Teams: Women's Basketball: Schedule & Results

JUMBOS WIN HOME OPENER OVER SIMMONS, 82-50

COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 82            Simmons 50

At Medford
Thursday, December 7, 2006

Game Statistics

MEDFORD -- After playing their first five games on the road, the Tufts University women's basketball team christened another season at home in Cousens Gymnasium with an 82-50 win against Simmons College in a non-league game on Thursday night. Junior forward Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME) led the Jumbos with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Tufts represented itself well on the road to open the season, winning four of their five games including Tuesday's 61-43 victory at #18 Salem State College. They followed that up with a dominating home opening victory tonight, leading by double digits for nearly 30 minutes of play. Tufts improved to 5-1 overall while Simmons, which was led by 13 points from Lauren Kreckie (Braintree, MA), dropped to 2-4.

A three-pointer by Jumbo senior Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) with 9:50 remaining in the first half gave the Jumbos a 17-7 lead. The margin increased to as much as 26 points (41-15) in the first half when Katie Wholey (Marshfield, MA) scored a lay-up with 2:11 on the clock. The Jumbos led 43-21 at the break, with Krah's 11 points (three three-pointers) leading the way. Jenna Gomez (Norfolk, MA) had eight points at the half for the Jumbos and senior Taryn Miller-Stevens (Avon, CT) had six assists. Kreckie scored nine points in the first 20 minutes for the Sharks.

Simmons came out of the locker room strong, forcing Tufts coach Carla Berube to call a time out early in the second half. They scored the first 10 points to cut the Jumbo lead to 43-31 on a three-pointer by Sarah Clayton (East Falmouth, MA). She had eight of the 10 points during the stretch. A three-pointer by Kelly Larkin (Topsfield, MA) had Simmons within 12 at 46-34 with 16:27 on the clock.

Tufts answered by scoring the next 10 points, eight by Ummah, to lead 56-34 at 13:22. The margin did not dip below 20 points after that. The final margin of 32 points, which Tufts reached twice, was the largest of the game.

Four Jumbos finished in double figures for scoring. Krah had 13 points along with two assists, two blocks and two steals. Tufts blocked eight shots overall. Gomez contributed 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals. Freshman Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT) added five rebounds to her 10 points. Miller-Stevens had eight points, eight assists and three steals. Tufts nabbed 17 steals overall and owned the boards with a 57-32 advantage. They grabbed an amazing 29 offensive rebounds to 20 defensive caroms by the Sharks.

Simmons was held to 34 percent shooting (17/50) by the Jumbos. Clayton ended the game with 11 points, including three three-pointers. Junior Nikki Cohen (Wellesley, MA) recorded eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks.

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