BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Regis College women's basketball team's historic season came to an end in the NCAA First Round as the #7 nationally-ranked Tufts University Jumbos defeated the Crimson and Gold 61-49 Friday evening. The victory moved Tufts to 24-3 and the setback ends the Pride's season at 24-4.
Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.) tallied a game-high 20 points while converting 10-of-12 (83.3%) from the charity stripe. Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. In her last collegiate game, senior guard Alyssa Lanpher (Princeton, Mass.) set a career-high with 12 boards.
For the Jumbos, sophomore guard Lauren Dillon (Wellesley, Mass.) led Tufts offensive attack with a team-best 14 markers. Emma Roberson (Arlington, Mass.) added 10 points, six caroms, two assists, a block and a steal.
The Pride had a better shooting percentage from the floor as they knocked down 34.9% of their field goal attempts, but Tufts took 22 more shots than their counterparts. The Jumbos also won the turnover battle as the Pride turned the ball over 25 times compared to 15 for Tufts. Tufts never trailed in the contest.
Tufts opened up the contest with five straight points from Melissa Baptista (Somerville, Mass.) on a layup underneath and a three pointer. After a steal by Mikayla Murphy (Attleboro, Mass.) the junior guard passed the rock around the high post before the ball found Murphy again and she drained a shot from downtown for the Prides' first points of the contest.
A few possessions later, Amanda Hawkesworth made both free throws to make it a 6-5 game with 6:13 left in the first quarter. An 8-2 Jumbos run ending with a Katy Hicks (Canton, Mass.) layup made the score 14-7 with 2:26 left before a Brittany Stone post shot on the next possession ended the Jumbos run. Both squads split free throws in the waning minutes to make it a 15-10 contest after one.
The Pride stepped up the pace in the beginning of the second after they scored two layups one by Stone and the other on a baseline drive by Brandi Bonneau (Derry, N.H.) which forced Head Coach Carla Berube to take a full timeout. On the next Regis possession, Stone cleaned up her own miss and put her second attempt off the glass and in to cut the Pride deficit to 19-16 with 8:25 before intermission.
The game remained scoreless over the next three minutes before Baptista pick pocketed Mikayla Murphy at half court and went to the rack for a fast break two.
Tufts ended the first half of the contest with an old fashioned three-point play by Emma Roberson and a three-ball from Lauren Dillon which put Tufts up eight, but Amanda Hawkesworth knocked down a jumper with 14 seconds remaining which put the Pride down six, 29-23 heading into the break.
The Jumbos opened the half with a 6-2 mini run that gave them their first double-digit lead of the contest as Michela North (Duxbury, Mass.) buried a jumper from the top of the key to put Tufts up 10, 35-25. Regis responded with five straight points using two Stone freebies, a Hawkesworth free throw, and a Murphy jumper off a screen to trim the Jumbos lead to 35-30, but Dillon converted a shot from deep on the next trip down the floor to go up eight.
Regis regained momentum and added four consecutive points as Amanda Hawkesworth dominated the paint for a layup and was fouled by Nicole Brooks (Greenburgh, N.Y.) and knocked down two shots from the charity stripe to bring the Tufts lead down to four. On the next possession, Katy Hicks buried a three-ball from the corner off a designed inbound play to give Tufts a sizeable lead. The Pride wouldn't back down as they added five straight markers to go down two. The Jumbos added three points to go up 44-39 heading into the final period.
Five straight points by the Jumbos gave them their second double digit lead of the contest which forced Head Coach Angela Santa Fe to take a full timeout. Missed chances from each team ensued until Hawkesworth converted a jumper from the paint. Junior guard Josie Lee (Augusta, Maine) built the lead back up to double figures. Mikayla Murphy made a jumper to make it a two possession game with two minutes left, but the Pride were forced to foul to stay in the game and the Jumbos made their free throws to earn a 61-49 win.
Brittany Stone's post presence held Jumbos junior center Michela North to a 3-of-13 (23%) shooting and only nine points. Melissa Baptista racked up 11 points, four rebounds, three blocks and three steals for Tufts.
Tufts will now square off against Moravian College who upset host University of New England 70-60 at 6:00 p.m.