Top-seeded Tufts outscored the Middlebury women's basketball team 26-6 in the third quarter as the seventh-ranked Jumbos posted a 68-36 win over the Panthers in the NESCAC Quarterfinal on Saturday. The tournament appearance was the second straight for the Panthers (12-13), which earned the eighth seed in the tournament, marking the first time since 2007 and 2008 that they qualified in back-to-back seasons. Tufts (22-2), the two-time defending NESCAC Champions, extended its winning streak with 17 games and will host the final two rounds of the tournament next weekend.

Middlebury opened the scoring just over a minute into the game on a jump shot by Alex Huffman, but the Jumbos countered with a 10-2 run. The Panthers cut the deficit in half on back-to-back baskets by Colleen Caveney and Sabrina Weeks to make it a 10-8 game with 2:19 left in the opening quarter.

After consecutive buckets by Tufts, Sarah Kaufman hit a three-pointer for Middlebury to close the margin to 14-11 with less than a minute remaining. A three-pointer by Maura Folliard gave the Jumbos a 17-11 after 10 minutes of play.

The hosts used a 9-2 run at the start of the second quarter to extend their advantage to 26-13. The Panthers held a slight 6-5 edge over the final 6:13 of the quarter and two free throws by Caveney with 19 seconds on the clock cut the difference to 31-19 at the half.

Middlebury's Catherine Harrison started the scoring in the third quarter, as her jumper made it a 10-point game (31-21) with 8:30 remaining. The Jumbos pulled away with a 21-2 run over the next 6:05, pushing the score to 52-23. The hosts led 57-25 at the end of the quarter.

In the final 10 minutes, each team scored 11 points with Kaufman netting seven of her team-high 10 points in the final frame.

Daley had a balanced game with eight points and 11 rebounds, while Harrison had six points and nine boards.

For Tufts, Melissa Baptista finished with 20 points on 9-13 shooting from the floor. The Jumbo defense forced 28 turnovers and held a 32-2 edge in points off turnovers.