The Tufts Daily - Friday, November 15, 2019

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

‘Rent’ still shines on 20th anniversary tour see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

Jumbos usher in new era under coach Pace

Women’s cross country finishes runner-up at NESCAC Championship, touts two All-Conference players see SPORTS / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 48

Friday, November 15, 2019

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Fletcher hosts the Women’s Leadership Award Ceremony

by Stephanie Rifkin Contributing Writer

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy hosted the sixth annual Fletcher Women’s Leadership Award (FWLA) ceremony last night.

At the ceremony, Fletcher alumnae Karoun Demirjian (F’06) and Siobhan MacDermott (F’13) were honored for making a meaningful impact in the world through their careers.

Demirjian, who graduated from the Fletcher School with her Master of Arts in law and diplomacy in 2006, was honored first for her contributions as a reporter for the Washington Post. Alice Finn, chair of the FWLA Committee, highlighted aspects of Demirjian’s career, such as her correspondence in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza for the Associated Press and her work covering the conflict in Ukraine.

Currently, Demirjian is focusing on the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Demirjian began her speech declaring that she doesn’t see herself as model alumna to receive a career award.

“Basically, I spent my first few years after Fletcher just trying to hang on and assuming massive amounts of debt,” she said, noting that she had difficulty holding down a journalism job for years after graduating.

Demirjian credits the education she received at Fletcher for helping her find her way to eventually being a foreign correspondent, and then to covering events in Washington, D.C. “Nobody comes to the Fletcher School because they want a preordained path, but it does give you the tools to be able to carve out your own. I learned how to question the status quo here and really, really dig. You can draw a

straight line from that to investigative journalism. Even more importantly, this was the most diverse student body I’ve ever been a part of and probably the most diverse group of people that I’ve ever existed in, and that forces you to listen. If you’re a reporter and not listening, you’re not getting the story,” she said.

She also highlighted the importance of honoring a reporter in an academic space like this and continuing to support journalism as much as possible.

“I think it’s really great that Fletcher is honoring a reporter this year. Attitudes are clearly changing in this political time and in this internet age, I think people are starting to come around to the idea that having well sourced information quickly turned around is important,” she said.

Demirjian closed her talk by calling on the crowd to support journalism by subscribing to their local media outlets.

The second honoree, MacDermott, graduated in 2013 with a global Master of Arts in law and diplomacy. She currently works as vice chairperson of global and corporate investment banking at Bank of America.

Like Demirjian, MacDermott credited her Fletcher education for the skills it gave her to effectively do her job.

“As I walked into the room at Fletcher, I looked around and realized that I was one of two people that came from the corporate world in the program. When we sat in our groups, and we tried to apply these corporate world policies, especially from Wall Street on how to get stuff done, it didn’t really work. I learned so much from my classmates. We had people from NGOs, we had people from governments from all over

AUSTIN CLEMENTI / THE TUFTS DAILY

Karoun Demirjian (F‘06), a Congressional reporter for the Washington Post, discusses her experience as a reporter, accepting the Fletcher Women’s Leadership Award in Cabot 207 on Nov. 14. the world, and really being able to sit and listen to them and understand their concerns about how things are being done made me rethink everything,” MacDermott said.

When she started to work at Bank of America in a position concerned with cyber public policy, the Fletcher School alumni network helped her succeed.

“I have people all over the world I could call and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Can you tell me what’s happening in your country?

How are people thinking about this? What’s going on over here? How do we piece all these pieces together?’ which was something I wouldn’t have been able to do any-

where nearly as successfully beforehand,” MacDermott said.

MacDermott also specifically addressed the issues that she’s faced as a woman in a male-dominated industry.

“I don’t think [there] was probably a more male-dominated profession out there [than financial services]. But it is changing. You’re starting to see more women at the top and more women in leadership positions and more gender parity in boardrooms, but it’s still difficult,” she said.

The event closed with a question and answer session with the Dean of the Fletcher School Rachel Kyte.

Heginbotham speaks about war games at inaugural Applied IR Speaker Series

by Matthew McGovern Assistant News Editor

Disclaimer: Kevin Doherty is an assistant features editor at the Tufts Daily. Doherty was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

Research scientist and specialist in Asian security issues Eric Heginbotham spoke last night at the Cheryl Chase Center in the first installment of the international relations (IR) department’s Applied IR Speaker Series. He currently works at the MIT Center for International Studies.

