JUMBOS SLIP IN OPENER AT SURF 'N SLAM IN SAN DIEGO
COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Surf 'N Slam Tournament
Point Loma Nazarene 67 Tufts 44
At San Diego, CA
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
SAN DIEGO -- Tied 23-23 at the half, the Tufts University women's basketball team was out-scored 44-21 in the second half and lost 67-44 to host Point Loma Nazarene University in the first round of the Surf 'N Slam Tournament on Wednesday morning.
Tufts must now face the winner of Millikin and St. Norbert's first round game on Friday at 2:15 PM PST. The Jumbos dropped to 5-2 with Wednesday's loss, while Point Loma Nazarene improved to 4-3.
Junior Libby Park (Massena, NY) was the lone Jumbos in double-figures for scoring with 11 points, and she also reached double digits in rebounds with 10. Tufts turned the ball over 33 times and didn't shoot well enough (36.2 percent) to overcome it despite gaining a healthy edge in rebounding (47-37). The game marked a return to the line-up by senior Julia Verplank (Zeeland, MI), who missed the first semester. She had five points and five rebounds in 11 minutes.
Mica Dehoog led all scorers with 25 points for Point Loma Nazarene and also blocked six shots. Kerra Wodarski scored 12 points and Angela Manjarrez had 12 rebounds for the Sea Lions.
Tufts led briefly late in the first half after a jumper by Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA) and a free throw by Park made with 23-21. Dehoog tied the score with a jumper heading into halftime.
The Sea Lions maintained a slim lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half. It was just two points, 40-38, with 10:21 left following a jumper by Verplank. However, Point Loma scored the next 13 points to take control of the game. Brittney Dove and Erica Dotson had five points apiece during the stretch as the Sea Lions built a 53-38 lead with 5:39 to play. Six turnovers during the span killed the Jumbos.
The lead grew from there, topping out at 24, and producing a 67-44 final that was not completely indicative of the game.
#