MEDFORD, Mass.—Senior Erin DeCandido (North Wales, Pa.) led four players in double figures with 17 points and No. 1/1 Tufts University used a 23-6 second-half run to pull away for a 73-51 victory over visiting Babson College in non-conference women's basketball action on Wednesday night inside Cousens Gymnasium.

Babson, which lost for just the second time over its last six games, falls to 8-7 on the year, while Tufts improves to 17-0.

Senior Katherine Tamulionis (Foxboro, Mass.) scored 11 points and classmate Emily Bonifacic (Allendale, N.J.) added 10 points and five rebounds and two steals for the Beavers.

Senior Cailin Harrington (Westwood, Mass.) finished with 15 points and eight rebounds, sophomore Molly Ryan (Westfield, N.J.) scored 13 points and junior Emily Briggs (Canton, Conn.) chipped in with 12 points for the Jumbos. In addition to her 17 points, DeCandido also led all players with 11 boards and seven assists in the win.

Five different players scored as Tufts built a 16-7 on a layup by Briggs late in the first quarter. Briggs added two more hoops to close the period, DeCandido scored inside and Harrington followed with a three-pointer to give the Jumbos their biggest lead of the opening half at 25-12 just 50 seconds into the second quarter.

Tamulionis and Bonifacic scored on consecutive possessions to cut the Beavers' deficit to single digits, and Smith followed with four straight points to get within 28-20 at the 6:17 mark. Tufts pushed the lead back to 11 with 2:29 to go in the stanza, but sophomore Nicole Hiller (Rocky Hill, Conn.) converted a three-point play and first-year Megan Bauman (East Lyme, Conn.) knocked down a triple as part of an 8-0 that pulled Babson within 35-32 just before the half.

The Green and White trailed by just six at the break and were down only eight after Bonifacic hit two free throws with 4:06 left in the third before Tufts closed the period with a 11-4 burst. Sophomore Sofia Rosa (Sudbury, Mass.) followed a three-pointer by Harrington with three straight hoops to make it 55-38 at the 2:12 mark. The Beavers got as close as 13 on two free throws by Tamulionis late in the frame, but the Jumbos got a pair of three-pointers from Ryan and scored on five of their first seven fourth-quarter possessions to stretch the margin to 69-44 with 5:07 to go in the game.

After shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) in the first half, Babson went just 5-of-23 (21.7 percent) from the floor over the final 20 minutes. Tufts shot 41.7 percent for the game and finished with a 44-35 edge on the glass.

Both teams return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. as the Beavers host WPI, while the Jumbos travel to Bates.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is 10-18 all-time against the Jumbos.
• Wednesday's game was the second this season for the Beavers against the nation's top-ranked team. They suffered a 61-38 loss to then-No. 1 Amherst back in late November.