Teams: Women's Basketball: Press Releases

Monday, December 11, 2006

UMMAH HONORED AFTER BASKETBALL'S UNDEFEATED WEEK

MEDFORD -- The Tufts University women's basketball team is coming off an outstanding week that featured an upset victory on the road at Salem State College and two dominating victories at home against Simmons College and Wellesley College. Junior forward Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME/Waynflete School) led the Jumbos statistically and was picked as the New England Small College Athletic Conference's (NESCAC) Co-Player of the Week.

Tufts (6-1) stretched its current winning streak to six games with the 3-0 week, their longest since the start of the 2004-05 season. They handled the Vikings, ranked #18 in the D3Hoops.com national poll, rather easily in a 61-43 victory on Tuesday. In their home opener on Thursday, Tufts blasted Simmons by 32 points, 82-50, and followed that up with a 45-point, 90-45 win over Wellesley on Saturday.

Coming off the bench, Ummah led Tufts with 14.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last week while playing an average of 18.7 minutes. At Salem State, she recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds along with three blocks. She led the Jumbos with 16 points against Simmons and with 15 points against Wellesley, finishing the week an impressive 16 for 22 from the floor (.727). She hit seven of eight shots against Wellesley.

For the year, Ummah is averaging 13.4 points per game (second on the team) with a team-high 8.1 rebounds per game. She's shooting .551 from the field (38/69) and has gone to the free throw line 34 times, 11 more than anyone else on the Jumbos. She's averaging 20.6 minutes per game off the bench.

In NESCAC, she's currently ranked third in rebounding, third in field goal percentage and 11^th in scoring. Ummah shares the award this week with Amherst College junior forward Stefanie Reiff.Ummah is the first Tufts player to win NESCAC Player of Week since Allison Love was appropriately selected on Valentine's Day 2005.

"Khalilah has made a huge impact on our team thus far," head coach Carla Berube said. "She has been a force inside both on the offensive and defensive end and especially on the boards.  Working extremely hard this past summer and preseason, coupled with having an increased level of confidence, has made Khalilah a formidable option for us in the low post."

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