Picking up where coverage left off before winter break, the Brandeis women’s basketball team has since played five games, improving their 2-5 record to 5-7. Prior to the start of winter break, the Brandeis women’s basketball team played two games: a home game against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Dec. 3, and an away game at Eastern Nazarene College (ENC) on Dec. 6. To follow winter break, the Judges played three more games: Salem State University at home on Dec. 31, at Clark University (CU) on Jan. 3 and New York University (NYU) at home on Jan. 7.
Starting the five-game recap, the matchup between the Judges and the MIT Engineers on Dec. 3 was the first time the teams had faced each other since 2006. Looking back at the record books, this was the teams’ 37th time facing each other, with matchups dating back to 1970. Though the Judges came away with a loss, the game was extremely tight throughout. The Judges possessed a lead over MIT up until the tail-end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter to follow exhibited numerous eventful plays and lead changes, resulting in MIT tying the game with 20.9 remaining in regulation. Neither women’s basketball team was then able to capitalize with minimal seconds remaining, leading the game into overtime. The overtime was equally as tight, with some lead changes, but the Brandeis women’s basketball team ultimately fell 67-71 to MIT as the Engineers were able to produce the shots necessary to capture the win. Highlights from the hard-fought game include Caitlin Gresko ’25 earning career highs in both points scored (20) and rebounds (12), as well as Francesca Marchese ’23 earning nine points off of three 3-pointers. Emma Reavis ’23 also provided the Judges with a team high of four assists.
In their last game of the 2022 fall semester, the Judges played against Eastern Nazarene College on Dec. 6. Looking to recreate their 66-51 win against the Lions last season, the Brandeis women’s basketball team established a decisive lead within the first quarter. This was led by Shannon Smally (GRAD), who not only earned half of the Judges’ points in the first quarter but also scored 17 points during the matchup. This was only two points shy of her season high for points scored. Having played such a dominating first half, Smally was tightly covered throughout the second half of the game. Thus, Gresko stepped up in scoring points for the Judges, earning six points in the third quarter and eight points in the fourth quarter. Though the ENC Lions were able to significantly battle back, closing the score differential to only four points, the Judges fought back with key point-scoring plays from Tathiana Pierre ’23. The Judges were also able to benefit throughout the game with Reavis’ 11 points scored, 10 rebounds and eight assists, just two assists shy of a triple-double. The Judges earned a 74-64 win against ENC, closing out their fall semester with a 3-6 record having broken their four-game losing streak.
The first game of the spring semester was the Judges’ annual New Year’s Eve game played against the Salem State Vikings. The Judges have captured wins in each game against the Vikings in their last five meetings. The Brandeis women’s basketball team started off the game slowly missing their first nine shots of the game. This gave Salem the chance to establish a 10-1 lead. Despite this, the Judges were able to get their momentum rolling starting with Lulu Ohm ’25 securing a 3-pointer at the 3:34 mark. This crucial bucket was the beginning of a 13-1 run. Pierre earned a trifecta to secure the Judges’ first lead to finish the first quarter leading 14-12. The second quarter was dominated by the Judges, outscoring the Vikings 24-8 and concluding the second half with a 38-20 lead. Ohm hit her career scoring high of 11 within the first half of the game. The third quarter allowed Brandeis’ Katherine Vaughan ’26 to score 10 points and lead the Judges to a 59-32 lead to conclude the third quarter. The Judges extended their lead to over 35 points before the game finished with a final margin of 33 points. Other key stats include Vaughan earning a career-high of 19 points, followed by Gresko and Marchese who each scored 10 points for the Judges. With Gresecko providing the Judges eight assists, Reavis with six and five others having two or more, the Brandeis women’s basketball team’s dominance was primarily facilitated by their 26 assists. With 28 turnovers and connecting on 44.3% of shots taken, the Judges finished off 2022 on a high note.
Looking to extend their win streak to three games, the Judges played at Clark University on Jan. 3 for their last non-conference meeting of the season. Though the first few minutes of the matchup were dominated by the CU Cougars, the Judges were able to quickly rebound and score 17 consecutive points. With a pair of 3-pointers by Mollie Obar ’25, Brandeis concluded the first period with a 19-8 lead over the Cougars. In the second quarter, Reavis earned seven points, leading the Judges to a 34-21 lead heading into halftime. The third quarter was controlled by the Judges once again, outsourcing Clark 24-9, with another six points scored by Reavis. The fourth quarter was more of the same dominance by the Judges, extending the point margin to 31 points before the game concluded with a 72-48 win for the Brandeis women’s basketball team. Reavis capped off the game with 15 points scored, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Molly James ’26 helped the team by scoring a career-high 11 points off the bench, outscoring the entire Clark bench. Additionally, Pierre earned the Judges six rebounds while Marchese and Gresko also earned three assists. With all 13 active players on the Brandeis roster scoring points in this game, this win was a notable team effort heading into the conference season.
To conclude this five-game recap, the Brandeis women’s basketball team had their University Athletic Association (UAA) opener against top-ranked (per D3hoops.com) NYU on Jan. 7. Exhibiting their strength right from the start, NYU attained a lead quickly and never let up, leaving the Judges unable to capture the lead at any point during the game. By halftime, the score was 49-21 with the Judges trailing by 28 points. Coming out of halftime strong, the Judges outscored the NYU Violets 14-9 in the third quarter with five points from Vaughan. Closing out the game, NYU won the fourth quarter 20-11, rounding out the final score to be a 78-46 win for the Violets. In terms of Brandeis’ stats, Vaughan and Gresko each scored a team high of nine points while Smally and Abby Kennedy ’26 each scored seven points. This performance was a career scoring high for Kennedy. As for rebounds, Reavis led the Judges with six. Ohm helped her team with a team high of three assists off the bench. Their matchup against NYU established a 5-7 record, with a 0-1 UAA record for the season thus far.
Moving onto the remainder of the conference season, the Brandeis women’s basketball team will play in St. Louis at Washington University on Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
