Carla Berube’s Tufts Jumbos Off To 10-0 Start

Former UConn star Carla Berube became the head coach of the Tufts Jumbos in 2002 and proceeded to make a huge impact on the program. After going 9-14 and earning only one win in conference under coach Janice Savitz in the 2001-2002 season, the Jumbos had an immediate turnaround in Berube’s first year, going 17-7 and finishing in the middle of the pack in the NESCAC.

Berube was named the NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2007, 2008, and 2012. The 2008 season saw the Jumbos go 26-4 and run all the way to the NCAA Division III Tournament Elite Eight before losing to the eventual champion. That was one of four NCAA tournament appearances in the last five years, where Berube has a 7-4 record. Overall, she is 222-75 for a 74.7% winning percentage.

Tufts began the 2013-2014 year with a #10 preseason ranking. After Saturday’s 74-56 victory over Regis, the Jumbos are now 10-0 for the season and has risen to #7 in the polls. After forays into the national rankings in 2008, 2009, and 2012, Tufts now stands at its highest regular season ranking.

Berube is in the process of building the Jumbos into a mirror image of her alma mater and evidence of this is in the NCAA Division III stats. Even though Tufts is among the Top 10 teams in the country, it does not have any highly ranked individual players in any statistical categories. The team, however, is #8 in blocked shots, #10 in scoring defense (49.6 ppg), #16 in scoring margin (21.4 ppg), and #19 in turnovers and turnover margin per game.

The road gets tougher, however, and on January 17th the Jumbos will face a stiff test when it hosts conference nemesis Amherst. Amherst, the 2011 Div III National Champions, is currently 8-0 and ranked #3 nationally. It’s the only team that has stood between Tufts and an NESCAC tournament championship. Last season, it was Amherst that knocked Tufts out of the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16.

It would be easy for the Jumbos to overlook its next opponent, a 5-5 Bridgewater State, in anticipation of the Amherst game but it’s not very likely. This Tufts team is an experienced bunch that seems to be as mentally tough as its coach. We’ll keep an eye on the Jumbos this season to see how far they can go.

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