Captain Camila Casanueva ’21 had 18 points and six rebounds and fellow classmate Jillian Petrie ’21 scored a season-high 15 points as the Judges fell short in their University Athletic Association (UAA) opener 76-65 on the road against New York University (NYU) this past Saturday. The loss snaps the Judges seven-game winning streak and brings their record to 10-2.
Casanueva ranks among the top five in the UAA in points per game with 15, assists per game with 4.5, and free throw percentage, shooting 95 percent.
With 3:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, Casanueva knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the Violets’ lead 63-61. NYU then went on a 9-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to put the game out of reach, capitalized by Lauren Koyama’s three pointer with 0:58 left in the game.
Once trailing by 14 points in the second quarter, the Judges entered the half down 12. The Judges outscored the Violets 20-11 in the third quarter and remained within striking distance throughout the fourth quarter before NYU ultimately pulled ahead.
Usually strong from beyond the arc, the Judges struggled on threes, going 2-of-10. The Judges are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, ranking sixth in three point percentage. Casanueva, junior Kat Puda ’21, and rookie Francesca Marchese ’23 are all shooting above 40 percent from beyond the arc and rank in the top 10 in the UAA. The Judges’ difficulties on three point shooting didn’t affect their effort on the defensive end. The Judges held the Violets to 4-of-25 on 3-pointers. Furthermore, the Judges held NYU and UAA leading scorer Janean Cuffee to 8-of-24 shooting including 1-of-7 on threes.
Senior forward Hannah Nicholson ’20, the leading rebounder in the UAA, had six points and added 11 rebounds, the third time in the last four games Nicholson has grabbed 10 or more rebounds. Junior Samira Abdelrehim ’21 had eight points off the bench. The forward, who has been a valuable scoring asset off the bench, is posting career bests in point per game, rebounds per game, and field goal percentage.
Both teams excelled at the foul line. The Judges shot 19-of-23 from the foul line, while the Violets went 22-of-25 on foul shots, including going 14-of-17 in the fourth quarter. The Violets were active on the defensive end, forcing the Judges into 22 turnovers, and scoring 21 points off those turnovers. Conversely, the Judges forced the Violets into eight turnovers, and converted eight points of them.
After going 10-1 in their non-conference schedule, which included a close loss to top-ranked Tufts University, the Judges face a tough conference schedule. The UAA features 14th ranked University of Chicago, Emory University and Washington University in St. Louis, all of whom made the NCAA tournament last season. In the most recent rankings the Judges received eight voting points. The Judges look to get back on track Friday, Jan. 17 against the University of Rochester at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 19 at 2 p.m. against Emory University.
Editor’s note: Camila Casanueva and Francesca Marchese are both staff members of The Hoot. Sports Editor Sophie Trachtenberg is also a member of the women’s basketball team.
