Teams: Women's Basketball: Schedule & Results

COLLEGE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL SCORE
Tufts 66, UMass Dartmouth 60

At Medford, MA
Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Game Statistics

Sophomore Colleen Hart scored a career-high 23 points

MEDFORD -- Sophomore guard Colleen Hart (Needham, MA) scored a career-high 23 points as the Tufts University women's basketball team was able to stave off a valiant effort from the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs and post a 66-60 victory in non-conference play at Cousens Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

UMass Dartmouth, with only six players dressed and five players available after an early injury, led 28-27 at the half and was tied 52-52 with 8:36 remaining in the second half. Tufts used a 9-1 run over the next four minutes to take a 61-54 lead on a three-pointer by Hart with 4:31 on the clock. The Jumbos had at least a two-possession lead the rest of the way as the Corsairs ran out of steam.

Tufts, ranked 15th in the D3hoops.com national poll this week, improved to 16-2 with their fourth straight victory. Junior Tashauna Ashmeade (Hyannis, MA) scored 21 of her game-high 27 points in the second half to help keep UMass Dartmouth in the game. The Corsairs lost for the sixth straight time and fell to 3-17 overall.

The Jumbos held UMD scoreless for most of the first six minutes of the game. Five points by Hart in the early going helped the hosts take a 12-0 lead. A lay-up by senior guard Madison Malloy (Cranston, RI) at 14:07 was the first Corsair hoop. Tufts expanded its lead to 14 points (18-4) after a lay-up by Hart at the 12-minute mark. That was right about the time that Malloy had to leave the floor with an injury and would not return. UMass Dartmouth played the final 32 minutes of the game with five players.

Those five represented the blue and yellow well, as the Corsairs erased the Tufts lead with a 20-4 run that gave them a 24-22 lead on a three-pointer by sophomore Kelly Whooley (Raynham, MA) with 6:36 to go until intermission. Like Ashmeade in the second half, UMD senior Vicki Andruszkiewicz (Danvers, MA) carried the guests in the first half, scoring 11 points during the run including three threes. With Tufts scoring just seven points in the last 11 minutes of the first half, the Corsairs unexpectedly had a 28-27 advantage at the break.

The teams played to a 37-37 tie three minutes into the second half. Tufts managed to grab a small lead, with junior guard Vanessa Miller (Cincinnati, OH) hitting a pair of baskets that put the Jumbos ahead by seven (50-43) at 11:47. The Corsairs went on a 9-2 surge, with threes by Ashmeade and Andruszkiewicz, to tie the game at 52-52 with 8:36 to play. That's when the Jumbos were able to finish off the Corsairs down the stretch, taking a 66-56 advantage on a lay-up by first-year guard Tiffany Kornegay (Carver, MA) with 1:42 remaining.

Hart hit on nine of 15 shots including three threes and two free throws for her 23 points and added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. Junior Julia Baily (Farmington, CT) and senior co-captain Kim Moynihan (West Hartford, CT) had 12 points each, with Baily adding 11 rebounds and Moynihan finishing with eight rebounds and four assists. The Tufts starters logged 145 minutes in the game and the hosts got just seven points from the bench. The Jumbos finished at 39.7 percent from the floor (24/56). Tufts won the rebounding battle 45-32.

Ashmeade scored on 11 of 21 field goal attempts, including eight of 13 in the second half. She was three for four on three-pointers overall. Andruszkiewicz finished with 13 points and junior Kaylin Nelson (New Bedford, MA) produced a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The Corsairs were eight for 14 from three-point territory (57.1 percent) overall and finished at 42.9 percent shooting overall (24/56).

Tufts faces a big conference weekend with games at Trinity on Friday night and at #9 Amherst on Saturday. UMass Dartmouth plays a Little East game on Saturday at home against Keene State.

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