MEDFORD, Mass. - December 6, 2008 - The 20th ranked Tufts University women's basketball team defeated the Colby-Sawyer Chargers, 68-43 on Saturday afternoon inside Cousens Gymnasium.
Jumbos junior Julia Baily (Farmington, Conn.) scored 20 points and senior co-captain Kim Moynihan (West Hartford, Conn.) added 14 as Tufts improved to 5-1.
Colby-Sawyer dropped to 5-2 on the season and scored their fewest points of the year. The Chargers did not have a player score in double-digits, with junior Terri Duffy (Marshfield, Mass.) leading them with nine points. A 19-0 run by the Jumbos in the second half put the game away.
Tufts bolted to a 12-2 lead three minutes into the game, hitting five of their first six shots. The hosts kept their lead at a comfortable margin for most of the half. The Chargers were within seven on a few occasions, including 20-13 after a lay-up by senior Kristen Romanko (Mansfield, Mass.) at the 9:15 mark. A three-pointer by Moynihan gave Tufts a 13-point cushion (30-17) at 4:44 and the Jumbos played with a double-figures lead until halftime. With Tufts up 35-21 at the break, Baily had 10 points for the Jumbos at intermission and Romanko had seven for Colby-Sawyer. Tufts was 15 for 33 from the field (45.5 percent) in the first 20, while the Chargers were 8 for 27 (29.6 percent).
The only real snag for Tufts came in the first five minutes of the second half. Colby-Sawyer came out of the locker room with a 10-2 stretch that made it a six-point game at 37-31 after a lay-up by first-year Maggie Rossi (Fairhaven, Mass.). Senior Ellen Naughton (Reading, Mass.) had two lay-ups to help the cause. However, the Chargers would not score again until the 5:26 mark, suffering through a 10-minute scoreless drought that included nine missed shots, four missed free throws and six turnovers. Tufts added 19 points to its lead, with Moynihan's seven early in the Jumbo run getting it going. When Charger senior Emma Pasquale (Eliot, Maine) scored to end Colby-Sawyer's scoreless stretch, Tufts led 56-33. The Tufts advantage would be in the 20s for the rest of the way.
Baily scored on 9 of 15 field goal attempts and added two free throws for her 20 points. Sophomore guard Colleen Hart (Needham, Mass.) finished with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists, as the Jumbos earned 17 assists on 26 baskets. Junior Casey Sullivan (Berlin, Conn.) and senior Katie Tausanovitch (Lyme, N.H.) both had nine points and five rebounds.
Pasquale added eight points, eight rebounds and two assists. Naughton ended up with seven points, two rebounds and two assists. The Chargers also showed good ball movement with 11 assists on 18 baskets.
Colby-Sawyer will remain on the road with a game at Castleton State on Tuesday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m.
