Tufts Women's Basketball Advances to NESCAC Semi-Finals With 74-46 Win Over Wesleyan

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Kelsey Morehead dished out six assists in the win

MEDFORD - The Tufts women's basketball team earned a 74-46 victory over Wesleyan in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Championship Saturday at Cousens Gym. Junior Hannah Foley (Acton, MA) led the way for the Jumbos with a 24-point, seven-rebound effort.

Tufts will host the conference semi-finals and final next weekend (Mar. 1-2). The #1 seeded Jumbos (24-1) advance to the semi-finals and will host #4 Trinity next Saturday (Mar. 1) at 2 pm. Second-seed Amherst and #3 Bowdoin will play in the other semi on Saturday at 4 pm. The final is slated for Sunday (Mar. 2) at noon.

Eighth-seeded Wesleyan, led by 12 points from Jenna Klaes today, finishes its season at 12-12

Junior Hayley Kanner (Scarsdale, NY) scored 11 points with four rebounds and three blocks for Tufts. Junior point guard Kelsey Morehead (Foster City, CA) played a solid game with eight points, six assists and two rebounds. First-year Michaela North (Duxbury, MA) and senior Liz Moynihan (Storrs, CT) each added seven points off the bench.

Tufts had a 4-0 advantage at 16:24 of the first half until Wesleyan answered with a jumper by Cherkira Lashley and three-pointer from Jackie Browne for 5-4 lead. The Jumbo offense finally got going and used a 19-4 run over eight minutes for a 27-11 advantage with 4:16 left in the half. The stretch was led by Morehead's six points. Tufts would go into halftime with a 30-17 lead.

Kanner led the Jumbos with nine points in first half, while Foley chipped in seven to go with six rebounds. Klaes had five points for Wes at the break.

In the second half, Tufts continued to build upon their margin. With a 36-23 lead at 15:28, Foley's trey began a 20-10 run that resulted in a 59-33 lead with 8:18 remaining. The Jumbos' largest lead of the afternoon ended up being their 28-point win with a final score of 74-46.

The Jumbo defense never allowed the Cardinals to make a run as they were held to 36-percent shooting compared to 45.6 percent for the home team, including 42.1 percent from long distance. Tufts outrebounded Wesleyan 38-26.

Browne chipped in with seven points for the visitors and Kaylie Williams added seven points to go along with a team-high five rebounds.

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