Teams: Women's Basketball: Press Releases

Monday, February 5, 2007

KRAH HONORED AS NESCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR HOT JUMBOS

MEDFORD -- Senior guard Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ/Mountain Lakes) of the Tufts University women's basketball team had the most productive back-to-back games in her collegiate career from a scoring standpoint over the weekend. With 21 points against Middlebury on Friday night and 18 more against Williams on Saturday afternoon, Krah helped the Jumbos win two important games and she earned New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week honors.

In addition to the career-high 21 points Krah scored in Friday's 61-50 win over Middlebury, she became the team's career leader in three-pointers during the game with her 127th. That surpassed Carrie Hironaka's 126 from 1995-99. Krah hit a three-pointer at 9:31 of the first half to give the Jumbos a 22-6 lead over the Panthers and break the record. She scored 14 points in the second half, as Tufts withstood a comeback attempt by Middlebury, and she finished the game with seven rebounds and four assists as well.

On Seniors' Day at Tufts on Saturday, Krah led the Jumbos to a 58-53 come-from-behind win over Williams with 18 points and seven assists. With Tufts trailing by 10 (41-31) in the second half, Krah started the Jumbo comeback with a three-pointer. She would add two clutch free throws with barely a minute left to give the Jumbos a 55-49 lead.

The two victories extended Tufts' best-ever start in NESCAC play to 7-0. They clinched a home-court berth into the conference tournament with the win over Middlebury. It's just the second time that they will host a first-round playoff game. The Jumbos (15-6 overall) are still in contention for first place in the league, which will be determined on Friday night when they travel to play #2 in the nation Bowdoin College. The Polar Bears are also unbeaten in conference play.

Krah is the third Jumbo to earn the Player of the Week honor this season. Junior forward Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME/Waynflete School) was selected on December 11 and on January 15. Tufts and Bowdoin lead NESCAC with three Players of the Week each so far this season. This marks the first time this decade that a Tufts player has received the award three times in one season.

Among NESCAC statistical leaders, Krah is eighth in scoring with 14.3 points per game this season. She's tied for fifth in steals with 2.33 per game and is third overall with 41 three-pointers.

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