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The Applied IR Speaker Series aims at encouraging creative thinking in international relations (IR) students, especially as it pertains to career paths, according to an introduction by senior Kevin Doherty, president of the IR Student Advisory Board.

Heginbotham’s talk was focused around wargaming and war simulation, which have developed into integral tools in modern warfare.

Despite risks and pitfalls associated with these war games and simulations, Heginbotham said that he was a believer in their effectiveness. His expertise in the field comes from his work at both the For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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RAND Corporation and the Council on Foreign Relations, two think tanks which focus on policy.

“In the lead-up to World War I, war games were used by all the major powers to develop war plans. Perhaps the best documented use of war games to date was done by the U.S. Naval War College during the interwar years,” Heginbotham said.

These games covered a wide variety of factors such as attrition, supplies and the tactical importance of various bases.

Heginbotham emphasized their application in the Pacific theater in the lead-up to World War II.

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He also recounted the wargames and simulations that Japan conducted in preparation for World War II which showed that Japan would lose the war.

Heginbotham noted that sound analyses and simulations are quite frequently ignored by policy makers.

He went on to describe the effectiveness of war games and simulations during the Gulf War as well as during the Cold War. “All U.S. Service branches run what they call ‘futurist games,’ though I have only participated in the Air Force ones,” Heginbotham said.

NEWS............................................1 ARTS & LIVING.......................3

see APPLIED IR, page 2

FUN & GAMES.........................4 SPORTS............................ BACK

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, November 15, 2019

THE TUFTS DAILY Jessica Blough Editor in Chief

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Burmese writer and historian Thant Myint-U discusses his new book, ‘The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century’ (2019), in Mugar 200 on Nov. 14.

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Thant Myint-U discusses contemporary history of Burma

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Celia Bottger, who is studying IR and a member of the IR Student Advisory Board, explained some of the objectives of the Applied IR Speaker Series to the Daily in an interview.

“Bringing in Heginbotham is part of an effort to bring in people that work in the field to campus and allow students of international relations to hear from them about relevant careers,” Bottger, a senior, said.

Lionel Oh, a member of the IR Student Advisory Board, echoed these sentiments.

“The most important aspect of this series is having speakers talk about their experience applying international relations education on an everyday level,“ Oh, a senior, said.

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how students of international relations can enter the field.

Heginbotham detailed the variety of ideological affiliations of think tanks, funding sources and destinations for their research. He emphasized that the nature of think tanks’ work largely hinges upon their sources of funding.

Heginbotham closed with two pieces of advice: that students should study a breadth of subjects, and that they should not limit their scope of their job search solely to think tanks. Despite his extensive background in think tanks, Heginbotham also encouraged students to consider looking to academic institutions for work in public policy.

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continued from page 1 Towards the end of the discussion of wargaming and simulation, Heginbotham concentrated on their application during the nuclear arms race in the second half of the 20th century.

More specifically, he made the point that analyses have become increasingly complicated because nuclear warfare is no longer an issue solely between the United States and the Soviet Union.

The last portion of Heginbotham’s talk was dedicated to what he called the “think tank world” and the different types of functions, funding structures and goals that various think tanks have. He also elucidated

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Burmese writer and historian Dr. Thant Myint-U discussed his new book, “The Hidden History of Burma: Race, Capitalism, and the Crisis of Democracy in the 21st Century” (2019), with an audience of about 30 people in Mugar 200 last night.

The talk was hosted by the Fletcher School’s Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies (CSAIOS). Director of CSAIOS Ayesha Jalal introduced Thant Myint-U and noted that he is a former United Nations (UN) peacekeeper who is following in the footsteps of his grandfather U Thant, the third SecretaryGeneral of the UN. Thant Myint-U said that when he first set out to write his book in 2016, democracy was making good progress in Burma, and he had intended for this book to primarily be a political history. However, the crises in Rakhine and for the Rohingya people began a year later and he realized that writing a history of contemporary Burma would not be so straightforward.

