Tufts snaps Wheaton winning streak with shutdown second-half defense

January 22, 2008

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's basketball team had its longest winning streak in 12 years come to a halt Tuesday night, as nationally-ranked Tufts University limited the Lyons to just eight second-half points while posting a 61-36 non-conference victory in Emerson Gymnasium. Wheaton had won seven consecutive games and 11 straight at home coming into tonight's action.

The Lyons, who defeated the Jumbos at the buzzer in each of the last two seasons, fell to 11-5 overall. Tufts, which began the week ranked 18th in the country by D3hoops.com, improved to 14-1 on the season.

Holding a 32-28 halftime advantage, the visitors stymied Wheaton's second-half offense, as the Lyons were held to 12.5 percent shooting from the floor. Tufts outscored the hosts, 29-8 in the period and yielded just two points through the opening 8:52. A conventional three-point play by junior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) kept the Lyons within striking distance at 48-35 with 7:37 on the clock before an 11-0 Jumbo run in 3:34 put the game out of reach.

Hickey was Wheaton's lone double-figure scorer with 12 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) finished with seven points and a game-high eight boards, while classmate Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) had six points, five rebounds and four assists.

Former Bailey high school teammate Colleen Hart (Needham, MA/Needham) was one of two 14-point scorers for Tufts, as the freshman hit 5-of-8 from the field. Senior Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME/Waynflete School) had 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with three blocks, junior Katie Tausanovitch (Lyme, NH/Hanover) had 11 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Julia Baily (Farmington, CT/Miss Porter's School) added 10 points as a reserve.

The opening half witnessed four lead changes and three ties through the opening 7:30, but an 11-0 Tufts run eliminated Wheaton's four-point lead, as the Jumbos hit 10 of their first 13 shots en route to a 21-14 advantage with 10:08 to play. The visitors pushed their lead out to nine points twice, including on a jumper by Tausanovitch following three straight Jumbo offensive boards that made the score 30-21 with 2:06 left. Junior Jennie Pleat's (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) long-range two at the buzzer cut Wheaton's halftime deficit to four.

The Lyons' narrow first-half hole came despite 15 turnovers, and Wheaton made up for its sizable height disadvantage with a 19-13 rebounding edge. The Lyon defense also clamped down, limiting Tufts to 5-of-19 shooting in the final 9:32 of the opening stanza. The Jumbos shot 46.9 percent from the field and committed just seven turnovers. Hickey had seven points and seven boards through the first 20 minutes, while Baily and Ummah paced Tufts with eight points apiece.

Wheaton hits the road for the first time in over two weeks this Saturday, as the Lyons travel to Wellesley College for a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game at 2:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/22/08.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Upcoming Schedule

4-Dec Thu Brandeis H 8:00pm (Live Stats)
6-Dec Sat Salve Regina H 1:00pm
30-Dec Tue William Smith N 4:00pm