COLLEGE WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 68
Babson 58
At Medford
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
MEDFORD – In a game that didn't see a double-digit margin until the final score, senior tri-captain Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY) scored 22 points and junior Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) had all of her 18 points in the second half as the Tufts women's basketball team defeated local rival Babson College, 68-58, at Cousens Gym on Tuesday night.
With both squads entering the game undefeated in early-season play, a tight contest was expected and that's exactly what happened. Tufts, now 3-0, would have the edge for the majority of minutes, but the Beavers (3-1) were never far behind.
Tufts earned the largest lead of the first half when they went up by seven, 22-15, on a free throw by junior Libby Park (Massena, NY) with five minutes to go until halftime. Babson would finish the half by out-scoring the Jumbos 8-2 to close the score to 24-23 Tufts at the break. Powers had 13 of Tufts' 24 points at the half, while Babson junior Suzy Ward (North Attleboro, MA) was 6 for 6 at the free throw line in the first 20 minutes and had eight points.
Babson would take the lead early in the second half, 27-26, on a three-pointer by Caitlin Boulier (Wolcott, CT) at 16:10. That would be their last lead of the game, but the score was tied at 31-31 heading into the final 10 minutes. The Jumbos were able to maintain the lead from that point, though it was as close as two points, 50-48, with 3:33 remaining after two Boulier free throws.
The sharp-shooting of Krah would make the difference. After injuring herself in the first minute of the game and not returning in the first half, she nailed four three-pointers in the second half. With Tufts leading 53-50, she provided some breathing room with two three-pointers and a lay-up that put Tufts up 61-53 entering the final minute.
Babson would get within five points twice in the final minute, but the Jumbos hit their free throws to post the victory. A final free throw by sophomore Jenna Gomez (Norfolk, MA) gave the hosts the 10-point margin of victory.
Powers and Krah combined for 40 of Tufts' 68 points. The Jumbos did a good job taking care of the ball with only 11 turnovers. They also posted a big advantage at the free throw line, hitting on 27 of 35 freebies (77.1%) compared to 15 for 19 (78.9%) by Babson. Powers finished 9 of 11 from the line and also had three steals.
Ward finished with 19 points for Babson, including a 10 of 12 performance at the line. Boulier also scored big with 17 points as the duo was similar to Powers-Krah in the team's production. Junior April Suprey (South Boston, MA) had a solid outing with eight points and five boards.
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