Teams: Women's Basketball: Schedule & Results

KRAH'S THREE LIFTS JUMBOS OVER WESLEYAN, 50-48

COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 50    Wesleyan 48

At Medford
Saturday, January 27, 2007

Game Statistics

Valerie Krah - Her three-pointer won the game and also tied her for the all-time Tufts lead in the category

MEDFORD -- Senior Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) drained a three-pointer from the left corner with nine seconds remaining to give the Tufts women's basketball team an exciting 50-48 victory over Wesleyan University in a back-and-forth NESCAC game on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym.

The winning basket was set up by a defensive gem from senior Taryn Miller-Stevens (Avon, CT). With the Cardinals leading 48-47, Miller-Stevens tied up Wesleyan's Nikki Maletta (Durham, CT) with the possession arrow pointing to Tufts. After a time-out, Krah's three gave Tufts the lead. Wesleyan called time out, then Maletta's drive to the hoop missed. Meredith Lowe (Philadelphia, PA) grabbed the offensive rebound, but could not get a good enough handle to put up a shot.

That sequence finished a thrilling second half that saw the teams trade runs. Trailing 22-17 at the half, the Jumbos scored the first 12 points of the second half to lead 29-22 on a lay-up by Miller-Stevens at 16:25. Junior Jenna Gomez (Norfolk, MA) scored six points during the run.

Wesleyan responded with a lengthy 17-3 run to take a 41-35 lead with 6:14 to play. Five Cardinals scored during the stretch, including four points by sophomore guard Ali Fourney (East Northport, NY). She would finish as the game-high scorer with 20 points.

A jumper by Maletta at 4:33 had the Cardinals up 43-37, but Tufts scored the next seven points to lead 44-43 after a pair of free throws by Gomez at 2:53. Krah had a big three during that spurt, and her two three-pointers on the day gave her 126 for her career. That ties her for first on the Tufts all-time list with Carrrie Hironaka (1995-99).

With the back-and-forth action electrifying the gym, Fourney drained a big three to give Wesleyan a 46-44 margin at 2:40. Tufts answered on its ensuing trip down the floor with a lay-up by junior Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, MA) to tie it at 46-46. The teams went scoreless for the next 90 seconds until Fourney again gave Wes the lead (48-46) with a jumper at 0:54.

Krah was fouled with 31 seconds to go and hit one of two free throws. Wesleyan called time out with 21 seconds left, but turned the ball over when Miller-Stevens pressured Maletta after she received the in-bounds pass. The Jumbos would go on to post the exciting victory.

The first half had been more of a struggle for both teams, with the score only 9-9 at the 10-minute mark. The Cardinals scored the final six points of the half to lead by five at the break.

Tufts is off to its best start ever in NESCAC play with a 5-0 record and they improved to 13-6 overall. They have won six of their last seven. Krah led the Jumbos with 11 points and seven steals, while Gomez continued to come into her own with 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Miller-Stevens finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Fourney added nine rebounds and four steals to her game for Wes, which also got 10 points from Maletta and 12 rebounds from Lowe. The Cardinals, losers of four straight now, fell to 11-7 and 2-3.

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