“If I was going to try to write a history of the past 15, 20 years and try to make sense of contemporary Burma …

I would have to delve much more into

these issues around identity and nationalism and citizenship and belonging and race and ethnicity,” Thant Myint-U said.

Accordingly, Thant Myint-U structured his talk around five main topics that he identified as crucial in understanding the current situation in Burma: democracy, race and identity, armed and violent conflict, political economy and climate change.

Thant Myint-U walked the audience through a brief history of Burma. He discussed the colonial period in British India, the racial tensions between indigenous and alien people in Burma when it became independent in 1948, the beginning of military rule in 1958 and the eventual rebirth of democracy in the past decade, which included the establishment of a new constitutional framework in 2008.

He talked about the racial tensions that permeate the Burmese psyche which led to the expulsion of large numbers of people of Indian descent in 1964. Thant Myint-U noted that the telecom revolution that began in Burma in 2013 has allowed ideas about race to take on a new dynamic.

“Today on Facebook in Burma, you will see identity-based mobilization on an unprecedented scale,” he said.

Thant Myint-U explained that although the two countries are now rebuilding

their relationship, Burma’s close ties with China were negatively affected in the early 2010s.

“The Chinese by 2011 were shocked by the speed with which the rapprochement between the West and Burma took place and the abandon with which the Burmese seemed to be embracing Washington and other Western countries.”

He also spoke about the political economy in Burma, whose “seed money” can be traced to the large illicit heroin industry. Thant Myint-U explained that there are huge sums of money being moved around the country and most of that vast economy is going unaccounted for in official statistics.

“This economy that’s developed in Burma over the past 25 years has produced a society that is far more unequal in terms of wealth than anything we’ve seen at least since colonial times,” he said. “It has devastated the environment.”

Thant Myint-U concluded his talk by posing a question. “What is Burma?” he asked. Given the lack of common identity and the extremely weak state institutions, he wondered how it is possible that the country is still being held together, can support multimillion dollar industries and has not devolved further into violence.

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Friday, November 15, 2019

Learning from love and loss in ‘The Last Five Years’

POSTER DESIGNED BY BROOKE FOSTER, COURTESY OF TORN TICKET II

The promotional photo for Torn Ticket II’s new show ‘The Last Five Years’ is pictured.

by Sam Heyman

Assistant Arts Editor

Is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?

Torn Ticket II’s fall minor production of

“The Last Five Years” cast doubt on the old adage. The one-night engagement starred senior Nick Jodka and sophomore Francesca Viggiani as Jamie and Cathy, respectively, two burgeoning artists whose relationship is born and dies over the course of the show. Sophomore Bryce Victor directed the production, which featured a six-piece pit ensemble led by junior Iverson Eliopoulos.

“The Last Five Years” (2001) follows 20-somethings Jamie and Cathy over the course of (you guessed it) five years, from their first date to the death of their marriage. One of the features that sets this musical apart from other entries in the genre of divorce drama is its avante-garde, non-linear narrative structure. The two characters recount the arc of their relationship from opposite ends of its life; Jamie starts at the beginning and Cathy begins at the end. They only “meet” — that is, their stories align — for their wedding halfway through the show, a moment of synchronous bliss before the two resume their inexorable drift apart.

Viggiani, who plays Cathy, noted that writer and composer Jason Robert Brown’s music has a unique realist quality which lands it in a league of its own.

“Jason Robert Brown is a genius com-

poser … I feel like if music was how someone would speak what they were saying in that moment, he nails it. And I love singing it for that reason,” she told the Daily.

Compared to Torn Ticket II’s annual major productions, minor productions like ‘The Last Five Years” are relatively pared-down. Far from being limited, however, students enjoy a greater degree of freedom in proposing and selecting minor productions. To be eligible to submit a major proposal, students must meet a set of prerequisites from both Torn Ticket II and the drama department. For a minor production, on the other hand, any student may propose a show they wish to direct, one of which is then selected by the voting members of Torn Ticket II. This production was pulled together in just a matter of weeks. According to Viggiani, the musical’s unconventional narrative structure actually posed a unique kind of acting challenge in rehearsal. During the opening scenes of the musical, Cathy and Jamie find themselves at the end and the beginning, respectively, of their relationship. Moving fluidly between two divergent emotional paradigms required a lot of discipline. “You just have to be able to flip the switch,” Viggiani said.

