Tufts Downs Endicott, Wins Tip-Off Tournament
Nov. 17, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - Tufts University went on a 23-11 run to close out the second half, rallying back from seven down to defeat Endicott College, 74-69, to capture the EC Tip-Off Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon in Beverly, Massachusetts.
The Jumbos opened Saturday's tournament final by building a six point lead on a three-ball from Katie Wholey (Marshfield, MA/Marshfield) to go up 15-9. Moment's later, Tufts extended its lead to 13 as the Jumbos Khalilah Ummah (Litchfield, ME/Waynflete School) knocked down a pull-up jumper and then Kim Moynihan (West Harford, CT/Hall) connected on a shot from the top of the key to give the visitors a 30-17 advantage.
The Gulls responded by fighting their way back into the contest with a 16-10 run to close out the opening half. Ceciley Chisholm (Lexington, MA/Lexington) was huge for Endicott in the closing minutes of the first frame as the sophomore forward tallied 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting in the opening 20-minutes. Chisholm and the rest of the Gulls also capitalized on their free-throw opportunities, as the Gulls hit 16-of-20 from the free-throw line in the first.
Riding their late first half momentum, the Gulls continued to roll in the opening moments of the second half. The Blue and Green put together a 13-3 run to pull ahead 46-43 with just under 15-minutes left in the contest.
However Tufts refused to go quietly as the visitors buckled down and capitalized on several Endicott miscues. Playing with four fouls for much of the second half, Khalilah Ummah took over the contest and led the Jumbos with several big buckets down the stretch. The Tufts defense forced four big turnovers in the closing minutes and used the extra opportunities to secure the five point victory.
Ummah led Tufts with 19 points and seven rebounds in the win. The Jumbos' next top-scorer was Lindsay Weiner (Rockville, MD/Wootton), who tallied nine points on 3-of-4 shooting. Junior center Katie Tausanovitch (Lyme, NH/Hanover) had eight points and seven rebounds before fouling out with just under nine minutes remaining in the contest.
Endicott was once again led by Nicole Duchesne (Plaistow, NH/Central Catholic) as she topped all scorers with 23 points including 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Ceciley Chisholm finished the day with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Endicott (1-1, 0-0 TCCC) returns to action following the Thanksgiving break, as the Gulls will host Suffolk University on November 27th at 6:00 p.m. Tufts University retakes the court this coming Tuesday as they will make their home debut with a non-conference match-up with The Commonwealth Coast Conference's Western New England College at 5:30 p.m.