Teams: Women's Basketball: Schedule & Results

COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 60, Middlebury 41

At Medford, MA
Saturday, January 17, 2009

Game Statistics

MEDFORD -- Junior Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT) scored a career-high 15 points and Tufts held Middlebury scoreless for over nine minutes in the second half as the 12th ranked Jumbo women's basketball team posted a 60-41 NESCAC victory over the Panthers on Saturday afternoon at Cousens Gym.

Tufts won its eighth in a row and improved to 11-1 overall and 2-0 in the league. The hosts trailed just once, at 1-0, but they had to shake off a Middlebury squad that dropped to 6-8 overall and 0-2 in NESCAC. The Jumbos won for the fifth straight time in the series. Sophomore Allison Needham (Lexington, MA) led the Panthers with eight points.

Neither team distinguished itself in the first half. Middlebury shot just 20 percent (6/30) and turned the ball over 12 times in the period. Tufts shot 36.4 percent (12/33) and was out-rebounded 30-19 in the first half. The Jumbos were up 12-3 at the 15:40 mark, but the teams combined to score just 16 total points over the next 10+ minutes.

Leading 17-14 with five minutes to go until intermission, Tufts surged into a double-digit lead by closing the first half with a 13-5 run. Sullivan scored five of those points and the Jumbos led 30-19 at the break. Sophomore point guard Colleen Hart (Needham, MA) led Tufts with nine points at the half, while first-year Brittany Perfetti (Clifton Heights, PA) had five for the Panthers.

An 8-0 run by Middlebury early in the second half erased Tufts' double-figure lead and pulled the visitors within five points at 36-31 with 14:42 on the clock. A Tufts jumper by sophomore Lindsay Weiner (Rockville, MD) stopped the run, but Middlebury sophomore Alison Wells (Waterville, VT) scored the next four points and the Panthers were down just three points (38-35) at 11:52.

However, Middlebury would score just six points over the remainder of the game, shooting three for 16 and turning the ball over six times during that stretch. The Jumbos had a 16-0 run from 11:01 to 2:20 that gave them a 56-37 lead and put the game away. A jumper by Middlebury's Lauren Sanchez (Seattle, WA) ended a 9:32 scoring drought for the Panthers.

Hart added 11 points and five assists in 36 minutes for Tufts, while senior center Katie Tausanovitch (Lyme, NH) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tufts rallied to out-rebound the Panthers 25-14 in the second half to tie the game totals at 44 apiece. Senior co-captain Kim Moynihan (West Hartford, CT) and junior guard Vanessa Miller (Cincinnati, OH) both had six rebounds for Tufts. Sullivan blocked two shots to go with her game-high scoring. The Jumbos shot 39.1 percent (25/64) and were just two for 11 from three-point land (18.2 percent). The 41 points allowed was the second lowest total of the year for Tufts.

Wells finished with nine rebounds to lead the Middlebury side and had six points. Senior co-captain Emily Johnson (Lower Gwynedd, PA) handed out five assists to go with four points and four rebounds. Perfetti added seven points and four rebounds to the Middlebury effort. The Panthers shot 25.9 percent overall (15/58) and like the Jumbos were cold from long-distance at two for 11 (16.7 percent).

Both teams return to action at home on Tuesday (Jan. 20). Tufts hosts Wheaton in a 7 pm tilt and Middlebury welcomes Hamilton College for a 5:30 pm start.

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