The particular genre of “divorce drama” — which is dominated, as it were, by white male creative types — is notorious for its antagonism towards the female partner in the icy tango of heterosexual divorce, particularly when she is the one who decides to end it. Although (spoiler alert) that’s not the case in this show, when faced with critics, Viggiani flies to her character’s defense. In so doing, she’s able to sketch a blueprint of Cathy’s inner workings as detailed as if she were a childhood friend. “She has really high expectations for what her life’s gonna look like, and very clear expectations,” Viggiani said. “And so when she sees those realized with another person and not with herself, she crumbles.”

The intimate process of acting is not unlike fostering a relationship. Indeed, the wisdom Viggiani channels while portraying Cathy could serve as a valuable lesson to both of the musical’s protagonists. “My old acting teacher used to say, ‘you can never judge a character,’” Viggiani recalled. “You can recognize their flaws like you recognize your own flaws, but … you have to be able to understand where they’re coming from.” Perhaps the same could be said of a partner.

20th anniversary ‘Rent’ tour stops in Boston

by Elaine Gao

Contributing Writer

The 20th anniversar y tour of “Rent” had its final performance at the Shubert Theatre, Boston, on Nov. 10. From its very first show at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1993, “Rent” has won several musical awards over the years and was adapted into a movie featuring most of the original cast members in 2005.

The 20th anniversary tour was operated by Boch Center at the Shubert Theatre and presented by Work Light Productions. The 2005 movie version of “Rent” set the bar high for later productions, but the 20th anniversary tour was a success. The crew’s tribute to the iconic costumes and the stage design of “Rent” elicited much appreciation and nostalgia. Old fans of the musical were glad to see some familiar elements

in costume design — Angel’s iconic Santa Claus coat with zebra-striped leggings and bright green underwear, Tom’s worn-out knitted hat, Collins’ film camera and Mimi’s candle — as well as the giant, glittering Christmas tree on the stage.

Director Evan Ensign kept most of the elements similar to the original and let the talent of the cast shine. From the warm and loving “Light My Candle” to the heartbreaking “I’ll Cover You (Reprise)”, the cast captured the audience with their vibrant vitality on the stage and immersed the audience with their raw emotions through the climaxes of the play. The song “Over the Moon” by Maureen, a bisexual performance artist, brought much laughter as the actress moved her hips and sang in a wickedly funny manner. The last song in Act One, “La Vie Bohème,” brought the excitement to a feverish height as the cast, jumping and dancing on and off the

dinner table, celebrated their poor but liberating bohemian lifestyle.

Act Two opened with the famous “Seasons of Love,” but the poverty, the heartbreaks and eventually the death of Angel, a drag queen percussionist with AIDS, soon brought many to tears. In “I’ll Cover You (Reprise),” Angel performed a dance before death — abandoning her proud drag queen outfit and revealing himself as a skinny, pale boy struggling to live. The dance was visually shocking and provoked much thinking on the realistic situation of AIDS patients, which still remains a quite relevant issue today.

The life of young artists in “Rent” is poignant and touching, but the story behind the scene sounds more astonishing. Billy Aronson, an American playwright, loosely based the musical on Giacomo Puccini’s famous opera “La Boheme.” After seeing Puccini portraying the life of young bohemian artists living in the Latin Quarter of

Paris in the 1840s, Aronson was inspired to replace the flamboyance of Paris with a modern setting to recreate the classical story. Jonathan Larson, the composer of “Rent,” suggested the musical to take place in Lower Manhattan. With the help of Larson, the two finally brought the musical together in an Off-Broadway theatre in 1993. Larson, sadly, died of an aortic dissection the night before the OffBroadway premiere and only left behind one newspaper interview. ​ Taking the behind-the-scene story into consideration, the 20th anniversary tour of “Rent” reminded the audience again of young artists’ struggle with poverty and disease. With the cast’s compelling performance and the crew’s faithful tribute to the designs in the original, “Rent” brought us back to the coarseness, the struggle, the love and the hope of young artists in Lower Manhattan in the 1990s.

