MEDFORD - Sophomore point guard Kelsey Morehead (Foster City, CA) scored 13 points as the #5 Tufts women's basketball team improved to 21-0 with a 52-35 victory over Rhode Island College on Tuesday night at Cousens Gym.
The Anchorwomen had defeated the Jumbos handily (62-41) last season, but tonight Tufts held RIC to just 16.7 percent shooting (4/24) in the first half to take a 28-14 margin into the break. The Jumbos remained undefeated heading into Saturday's showdown at undefeated Amherst (20-0).
Rhode Island College lost for the third time in four games, dropping to 12-8 overall. The Anchorwomen received a game-high 15 rebounds (eight offensive) from first-year Vandell Andrade (Providence, RI). Junior Stephanie Prusko (Lincoln, RI) led the visitors with seven points.
Neither team was very effective in the first half. After Tufts took a 13-5 lead early in the game, RIC scored the next five points and it was 13-10 with nine minutes left until halftime. Over the next seven-plus minutes, the Jumbos outscored the Anchorwomen 15-2 with Morehead scoring five points and Kate Barnosky (Huntington Station, NY) adding four. That put Tufts up 28-12 at the 1:34 mark.
At intermission, Morehead and Barnosky both had seven points for the Jumbos. RIC was led by five points from first-year Danielle LeBlanc (Warwick, RI). The teams shot a combined 1 for 12 from three-point territory in the first 20 minutes and the Anchorwomen accumulated 10 turnovers.
RIC came out of halftime and cut the advantage to single digits. Their 8-2 run to open the half was led by four points from Andrade and pulled them to within 30-22 with 16:21 on the clock. The margin remained in that vicinity for the next five minutes, including 35-26 following a pair of free throws by RIC senior Ashley O'Dell (Lincoln, RI) at 12:51.
Tufts regained control of the contest with an 11-0 stretch featuring five points from Morehead and four by sophomore Hayley Kanner (Scarsdale, NY). That made it 46-26 in favor of the hosts with 7:49 remaining in the half. A three by Prusko had the Tufts lead at 13 points (48-35) and forced a Jumbo time-out. However, that would be as close as RIC would get.
Barnosky filled the stat sheet with nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals for Tufts. Junior Ali Rocchi (Fairfield, CT) and Kanner both scored eight points, with Rocchi also securing five rebounds. Junior Caitlin McClure (Arlington, VA) added five points, four rebounds, and four assists in 23 minutes off the bench.
Senior co-captain Courtney Burns (Rockland, MA) finished with six points and four rebounds for RIC. O'Dell recorded five points to go with three rebounds. The Anchorwomen shot just 24 percent (12/50) overall. They play at UMass Boston in a Little East Conference game on Saturday at 1 pm.
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