The women’s basketball team worked hard over winter break, playing four games and starting conference play. Going into their final non-conference game, the Judges had a record of 4-5. Starting the second half of their season off on January 1, the Judges fell in their final non-conference game against Regis, 62-57. The Judges were able to connect six three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough compared to the Regis Pride’s 10 three-point connections. Brandeis was outscored 19-8 in turnovers. In a close first period, the Judges stayed close to the Pride, only trailing by one with a score of 10-9. In the second period, the Pride scored 12 of their 16 points from the three-point line to secure a lead at 26-19 by the end of the first half. In the third quarter, the Judges fought back, opening the quarter with a 11-2 point run, which included a three-pointer by Kat Puda ’21 to make the score 30-28. Regis led by as many as 10 points in the fourth period, but Brandeis got within three on a lay-up by Hannah Nicholson ’20 with 1:17 to go. Lauren Rubinstein ’20 put up another three with 10 seconds to go, but the Judges were not able to come back. Puda led the Judges in points, scoring 15; hitting 5-of-14 shooting from the floor, 2-of-9 from behind the three-point line, and 3-of-3 from the line. Camila Casanueva ’21 added nine points and a game and season high with six assists. Nicholson led the game with eight rebounds and Casanueva led the game with assists.
Four days later, the Judges headed to New York City for their first league match of season. The Judges led the majority of the first half, taking a lead with 33-25. Casanueva led all players with 13 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Brandeis outshot NYU 40.6 percent to 27.3 percent in the first half to establish the lead. Maya Burris ’22 scored four points from the free throw line, which rounded out Brandeis’ 12-point run. With a 49-39 lead, the Judges earned the largest lead in the game after a three-pointer by Rubinstein and two more points added to the board the Judges earned the largest lead of the game at 15 points. The game finished with a score of 69-61 in favor of the Judges. Casanueva lead the Judges in points with 15 and Puda led with assists at five.
The next week, the Judges flew to Pittsburgh where Casanueva earned her first double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds to help the Judges take the victory against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans with a final score of 78-61. The Judges were trailing for only 15 seconds early in the first quarter. Brandeis outshot CMU 50 percent and built a 19-10 lead at the end of one period. In the second period the Judges increased their lead by one. Casanueva led Brandeis with nine points in the first half and Nicholson had seven of her own with six rebounds. In the third, with a steady performance by Burris, the Judges extended their lead to a score of 52-39 with only ten minutes left of the game. In the fourth, Casanueva scored 14 points, which included 9-of-10 from the line and secured a victory for the Judges.
The final match-up for the Judges over the break was in Cleveland, Ohio, facing Case Western Reserve. With a record of 11-3, this game was proven to be the hardest for the Judges. The Judges fell in a 67-64 decision. In the first quarter the Judges only hit one field goal in 15 attempts and CWRU took a 20-4 lead at one point, but the Judges inched their way closer, going on a six-point run. Brandeis was able to come back in the second quarter and outscore the Spartans 24-14 leaving the first half with a tie score of 34-34. The Judges fought point for point with CWRU in the second half of the game. The third quarter had four lead changes, including one on the last possession. In the fourth quarter, opened with a three-pointer from Puda to take the lead for Brandeis at 53-51. Casanueva answered to CWRU’s comeback with a three-pointer to take back the lead for the Judges. The Judges were only able to hit one more field goal for the game by Rubinstein with one minute of play left. When the Judges forced the shot-clock on the Spartans’ next possession, they were left with 14.6 seconds when the Judges were called for an offensive foul, giving CWRU the final lead of the game. Rubinstein lead the Judges in points with 17 and Nicholson lead in rebounds with nine. Casanueva lead the Judges with five assists.
The Judges will take the court again at home on January 18 and again on the 20th facing the University of Chicago and Washington University.