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Friday, November 15, 2019 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY

Women’s cross country takes 2nd at NESCAC Championship

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Matt Goguen Keeping up with the 617

The realistic blueprint for the Red Sox offseason

J

oy to the baseball gods! The Red Sox have officially signed the latest hot shot chief baseball officer in Chaim Bloom who expects to undergo a “soft rebuild” this offseason. As an extremely passionate Boston Red Sox supporter, I am currently not a fan of Bloom’s blueprint; instead of looking for prospects and younger players to fill the roster, Bloom looks to resign core clubhouse players and is hopeful to keep Mookie Betts, the reigning 2018 AL MVP. As much as this change for the Red Sox front office was needed, I am disagreeing with Bloom’s current idea of the Red Sox 2020 roster. After becoming a dumpster fire in 2019, this Red Sox lineup and pitching staff need a change; however, veteran leaders will not turn this hopeful team around. Here are two roster moves the Red Sox need to make this offseason:

EVAN SAYLES / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior Rhemi Toth sprints to the finish line at the Conn. College Cross Country Invitational at Harkness Memorial State Park on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016.

by Liam Finnegan Sports Editor

On Nov. 2, the women’s cross country team competed at the NESCAC Championship held at Mount Greylock High School in Williamstown, Mass. The team consistently performed at a high level throughout the course of the season, and that translated to a second-place finish at the NESCAC Championship. Along with the high-ranking finish, two Jumbos were nominated to the NESCAC All-Conference first team.

Sophomore Danielle Page and senior Sabrina Gornisiewicz were both named to the All-Conference team following their respective second and third-place finishes out of the 146 athletes in contention.

Finishing within the top seven runners at the NESCAC Championship granted them the nomination. Page ran the 6k in a time of 21:46.1, while Gornisiewicz ran it in a time of 22:07.6. They only lost out to Colby junior Sophia Gorman, who ran the race in a time of 21:40.2. Both athletes were proud of their massive accomplishment.

“Being named All-Conference felt really good,” Page said. “Similar to the team result, I was slightly disheartened to be beat by an opponent I’d beaten before, but considering this is my first true college cross country season, I’m pretty happy with my performance and really have to give credit to the team all titles earned that day, individual and collective.”

Gornisiewicz also spoke about her accomplishments in the race.

“To get third at NESCACs was an amazing feeling despite the actual physical pain,” Gornisiewicz said. “It was also the first time my parents got to see me be a college athlete, which made it all the sweeter.

We’ve ran the course earlier this season and I don’t think anyone expected the results of the championships to be as fast as they were. I think the girl who won NESCACs set a course record and my teammate ran over a minute faster which is just absolutely insanely impressive.”

Being new to collegiate cross-country, Gornisiewicz contributed part of her success to the quality of Tufts’ coaching staff.

“It’s really cool [being named to the NESCAC-All-Conference team],” Gornisiewicz said. “It’s all very new to me, so to be completely transparent, I have no idea what it means. I do know that I have great teammates, coaches, trainers, athletic directors and administrators, and so much more support, so I think being named NESCAC All-Conference brings recognition to the great leadership and coaching.”

Numerous other Jumbos had successful performances as well. Senior co-captain Rhemi Toth ran a 23:32.8 to finish in 28th place, first-year Meghan Davis ran a 23:33.4 to finish in 29th place and firstyear Lauren Pollak ran a 23:38.2 to finish 31st overall. Sophomore Anna Slager followed directly behind Pollak, running

a 23:39.0 for 32nd place while junior Johanna Ross was not far behind, running a 23:45.1 for 37th place. Only these times (Page’s through Ross’) were taken into account for team scoring.

Also competing for Tufts was senior co-captain Nicole Kerrigan (23:50.5) who finished in 44th, first-year Lexi Quinn (24:05.2) who finished 62nd, junior Cameron Rusin (24:21.0) who finished 73rd, first-year Lia Clark (24:54.2) who finished 92nd, first-year Chiara Cinquemani (25:34.1) who finished 112th, senior Ann Roberts (25:38.2) who finished 114th and first-year Kendall Roberts (25:54.9) who finished 122nd.

