The Women’s Basketball won its third straight game Tuesday, with a 53-47 decision over the WPI Engineers in Worcester. With the win, the Judges improved to 5-2 on the season.
As they did against Emmanuel last week, the Judges fell behind early, but a 10-0 run at the end of the first half enabled Brandeis to take a 29-22 lead into the locker room. The Judges then held off a determined WPI team in the second half to complete the win.
“WPI put up a good fight,” said co-captain Kiersten Holgash ’08. “Throughout the entire game, they never gave up. They are a scrappy team, and we knew this going into the game. They are definitely not a 1-4 team.”
Forward co-captain Cassidy Dadaos ‘09 led the Judges in scoring with 12 points, eight of which she tallied in the first half. Lauren Orlando ’09 chipped in ten points, while Courtney Tremblay ’08 scored eight.
“We struggled a bit offensively, in particular with our shooting and execution,” said Holgash, who led the team with five assists. However, she added “we were able to grind it out, get past the glitches, and secure the win.”
“As far as WPI, we got the win, but it was far from our best game as a team,” added Dadaos. “WPI makes you play a little crazy. They never let up so it was 40 minutes of real action.”
Forward Amber Strodthoff ’11 had an excellent game on the boards, tallying seven rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass. Co-captain Jaime Capra ’08 also had seven rebounds, as well as seven points.
“I think when we ran and executed things we were the most successful,” said Dadaos. “We just need to continue with that game plan.”
Seven games into the season, Brandeis has five wins and two losses, with three matches remaining before the beginning of the UAA portion of the schedule. Holgash explained that the team still has some work to do to take its game to the next level.
“One of the things that I truly appreciate about this team this year is the amount of team chemistry we have on and off the court,” she said. “This, though, doesn’t exempt us from improvement. Thus far in the season, we have had some peaks and valleys along the way, but one thing is for sure: we recognize where we need to make changes and improve, and that is only going to play to our advantage in the progressing season.”
She added that “it is our goal to improve, get better, and get stronger each day.”
The Judges will play their next two games at home, against Williams on Dec. 8 and then against Simmons on Jan. 9, following the winter break.
