Since the start of Brandeis’ Feb. break, the women’s basketball team has played four University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference games. These games were against the University of Rochester (URochester), Emory University, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). The first two games were played on the road, and the following two games were played at home this past weekend. The Judges came away from this string of games with just one win, but much to still be proud of.
The first game the Judges played was in Rochester, New York against the URochester Yellowjackets. The game started out slow for the Judges as the Yellowjackets held them to just four points in the first quarter. However, the Judges bounced back in the second period, out-scoring the Yellowjackets 18-15. In the second half, the Judges scored 15 points in each quarter. This was seven-points short of what URochester scored in the third quarter, and exactly what they scored in the final quarter. The Judges’ sluggish first quarter ultimately cost them the game as they ended up losing 70-52 to the Yellowjackets. Only one member of the Judges’ basketball team made it into the double-digits for points scored–Lulu Ohm ’25, who scored 10 points. This is half the points of her season average for points scored during the whole game. This shows what a strong defense can do to a strong offense.
In the second game of the weekend, the Judges jetset from Rochester, NY to Atlanta, GA to face the Emory University Eagles. During this game, the Judges had a strong showing in both the first and fourth quarters, but they seemed to face a point-scoring lull during the middle two quarters of the game. Due to this, the Judges ultimately fell to the Eagles, 77-69. Despite this, Abby Kennedy ’26 earned a career-high 25 points scored along with eight rebounds during this outing. This achievement put her at the highest points-scorer out of all players during this game.
The following weekend, it was the Judges turn to do the hosting.
First-up was the CWRU Spartans. The first quarter of the game seemed to be the warm-up quarter for both teams as they each scored only 10 points. In the second, the Judges started to pull away from CWRU, scoring 17 points to their eight. After the halftime break, the CWRU Spartans came out with more aggressive play, which led them to out-score the Judges 14-10. In the final quarter, though, the Judges bounced back with a strong 21 points scored to place themselves on top, earning not only a 58-43 win, but also a complete season sweep of CWRU. This was thanks to an especially strong 18-2 run the Judges had during the tail-end of the third quarter, and into the fourth. Star performances for the Judges during this game were had by Kennedy ’26 and Jessica Maina ’28, which helped pace the Judges to this exciting win.
In their most recent game, the Judges hosted the CMU Tartans for a home game this past Sunday. The team seemingly could not maintain their winning momentum from their game against CWRU, as they lost 62-51 against the CMU Tartans. This loss was primarily due to their slow middle two quarters, having scored nine and eight points in them, respectively. This is a pattern for the Judges which they can hopefully rectify in their game this weekend. Despite losing this game, the Judges still put three players in the double-digits for points scored, with Ohm ’25, Katherine Vaughan ’26 and Kennedy ’26.
Looking ahead, the Judges will host the New York University Violets this weekend, on Saturday, March 1st at 3pm. During this game, the Judges will also be celebrating their seniors and the remarkable careers they have each had. If you are interested in something fun to do this weekend, head down to Gosman to watch this game!