Overall, Tufts earned 90 points in total to come in second place, beating out third place Bates by 20 points, but losing to Williams who scored 58. The Jumbos were proud of their competitive finish at the competition.

“I think we have nothing but to be proud of our second place finish at NESCACs,” Gornisiewicz said. “However we’ve beaten Williams before this season and have nothing stopping us from doing it again. They have a really strong middle-pack but we definitely have the strength, ambition and fun spirit to defeat them again.”

Tufts’s next challenge will be the NCAA New England Regional Championship held at Pickard Field Cross Country Course in Brunswick, Maine, hosted by Bowdoin on Saturday.

When life throws you a financial challenge, you’ve proven you have what it takes to ace it.

Now it’s time to tackle your retirement savings at AceYourRetirement.org

Trade Mookie Betts Yes, you read that right. After praying for Betts to stay this entire regular season, I had a change of heart when I glanced at the Red Sox prospect pool — it’s atrocious. Currently, the Red Sox’s farm system is ranked #30 in the MLB, according to FanGraphs. To add insult to injury, the Sox only have one representative in the Top 100 Prospect List: Tristan Casas. To make matters even worse, Casas is stuck in A+ and his ETA to the major leagues is 2022 — not an ideal timeframe for the Red Sox. The Sox need prospects to maintain their dominance in the AL East. The formula for maintaining current success in the MLB is simple — a solid Major League roster and a deep prospect pool. Currently, Betts’ trade value is at an all-time high. GMs across the league are itching to have meetings to discuss a potential trade with the 4-time All-Star. Send Betts to a team with a deep prospect pool and receive back cash and, most importantly, pitching prospects.

Reform the Bullpen All year I struggled to maintain confidence whenever the Red Sox carried a slight lead into the late innings. Most of the time, my mindset was correct. Matt Barnes, the projected closer on Opening Day, had a 33.3 save percentage.

Barnes was part of a lights-out bullpen in 2018 but was stuck in a major slump this season.

Colten Brewer, who was projected to have a breakout season in the bullpen, posted a 4.12 ERA and was painfully mediocre down the stretch. Although Brandon Workman was a diamond in the rough player this season, the bullpen needs a complete overhaul. However, this might take some money-shaving methods and many minor moves in order for this to occur.

Players like Jake Diekman, Daniel Hudson and Steve Cishek come to mind. The front office must surround Brandon Workman with valid relievers that won’t have an aneurysm when a runner gets on base.

Look, the Red Sox offseason will be long, dreadful and most likely disappointing for fans.

Yes, Betts will most likely leave this organization and the Yankees will once again look like a juggernaut on paper. But if the front office does anything solid this offseason, they must focus on the bullpen. No matter how much the fan base loved Brock Holt and Mitch Moreland, let them walk in free agency. I love Holt with every bone in my body but we have a very solid lineup currently that showed no signs of slowing down last season. If you shed Holt’s and Moreland’s salary, it opens the door for Chaim Bloom and co. to make much-needed changes to a disastrous bullpen. Do us a favor Chaim, make this offseason a memorable one.

Matt Goguen is a first-year who has yet to declare a major. Matt can be reached at matthew.goguen@tufts.edu.

6 Friday, November 15, 2019

Sports

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Women’s basketball tips off 2019–20 with new coach

CHRISTINE LEE / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Senior guard/forward Erica DeCandido shoots a free throw in Tufts’ 52–46 victory over Haverford on March 2.

by Henry Molot Staff Writer

The women’s basketball team will start their season this Friday under the guidance of a new coach with a familiar face.

Jill Pace will make her Tufts coaching debut against Roger Williams, who won its season opener Tuesday against Wheaton College 73–57. And as the Jumbos look to kick off their long and grueling season with a win, the biggest focus will be on Pace, who served as an assistant coach for the Jumbos from 2014–16.

The Jumbos were hugely successful on the national level those seasons, making the Div. III final four in 2014–15 (and claiming a NESCAC title), and reaching the national final in 2015–16. Pace, who leaves her role as coach at Pomona-Pitzer in California, spoke on the comfort of returning to a program she already knows.

“Knowing the program, knowing a little about the university as a whole has been helpful,” Pace said. “I had some really fun years here, and I learned a lot. Definitely excited to be back.”

