Basketball Teams to Host NESCAC Championship Quarterfinal Games at Cousens on Saturday

MEDFORD - For the first time since the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) began playing conference championships in 2000-01 season, both Tufts basketball teams will host games in the quarterfinal round on Saturday.

After NESCAC seasons that placed both squads among the four best in the conference, Cousens Gym is poised for playoff action. The Tufts women host Connecticut College at 2 pm, followed by the Jumbo men against Bates at 4 pm.

Head coach Carla Berube's women's team finished 8-2 in the league to earn the #2 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. They will face #7 seed Connecticut College (16-6, 5-5 NESCAC), a squad that the Jumbos smothered 51-21 on January 21 during the regular season.

The men's team, under head coach Bob Sheldon, was 6-4 in NESCAC to secure the fourth seed in the conference tournament. They will host fifth-seed Bates College, which is 11-12 overall and 5-5 in the league. Tufts won the regular-season match-up 67-62 on January 28.

Both quarterfinal winners will advance to the semi-finals on February 25 at the site of the highest remaining seed. Neither Jumbo team has a conference title to its credit. The women have played in two NESCAC finals (2007-08) and the men have been in one (2006).

The Tufts and Connecticut College women's teams have different make-ups. The Jumbos go deeper, with senior co-captain and leading scorer Kate Barnosky (Huntington Station, NY) ranking 22nd in NESCAC at 8.9 points per game. The Camels have the conference's second and third highest scorers in Tara Gabelman (15.2) and Jenn Shinall (13.9), respectively. Tufts is one of the best defensive teams in the nation and ranks second in NESCAC allowing 45.4 points per game. They are seventh in the league for scoring (61.3). Connecticut College is sixth offensively (63.1) and seventh defensively (55.4) for NESCAC.

In the men's game, Tufts has the fifth-best offense in the conference with 75.2 points per game. Junior tri-captain Scott Anderson (Sudbury, MA) leads the Jumbos with 12.8 points per game, while senior Alex Orchowski (Cornwall, NY) is at 12.2 ppg. Tufts is ranked last in the conference defensively, allowing 69.1 points per game. Bates is only one place ahead of Tufts defensively, ranking 10th at 66.8 points allowed per contest. They are eighth offensively (65.9). Senior John Squires is one of the top big men in the league averaging 12.8 points and 9.4 rebounds.

As always, tickets are free of charge to Tufts basketball games at Cousens. Tufts Athletics will provide complete live coverage of both games at these links:

Video - http://www.jumbocast.net/index.php

Live Stats - http://livestats.prestosports.com/tufts/

Read the NESCAC seeding releases for the 2012 conference championships at these links:

Men - http://www.nescac.com/sports/mbkb/2011-12/championship/championship_seeding

Women - http://www.nescac.com/sports/wbkb/2011-12/championship/championship_seeding

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