Tufts 58, Worcester State 47
Box Score
Worcester, MA --- Junior forward Julia Baily (Farmington, CT) tallied a game-high 21 points with six rebounds and three steals to help lead nationally ranked Tufts to a 58-47 victory over Worcester State this evening at Lancer Gymnasium in non-conference women's basketball action.
Winners of nine of their last 10 games, the Jumbos improve to 20-3 on the season while Worcester State dips to 8-15 overall. As of this morning, Tufts has moved up one spot to #15 in the latest d3hoops.com women's basketball poll.
Baily scored her 21 points going 8-for-12 from the field while she also made all five of her free throw attempts. Sophomore Colleen Hart (Needham, MA) notched 10 points with four swipes while senior Kim Moynihan (West Hartford, CT) added eight points with three assists.
The Lancers were paced by freshman Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) who scored a team-best 10 points with nine rebounds and four helpers while senior Erin McCullough (Harvard, MA) and sophomore Alexis George (Worcester, MA) each chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively.
Leading 9-7 with 12:32 left to go in the opening stanza, Tufts went on a 10-2 run over the next seven minutes of play to take a 19-9 lead. Three minutes later Worcester State responded when McCullough and Charette combined to score 10 straight points to tie the contest at 19-19 with 3:22 left in the period.
The Jumbos then answered right back with a 7-2 spurt to end the first period with Baily scoring all seven points. Baily would end the frame scoring 15 points.
Tufts came out of the locker room with a 9-2 run over the first 3½ minutes of play (37-23) and extended their largest lead up to 46-29 at 11:11. The Lancers whittled the advantage down to nine with a quick 10-2 run at 7:44 (48-39), but a jumper by junior Casey Sullivan (Berlin, CT) would bring the lead back up to 11 and the Jumbos would maintain a double-digit lead for the rest of the contest.
Worcester State out rebounded the visitors 35-32, but Tufts did their damage off of points off of turnovers (17-9) and second chance points (12-1). The Jumbos also forced 21 turnovers due in part to stealing 11 basketballs.
After connecting for 6-for-23 from the field in the first half, the Lancers improved to shoot 48% of their field goals (10-for-21) while they also made five of 12 shots from beyond the arc (42%). Tufts shot a modest 38% for the contest while only making four of 16 attempts from downtown (25%).
Tonight marked the last home game for McCullough who was honored in a pre-game ceremony.
The Lancers wrap up the season on Saturday when they travel to Salem State for a chance at home-field advantage in the playoffs on the line in a 4 PM contest, with an MCLA setback to Bridgewater State. Tonight's game was the season finale for the Jumbos as they will entertain Wesleyan at 3 PM in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Championship Tournament.