When this season began, the collective goal of the team was to make the NCAA Division 3 Championship;
last years squad lost only four games, all to UAA opponents, and as a result Brandeis had to settle for their second ECAC award. After having lost to NYU on the 14th, Brandeis responded by knocking off Tufts at home and then hoped to take two conference victories on the road. They won the first game against Chicago but their loss to Washington University has left NCAA hopes on tenuous ground.
Brandeis took the first game of the road swing in overtime, 92-85 over then 20th ranked (now 24th) Chicago. Brandeis dominated for most of the game, at one point leading by 14, but then saw the lead evaporate as Chicago went on a 17-3 run to tie the game at 51 with around 15 minutes left in the second half. An Alison Chase '07 three-pointer gave Brandeis a 79-77 lead, but Chicago used a pair of free throws to tie the game and an extra frame was needed to determine the outcome. In overtime, Brandeis scored the first five points, thanks to a three by Caitlin Malcolm '07, and never trailed again.
Malcolm led Brandeis scoring with 21 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Courtney Tremblay 08 provided punch off the bench with 16 points while Jaime Capra 08 (who also added 10 rebounds), Alison Chase 08 and Amanda DeMartino 06 all reached double figures in scoring.
For Chicago, Nofi Mojidi led the way with 21 points. Jennifer Kaiser followed with 19 points, largely fueled from being 5 of 6 from the three point line. Susie Gotowski led the team with 9 rebounds while offering up 10 points of her own.
Brandeis hoped to duplicate their success from Chicago in St. Louis, facing then number 2 (now 3) ranked Washington University. It was not to be, as Wash U overwhelmed the Judges 83-66.
Both teams struggled early, but after Brandeis took a 7-4 lead Wash U went on a 9-0 run and would never trail again in the game. With 14:24 remaining, Chase scored and drew the foul to cut the lead to 41-37. Unfortunately she missed the free throw and Amanda Wells 09 couldnt convert the rebound. Washington would pull away after that, jumping on a 10-point lead and forcing Brandeis to use a time-out.
Chase led the scoring with 18 points while Christine Clancy 06 and Malcolm contributed 17 and 10 points respectively. Unfortunately both players experienced foul trouble with Malcolm fouling out with little under 5:00 remaining.
Wash U was led by forward Danielle Beehler, who had a game high 29 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Kelly Manning had 14 points and tied a game high in rebounds with Jaimie McFarlin, each grabbing 10. Shanna-Lei Dacanay added a career-high 14 points and 10 assists off the bench.
The loss to Washington Univer sity is a considerable setback to Brandeis because it is now their second loss in conference play and they have just dropped down in the last d3hoops.com poll from number 7 to number 12 in the nation.
Brandeis is back at home tonight on the 27th as they take on conference rival Case-Western.
*****The game can be heard this weekend on WBRS.
