Teams: Women's Basketball: Press Releases

Monday, February 19, 2007

JASINSKI IS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL'S FOURTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK

MEDFORD � For the fourth time this season, a Tufts University women's basketball player has been named the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week. This time it's senior co-captain Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA/Amherst) for her performance in the team's 65-50 victory over Middlebury College in the first round of the conference tournament on Saturday.

She scored 17 points on 7 for 10 shooting, along with grabbing nine rebounds and four steals to lead the Jumbos over the Panthers. Her five points during a 7-0 run in the second half expanded a 42-38 Tufts lead to 11 points (49-38) with 10:10 remaining, giving the hosts a cushion down the stretch. The 17 points are a season high for the six-foot forward.

The victory was the first in six NESCAC Tournament appearances for Tufts, who are seeded second in this year's tournament. They will travel to top seed Bowdoin College for a semi-final game against #3 seed Bates College on Saturday (Feb. 24) at 4:00 pm. The Jumbos are 17-7 overall, and finished the NESCAC season in second place with an 8-1 mark.

"Laura is a leader for us on and off the court," head coach Carla Berube said. "It's not surprising that she stepped up like that for us in an important game. We're happy as a coaching staff for her to receive this honor as she nears the end of her career. She's meant a lot to our success this season."

Fourth on the Jumbos with 7.2 points per game this season, she is 11th in the conference with 6.6 rebounds per game. Her 159 rebounds this season are a career high and give her 439 for her career, 17th all-time on the Tufts list.

Tufts has now earned four of the 12 conference player of the week awards presented during the 2006-07 season. Senior guard Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ/Mountain Lakes) was selected on February 5, and junior forward Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME/Waynflete School) was a double-winner on December 11 and on January 15.

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