JUMBOS OVERCOME SIMMONS IN SECOND HALF FOR 76-62 WIN
COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 76 Simmons 62
At Boston, MA
Thursday, December 8, 2005
BOSTON -- Trailing 33-30 at halftime, the Tufts University women's basketball team out-scored host Simmons College 46-29 in the second half to post a 76-62 victory on Thursday night.
The Jumbos (4-1) were led by 23 points from senior tri-captain Jessica Powers (Massapequa, NY), who moved to within 15 points of 1,000 for her career. Junior Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA) recorded a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Tufts continues to play without guards Julia Verplank (Zeeland, MI) and Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ).
Kristen Lucek led Simmons (2-2) with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Sarah Roberts added 17 points.
The host Sharks maintained a lead for most of the first half with the margin hitting six points on two occasions. They were up by six, 38-32, after a jumper by Lucek at 19:27 of the second half. That's when Tufts turned it around.
The Jumbos went on a 12-2 run to take a 44-39 lead on a three-point play by sophomore Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME) at 12:52. She had five points during the stretch. Tufts was able to hold the lead, but didn't pull away until the final four minutes. Leading by just three points, 60-57, with 6:38 on the clock, the Jumbos out-scored the Sharks 16-5 over the remainder of the game for the final 14-point margin. Powers hit a big three-pointer at 4:15 to give Tufts a 10-point 70-60 lead.
Sophomore Jenna Gomez (Norfolk, MA) continued to pick up the scoring slack in Krah's absence with 15 points. The Jumbos earned a healthy 22-10 advantage over Simmons at the free throw line, with Powers hitting 8 of 10.
Simmons received five points with seven assists and four rebounds from Kristen Fucarile.
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