During her tenure as coach of PomonaPitzer, Pace orchestrated an extremely impressive rebuilding of the women’s basketball program in just three seasons. In her first year at the helm, the team claimed just one win, posting a 1–23 record that seemed to indicate that Pomona-Pitzer would be a cellar-dweller team for years to come. For Pace, however, the team culture and buy-in were already taking shape despite a demoralizing win-loss ratio.

“The wins and losses weren’t there, but the culture was established in that first year,” Pace said.

Pace was correct, as the team improved to an 8–17 record the next season. In her third and final season as coach, the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens made a leap that caught the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by surprise, racing to a 22–6 record that included a win over the Colby Mules.

Such an astounding turnaround doesn’t happen magically, however, and it’s clear that Pace’s vision and plan for the team started paying out just three years into her stay.

“It was really about the culture change,” Pace said. “I just coached the way I knew how, which is creating a good culture and getting players who want to win. Buy[ing] in is really important.”

Now, Pace rejoins a team with a strong culture and players who have certainly bought into the program and their winning mentality. Beyond that, Pace says she has felt welcomed by the warm presence of the team and its positive energy during the two weeks of preseason. It’s important that the team gets on the same page from the get-go, as they have only 12 or so practices under their belt before the season opener.

“They’ve been very open to learning new things that we’ve brought,” Pace said. “That stems from our captains and seniors doing a great job leading.”

Senior captain Erica DeCandido, who plays both guard and forward, also reflected positively on the opening weeks of the season.

“Coach Pace has already set expectations and standards, and she has made Tufts her home,” DeCandido said.

Established senior leadership from a core that has won huge games and also lost some heartbreakers through the years is invaluable for a first-year coach looking to get comfortable with a new crop of players.

After claiming the NESCAC crown last season, one could bet that this team is hungry for their ultimate goal of winning a national title. The first step, of course, is to earn their first of two games of the Tufts Tip Off Tournament, which will be played at UMass Boston. Roger Williams, which stood at an even 13–13 at the end of last season, will be looking to take the next step and challenge Northeast powerhouses like Tufts in an early non-conference showdown.

As is common across Div. III basketball, Tufts will play a majority of the first half of its season against non-conference teams.

That includes Skidmore, Brandeis, WPI and the University of New England, all strong teams from Northeast that will be good preparation for the NESCAC showdowns later in the season.

This season, the Jumbos are led by senior captains Lily Paro and DeCandido, both of whom had important roles as leaders and contributors on the path to the NESCAC title. Paro, a guard from North Bethesda, Md., has proved to be a 3-point marksman, often coming in off the bench to lead the second unit. DeCandido plays both guard and forward, and proved to be the team’s most dynamic scoring threat last season.

DeCandido shared the team lead in points per game with graduated senior guard

Jac Knapp (LA’19) at 12.8 PPG. What’s more impressive is that DeCandido also managed to lead the team in assists and rebounds, putting up two double-doubles in last year’s NCAA tournament. Expect DeCandido to once again be a central focus of this Jumbo team that averaged 71.4 points per contest last season. DeCandido says she’s excited for the upcoming season, and is energized by all of the changes surrounding the team.

“I think with a new coaching staff, the senior class has a chance to make new traditions,” DeCandido said. “We have a lot of returners back too so our team is always super close.”

Both Paro and DeCandido logged in the top five in the NESCAC in various statistical categories. Paro came in at second for 3-point percentage, while DeCandido earned third in the league for assists. DeCandido was also a first-team All-League selection and was selected to the All-Northeast second team for her efforts up and down the floor.

While the Jumbos lack a league-leading scoring threat, expect DeCandido to lead the charge by dishing the ball to Paro and sophomore guard Molly Ryan to knock down threes and jumpers. If the Jumbos can maintain their balanced attack and keep opponents guessing, expect another very strong season. Combine this with the experience and obvious excellence of Pace and her assistant coach Jamie Insel, and this program has a real chance of claiming that national title they so desire.

Tufts’ first two tests will come against Roger Williams on Friday and SUNY New Paltz on Saturday. Tip-off against Roger Williams is set for 8 p.m. at UMass Boston.