TUFTS CAPTURES REGIS INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

WESTON, Mass. – Tufts University overcame a five-point halftime deficit to defeat host Regis College, 65-53, and capture the 2011 Regis College Invitational Championship on Saturday afternoon in Weston, Mass. The Jumbos improve to 5-2 this season while Regis drops to 2-2 on the young year.

Tiffany Kornegay (Carver, Mass.) posted a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Hannah Foley (Acton, Mass.) hit a pair of three pointers in the second half en route to 13 points in the victory. Stephanie Crawford (Rockland, Mass.) scored 15 points for the Pride and now sits only 16 points shy of becoming the 12th member of Regis College's 1,000 point club.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle between both defenses as the period saw three ties and eight lead changes through the first 20 minutes of game action. With the Pride trailing 11-10 and 9:37 showing on the clock, Brittany White (Dorchester, Mass.) converted on a driving layup that would give the Pride a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the period. Tufts got as close as 25-24 with 3:00 remaining on a layup by Kornegay, but the Pride got an and-one layup from Crawford followed by a freethrow from Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine) that gave Regis the 29-24 lead headed into the break.

Stephanie Crawford led all scorers at halftime with 13 points. Regis' Claire Ramonas chipped in with 10 points while Tufts was led by Tiffany Kornegay's 10 points.

The Jumbos chipped away slowly at the Pride's lead before the game was tied at 34-all when Hayley Kanner (Scarsdale, N.Y.) converted on a layup and was fouled. Kanner's freethrow gave Tufts their first lead since 9:37 in the first half and Kanner eventually pushed the Jumbo lead to five when she had another three-point play two minutes later giving Tufts a 40-35 advantage.

Regis regained the lead from the charity stripe as Emilee Marro (Bedford, N.H.) went 4-for-6 from the line and Teresa Busiek (Arlington, Mass.) added two of her own to give the Pride a 41-40 edge with 8:11 remaining in the game. That would be the last lead Regis would hold however, as the Jumbos rattled off a 14-4 run, including back-to-back three-balls from Hannah Foley, over the next four-plus minutes to grab a nine-point lead at 54-45. Regis cut the deficit to six with 1:21 remaining when Ramonas hit Marro on a backdoor cut to make it 57-51, but when the Pride were forced to foul, Tufts made them pay, going 8-of-10 from the line to seal the 65-53 victory.

Both teams struggled from the field as the Jumbos were 19-of-64 (29.7%) compared to Regis' 16-of-52 (30.8%). Tufts won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding the Pride 51-37 and scoring 29 second chance points. Both teams committed 12 turnovers.

Kornegy led all scorers with 20 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Kate Barnosky joined her in double-figure rebounds with 10 while adding six points. Hayley Kanner and Hannah Foley spearheaded the Jumbos bench attack as the duo combined for 23 of 26 bench points in the victory.

Regis was led by 18 points and five rebounds from Claire Ramonas while Crawford added 15 points and three rebounds of her own. Emilee Marro had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with 10 points while Brittany White came off the bench to score six points and grab six boards.

The All-Tournament Team featured members of all four institutions as Tufts' Kate Barnosky was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Tiffany Kornegay and Hannah Foley. Regis placed a pair of players on the squad in Claire Ramonas and Stephanie Crawford. Westfield State's Jen Ashton and St. Joseph College's Lindsay Moore rounded out the All-Tournament Team.

Regis returns to action on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m. when the Pride hosts Becker College to open New England Collegiate Conference play. Tufts will try and push its winning-streak to six games when the Jumbos take on Emerson College on Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m.