COLLEGE WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Emmanuel 75
Tufts 61
At Medford
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
MEDFORD – Four three-pointers during a two and a half minute stretch in the middle of the second half turned a tight game towards Emmanuel College's favor and the Saints went on to earn a 75-61 victory at Tufts University in women's basketball action at Cousens Gym on Tuesday night.
Emmanuel led by three points, 42-39, following a jumper by Tufts junior Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA) at 13:01 of the second half. Then a 14-5 Saints run that included threes by senior Evita Estevesz (North Charleston, SC) at 10:45, senior tri-captain Molly Forbes (North Berwick, ME) at 10:23, sophomore Brittany Bushman (Portsmouth, NH) at 8:46 and sophomore Jade Paez (Bronx, NY) at 8:11 pushed the lead to 12 points at 56-44. The four threes accounted for all of the trifectas in the game for the Saints.
The Jumbos were able to twice close the gap to eight points, including 60-52 following a lay-up by junior Libby Park (Massena, NY) at 4:55. A 6-0 spurt by the Saints made the score 66-52 and the Saints would be in control the rest of the way. Paez was clutch down the stretch, going 6 for 6 at the free throw line as Tufts tried to get back into the game by fouling. She finished with 15 points, tying for the game high with teammate Alyssa McCoy (Washington, DC).
The visitors led by six on several occasions in the first half, but Tufts worked its way into the lead primarily behind 10 points from junior Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ). She had two of the team's four three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Freshman Kim Moynihan's (West Hartford, CT) three in the final minute of the half gave the Jumbos a 31-30 advantage at the break. McCoy led the Saints with 12 points at halftime.
Emmanuel scored the first basket of the second half by junior tri-captain LaTeisha Johnson (Dorchester, MA) to gain a 32-31 lead, and they would not trail again. Tufts was tied 35-35 on a Jenna Gomez (Norfolk, MA) jumper at 17:48, but the Saints scored the next seven points to lead 42-35 at 13:52. After consecutive baskets by the Jumbos, Emmanuel used its long-range shooting to inspire the run that essentially won them the ballgame.
McCoy added nine rebounds, two assists and two steals to her game and Paez also had five assists and five steals. The Saints had 19 assists on 27 baskets. Johnson finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Emmanuel, which improved to 7-4, shot 58.3 percent (14/24) in the second half and 50 percent even (27/54) for the game.
Krah led Tufts with 14 points and also accumulated two's in rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. Senior tri-captain Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY) neared a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Moynihan scored eight points with three rebounds and two steals. The Jumbos dropped to 6-5 with their fourth loss in the last five games.
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