After four straight games on the road, the Brandeis Women’s Basketball returned to Red Auerbach Arena. The Judges hosted two of the top teams in the University Athletic Association (UAA), falling to Emory University 76-65 on Friday and losing to the University of Rochester 72-55 on Sunday. The Judges’ record is 6-12 and 1-8 in the UAA.
Friday, Feb. 4: Emory 76 – Brandeis 65
Guard Camila Casanueva ’22 scored a game-high 24 points on eight-of-13 shooting, but a late third-quarter run allowed Emory to cruise to a double-digit win.
Emory’s Claire Brock, who is second in the UAA in points per game, had a team-high 19 points on seven-of-seven shooting. The Eagles knocked down a season-high 50 percent of their 3-pointers. With the win, the Eagles completed the season sweep of the Judges, who lost to Emory 69-43 on Jan. 28 in Atlanta.
The Judges led 50-49 with 2:45 left in the third quarter after a layup from forward Christina Bacon ’24. The Eagles responded by closing out the quarter on a 10-0 run, six of which came from Brock. A Casanueva jumper cut Emory’s lead to 63-57 with 3:49 to go, but the six-point deficit was the closest the Judges would get.
For Brandeis, guard Emma Reavis ’23 scored 11 points and had a game-high seven assists. Center Casey Perry ’24 scored a career-high nine points and grabbed six rebounds, while Mollie Obar ’25 knocked down two three-pointers.
Emory opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Brandeis responded with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Emory led after the first quarter 20-19. The Judges kept themselves within striking distance of the Eagles in the second quarter. After Emory’s Erin Martin made two foul shots, the Eagles led 32-31. On the ensuing possession, Obar drilled a three-pointer. Emory then scored eight unanswered points to take a six-point lead. Two free throws from Casanueva put the Judges down 40-36 at the break.
A focus for Brandeis coming into the game was rebounding. The Eagles outrebounded the Judges 48-41 on Jan. 28, which led to 16 second-chance points. The Judges crashed the glass on Friday, out rebounding Emory 38-32 and limiting the Eagles to just seven second-chance points.
Sunday, Feb. 6: Rochester 72 – Brandeis 55
Emma Reavis scored a career-high 17 points on six-of-13 shooting, but the Judges shot just 31 percent from the field in the loss.
Rochester forward Juliana Okoniewski, who played just five minutes and did not score in the first half, scored 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Brandeis opened the game with a 14-8 lead capped off by a Reavis layup with 2:34 to go in the first quarter. In an extended run lasting over nine minutes, the Yellowjackets outscored Brandeis 25-6, to take a 33-20 lead. The Judges battled back, using a 6-0 run to end the quarter, went into the break trailing 35-30. The Judges did not get within five points for the remainder of the game.
Rochester outscored Brandeis 20-7 in the third quarter and led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter. For the Yellowjackets, leading scorer Hannah Lindemuth had 16 points, while Alexis Sestric scored 11 points.
Casanueva scored 12 points to go along with two steals. Casanueva’s nine rebounds were her most since Nov. 20 against Tufts, where she tallied 13. Caitlin Gresko ’25 scored 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting. After shooting 39 percent on three-pointers against Rochester in a 66-59 win in January, the Judges went 3-of-16 or 19 percent from deep.
The Judges will travel to Pittsburgh and Cleveland this weekend to take on Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve. Brandeis will play Carnegie Mellon on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and take on Case Western Reserve on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. The next game at Red Auerbach Arena will be Friday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. against the University of Chicago.
