophomore guard Nati Lenchner (Azor, Israel) scored eight points for Smith.
The Pioneers never lost their lead in the second half, but came close to doing so. Smith's margin was two, 40-38, on a Bryn Mawr jumper by senior JoAnn Gage (Dearborn, MI) at 11:04. The Pioneers scored the next six points for some breathing room, but with 7:37 remaining their lead was only 46-42. They put the game away with 10 unanswered points to lead 56-42 on a lay-up by Harrison at 4:09. Lenchner had five points with a three-pointer during the key stretch.
Bryn Mawr sophomore Amy Johnson (Bernardsville, NJ) led all scorers with 23 points to go with 10 rebounds. She had 20 in the second half. Charamella finished with 15 points, six assists and six steals. Lenchner led Smith with 19 points, while freshman Ann Hisken (Mercer Island, WA) came on for 15 points.
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