Cortland Sports Information Department
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – Erica DeCandido scored 26 points and hauled in 11 rebounds and Emily Briggs added 21 points and nine boards as nationally second-ranked Tufts defeated Cortland, 79-53, in an NCAA Division III tournament second-round game at Western New England University.
Cortland closes its season with a 22-7 record – its highest win total since the 2009-10 season – and finishes tied for 17th in the NCAA tournament. Tufts (28-1) advances to the Sweet 16 next weekend to face Williams College – a league foe of the Jumbos in the NESCAC – at a site to be announced.
Freshman Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) led Cortland with 13 points and three steals and also pulled down four rebounds. Senior Beth Bonin (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) scored 12 points and led the Red Dragons with six rebounds and three assists. Senior Joka Oyefeso (Staten Island/Port Richmond) scored a career-best 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench and also totaled four rebounds and two blocks.
DeCandido made 10-of-19 field goals and 6-of-8 free throws for the Jumbos and also recorded three assists and three steals. Briggs was 9-for-15 from the floor. Cailin Harrington pitched in with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and Molly Ryan tallied 10 points and dished out a game-high six assists.
Cortland led 10-9 just over three minutes into the game and trailed only 14-12 after Oyefeso hit a jumper with 2:52 left in the first quarter. Tufts closed the quarter on a 7-2 run, including four points from Briggs, and led 21-14 after one period.
The Jumbos' decisive run came in the first 3:29 of the second quarter as they scored the first nine points of the stanza to take a 30-14 lead. DeCandido hit the first two baskets in that run and Ryan closed the streak with a 3-pointer.
Tufts led 38-22 at halftime and 44-24 two minutes into the third. Cortland clawed back as close as 12 points at 54-42 on a Meghan Flanagan (Rochester/Brighton) 3-pointer with 1:28 left in the third, but the Jumbos scored the next seven points on a Harrington jumper, two Ryan free throws and a Harrington 3-pointer in less than a minute. Tufts led 61-44 entering the fourth and pushed its lead to more than 20 points over the final nine minutes.
Tufts finished shooting 46 percent from the floor, although only 24 percent (4-of-17) from 3-point range, and 81 percent (13-of-16) from the foul line. Cortland shot 35 percent overall and 25 percent (4-of-16) from deep. The Red Dragons made 9-of-10 foul shots. Tufts held a 52-26 advantage in paint points and a 17-5 margin in points off of turnovers as Cortland lost the ball 17 times compared to 11 Tufts giveaways.