After the tip-off tournament, the Brandeis Judges lost their number 8 preseason ranking in the d3hoops.com poll They became number 7 and, after their game against Wellesley, they became number 4.

So far, the Judges have seen a lot of things to happy with, such as the strong interior play of Caitlin Malcolm 07 and Christine Clancy 06 and solid efforts from Kiersten Holgash 08 and Courtney Tremblay 09 filling in for the then injured Alison Chase 07. We also saw some strength in several first-year players;

such notable rookies include Amanda Wellsie Wells 9, whom one player told me I should keep an eye on, and Lauren Goyette 09 who played well against Salve-Regina. Lets not forget Cassidy Dadaos 09 who has been a spark off Coach Simons bench.

The Salve-Regina game was an easy affair;

Brandeis never trailed once and put the game away with a 19-4 run midway through the first half. Salve-Reginas Lindsay Horan led all scorers with 18 points, but she was the lone threat for the Seahawks, as Brandeis countered on offense with a three-headed attack of Clancy (14 points, 4 rebounds), Malcolm (12 points, 6 rebounds) and Jaime Capra 08 (13 points, 4 rebounds). Brandeis also dominated inside the paint, out-rebounding the Seahawks 41-28. Concerns following the game included sloppy passes into the interior that were frequently turned over and the many questionable three point attempts, 5 of which were by Malcolm. This game also marked the debuts of Wells, Goyette, Dadaos and Lauren Orlando 09.

The tip-off championship against the previously 17th-ranked Bates Bobcats was a tougher match as Bates was constantly aggressive, sustaining the early lead with a full-court press all game long. Unfortunately for Bates, they had no way to counter the Brandeis twin towers Clancy and Malcolm, who led the Judges to a 73-62 victory. Malcolm (21 points and 8 rebounds) received tournament MVP honors, while Clancy picked up 16 points and 7 rebounds. Co-captain Amanda DeMartino 06 chipped in with 10 points and 4 assists, while Capra had a solid game with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Sarah Barton kept things interesting for Bates with 20 points, 9 rebounds and a pair of threes;

however, rebounding proved to be the tipping stat, as Brandeis had 50 to Batess 36.

The game against Wellesley was a low-scoring affair in which Brandeis took care of business. Starting off with a 9-0 run in the first quarter, the Judges sustained their lead for all 40 minutes en route to a 56-37 victory. Brandeis was led by Malcolms 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Capra and Holgash each had 8 apiece. For Wellesley, nobody scored more than 9 points.