After bouncing back from a close loss against Tufts, the women’s basketball team picked up two wins against Salem State and Babson. After their 81-77 loss to Tufts, the Judges posted impressive scores beating Salem State 89-49 and defeating Babson in overtime 99-88.
The Judges faced Tufts last Saturday in a highly competitive battle but ultimately were unable to come out on top and lost to the Jumbos 81-77. However, it was an impressive night for the Judges, with guard Camila Casanueva ’21 scoring the game high 32 points and the highest in her career. Casanueva sailed past Tufts leading scorer DeCandido who picked up 19 points. Of her 32 points, 15 were in the fourth quarter.
The Judges came out on top at the end of the first quarter with a 23-20 lead, with nine points from Casanueva. The Jumbos came out strong in the beginning of the second quarter, scoring seven of the first nine points, and were leading the Judges 38-37 with just under three minutes in the half. But then the Judges rallied an 11-2 run allowing for the largest lead of the game and ended the half 48-40.
The Judges were off to a rocky start in the second half, allowing Tufts to score the first 10 points, leading the Judges 50-48. But despite their start, the Judges fought back to end the third quarter with a one point lead, with a score of 58-57. Ultimately the Judges fell to Tufts in the fourth despite impressive efforts by Casanueva who scored 15 points. In the game, Hannah Nicholson ’20 also scored in double digits with 10 points and an additional five rebounds. Courtney Thun ’21 was the leader of the team in rebounds with seven and also added seven points.
Overall the Judges shot well, hitting 11 3-pointers in comparison to seven for Tufts. But the Jumbos were able to outscore the Judges overall and outrebounded them 37-30.
But the following week, the Judges turned it around, adding two impressive wins against Salem State and Babson. Brandeis dominated Salem State with a 40 point win, beating the Vikings 89-49. It was evident from the first quarter who was on top when the Judges jumped to an 18-1 lead, finishing the first quarter up 28-12. They continued to put pressure on Salem in the second and went into halftime with a lead of 49-24.
The Vikings tried to come alive in the third quarter, but the gap was already too big, and the Judges closed out the game 89-49. It was a big night for the Judges, who were shooting 50 percent from the field and outrebounded the Vikings 54-28.
Nicholson led the Judges to victory with 14 points and nine rebounds, just shy of a double-double. Emma Reavis ’23 also boasted an impressive 13 points, and a career high seven assists. Katherine Puda ’21 also scored in double digits with 11 points.
After sailing past Salem, the Judges went on to face Babson at home. In a back and forth game, the Judges prevailed and came out on top 99-88 dominating in overtime. In the win, the Judges posted the second-highest scoring total in program history, with 99 points. Nicholson and Casanueva led the Judges to the victory, each with 19 points. The Judges also had four more players score in the double digits, Lauren Rubinstein ’20, Jillian Petrie ’21, Samira Abdelrehim ’21 and Thrun.
Throughout the first and second quarters, the Judges and the Beavers were neck and neck, with Babson on top in the first 19-18, and at the half up 24-22. Babson came out strong in the second to give them an early lead up 38-32 and went on to reach the biggest lead of the game up 45-38. But the Judges came alive, after an open layup by Abdelrehim with 3:30 left in the third. Brandeis then went on a 10-0 run giving Brandeis the lead after a three-pointer from Francesca Marchese ’23. Abdelrehim followed this making two free throws to put the Judges up 52-49. Rubinstein ended the third quarter with a three-pointer to give the Judges the 57-54 lead.
During an electric back and forth in the fourth quarter, Petrie hit a crucial three-pointer with just 12.4 seconds left in the game to put the Judges up 74-72. But Babson fought back and scored a quick layup sending the game into overtime. The Judges came out strong with a quick jumper from Nicholson, and they controlled the lead the rest of the game. Casanueva finished with an impressive 11 points in overtime. Brandeis controlled the rebounding 51-35 overall and 7-1 in overtime.
After winning two of their last three games, the Judges improve to 5-1 for the season, and they will move on to face Clark this week, and Johnson and Wales over the weekend.
Editor’s Note: Camila Casanueva, Francesca Marchese and Courtney Thrun are all staff writers for The Hoot.
