JUMBOS GET PAST WHEATON, 67-60, FOR 6-0 START
COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 67 Wheaton 60
At Norton, MA
Monday, December 6, 2004
NORTON- The visiting Tufts University women's basketball team outscored Wheaton 40-30 in the second half after trailing 30-27 at the intermission to post a 67-60 victory in non-conference action in Emerson Gymnasium on Monday night. The Jumbos remain unbeaten with a perfect 6-0 record, while the Lyons slip to 1-6 on the season.
After conceding the opening bucket to junior Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY), the Lyons hit three straight shots, including two jumpers by senior co-captain Deverie Stover (Kingston, NY), to take a 6-2 edge with under 17 minutes to go. Wheaton held a slim lead for the next few minutes, but with the score barely in its favor at 12-11, Tufts sophomore Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) hit a three-pointer that would swing the lead over to the Jumbos. The tandem of Krah and Powers went on to score Tufts' next seven points, but the Lyons took advantage of 17 first-half Jumbo turnovers to knot the score at 21-21 with 5:33 remaining.
Down 25-24 with just over three minutes left in the opening stanza, Wheaton sophomore Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY) and freshman Courtney Riley (Quincy, MA) hit back-to-back buckets for a 28-25 advantage with 2:13 to go. The Jumbos managed one more basket before the half, but the Lyons were the last to score, as sophomore Kim McCormack (Milton, MA) hit a nice runner in the lane to put Wheaton in front 30-27 heading into the break.
In the second half, the Jumbos committed a mere five giveaways and tightened up their defense to snatch the lead away from the Lyons a few minutes into the stanza. That sent the Jumbos on a massive 27-6 run, which took more than half the period and all but sealed the victory for Tufts. The Lyons used an 11-2 run to get to within 56-47 and later closed the gap to eight points on a Mary Flaherty (Mattapoisett, MA) trey with 3:32 to play, but their comeback proved to be too little too late as the two teams traded baskets down the stretch en route to the Jumbo seven-point win.
Powers turned in an impressive performance for the Jumbos, shooting 8 of 14 from the floor and 3 of 4 from three-point range for a game-best 25 points. Krah, who finished with 18 points, three assists and three steals, was 7 of 9 from the field and a perfect 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. Junior Julia Verplank (Zeeland, MI) and senior co-captain Allison Love (Duxbury, MA) chipped in 10 points apiece for Tufts.
McCormack and senior co-captain Kate Williams (Portland, OR) led the way for the Lyons with 12 points apiece, with Williams adding a game-high eight rebounds and a game-high tying five steals. Riley turned in the other double-digit scoring performance with 11 points to go along with her six rebounds, while Sorbara accounted for five steals and four assists in the loss.
The Jumbos close their first semester of action at Suffolk University on Thursday night at 7:00.
#