Box Score

MEDFORD, Mass.  --   Tufts University got 17 points and eight rebounds from sophomore guard Cailin Harrington, and used stifling defense as the #6 ranked Jumbos topped Westfield State, 71-54, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament at Tufts' Cousens Gymnasium on Friday evening.
 
"It was a hard fought game," said Tufts coach Carla Berube. "We knew Westfield is a little unorthodox and plays a a style we are not used to playing against, but they also have good, skilled basketball players who play well and play hard."
 
Tufts came out of the gate quickly, using a 12-0 run early in the first quarter to build a 14-2 lead.  The Jumbos (23-5) were opportunistic defensively, playing tough man-to-man defense, and doubling and helping when the situation presented itself, leading to five tufts steals and several easy baskets.  
 
Westfield's Chelsea Moussette broke the run with a transition three pointer with 3:40 to play in the opening stanza, and a Keri Paton follow up cut the lead back to 14-7.
 
Tufts led 21-11 at the end of the first quarter. 
 
The Owls helped get the game sped up in the second quarter, getting six steals of their own and trimming the lead down to as few as six points, 33-27, after a three-point play from Keri Paton and a pair of free throws from Rebecca Sapouckey.
 
Westfield trailed 37-27 at the half. Harrington led Tufts with 10 in the first half, while Kierra McCarthy scored seven and grabbed five rebounds for the Owls.
 
Tufts started the second half with a 13-4 spurt, capped by a Jac Knapp layup which forced an Owls timeout.  The Jumbos extended their lead to 60-40 by the end of the third quarter.
 
Westfield kept their intensity high throughout the 4^th quarter, keeping the final margin in check.
 
McCarthy led Westfield with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 7-11 shooting from the floor, and had a pair of steals.
 
"She was a monster," said Bertini about McCarthy's performance.  "She played so well, we tried to get her more shot opportunities, and we had to move her around. People don't necessarily understand Kierra's value to our team. Today she's a double-double against one of the best teams in the country.  She has a lot of talent, and she's so positive with everybody.  She's a great leader on the floor, had a tremendous game and played well all season."
 
The Owls, who led the nation in turnover margin at nearly +17 a game, found themselves on the other side of the coin, a rare occasion, as Tufts forced  26 Owls turnovers and got 17 steals, leaving Westfield at a -2 deficit in the turnover game.
 
"We knew it would be an uphill climb playing the number 6 team in the country , you hope that we get them running a little bit and turn them over," said Bertini.  "But their defense is just special. You watch them on film it doesn't do it justice how talented they are.  We had a tough time getting clean looks at the basket.   Even when we did get a steal they'd recover so quickly with their length and quickness it was hard for us to get those sprint outs and layups to sustain a run."
 
Westfield got 10 points from Moussette.   Rebecca Sapouckey grabbed seven rebounds.
 
Tufts got 15 points from senior forward Melissa Baptista Knapp.
 
The Jumbos limited Wetsfield to 33 percent shooting from the floor and the Owls connected on just 3 of 21 three point tries.
 
"We did a fairly good job on them," said Berube.  "My players would tell you I wasn't happy for all 40 minutes, but Westfield averages more than 80 points a game and we were able to hold them to 54."
 
Our team played so hard," said Bertini. "We lost Ali Hester in the beginning of the second quarter. She has been a dominant defensive player for us all year … we kind of lost a key piece."
 
 "Definitely really proud of how we played," said McCarthy. "We knew it was going to be a tough game regardless of their talent, because of the way we play it always gives us hope, you don't know how they are going to play against it, how that are going to adjust to it.  We did what we had to do, they stopped us.  They have length, their tall they are big and they have impeccable defense.  And we scored 54 points against a great defensive team.
 
"We have 15 on the roster and we have 13 coming back.," said Bertini. "Obviously losing Rebecca [Sapouckey] and Alyssa [Darling, to graduation] are a huge loss for use.  But every off season these guys they work their butts off. No one out works us. Tufts didn't out work us today, we kept giving the same effort, never hung our heads until the final 30 seconds when we know the outcome.  We have failure recovery better than most teams.

The Owls finish their season with a 19-8 record under 13^th year head coach Andrea Bertini.  The Owls led nation in scoring 88.5 points per game, steals 20.1 per game, and turnover margin +16.58 per game entering the tournament.
 
"Its definitely something we haven'd seen," said Knapp. But in the NCAA tournament its surviving and advancing , and you have to be ready for anything, and we are happy to get to play tomorroew.
 
Westfield State was making their sixth NCAA tournament appearance and third straight. 
 
In the other first round game here tonight, Ithaca (21-7) defeated SUNY-Geneseo (25-3),  54-47.  Tufts will play Ithaca tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. in the second round.

 Release courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information