MEDFORD, Mass. — The Middlebury College women’s basketball team dropped two NESCAC road games this past weekend to fall to 2-2 in league play. The Panthers, 11-3 overall, will play at NESCAC foe Williams on Saturday.
On this past Saturday Tufts, at 14-2 and 3-1 in NESCAC play ranked No. 8 last week in NCAA Division III, used a 16-2 third-quarter run to defeat the Panthers, 61-45.
Middlebury took a 27-25 lead at 7:50 of the third on a three-point play from Maya Davis before Tufts responded with a 16-2 run to lead by 41-29 at 2:39. The Panthers responded with eight of the next 13 points, four from Sabrina Weeks to trail by 46-37 after three quarters. But a 7-0 Jumbo run in the fourth period erased the Panthers’ chances.
Betsy Knox paced the Panthers with 12 points and six rebounds, while Davis added nine and Weeks chipped in with seven.
Tufts’ Emily Briggs led all scorers with 16 points, while Erica DeCandido added 15 with a game-high 10 boards. The Jumbo defense forced 27 Panther turnovers.
On Friday the Panthers came up short in a winnable game at Bates (6-11, 1-3 NESCAC), falling by 60-57. The game was close throughout. Bates led by four after three periods, but a Sarah Kaufman layup tied the game at 49-49 with 3:52 to go.
But Bates answered with an 8-2 run to lead by 57-51 with 1:05 remaining. The Panthers cut the lead to 57-54 on a Knox three-point play at 0:37 seconds, but Julia Middlebrook sank a three for the Bobcats on their next possession to put the game out of reach. 
Kaufman led Middlebury with 15 points, while Davis scored 10 and grabbed eight boards. Nina Davenport scored 16 for Bates, and Freedland added 15.