In the sports world, there are many unwritten rules. For instance, there is no crying in baseball, losers walk in pick up football games but Saturday, the Brandeis Judges introduced what should be included if not already an unwritten rule if you commit 35 turnovers in a game and especially in a playoff game, youre not going to win. It was a bitter pill for the Judges to swallow as they could only walk away on the wrong side of a 71-66 defeat.
We didnt handle it well. Coach Carol Simon said afterwards, I dont think we attacked it well. I thought the first half we did, we had our composure. Second half we just didnt. And its amazing, you have 35 turnovers, 19 less shots and only lose by five, I think that says the ball game right there. We get a few more shots and its a different game.
Emmanuel Coach Andy Yosinoff explained to reporters, The game plan after watching them yesterday: number one we had to shut down ten (Jaime Capra 08). After 25 points in the first half yesterday, I lost a lot of sleep. The main objective was shutting down ten;
we werent going to let her beat us. The other thing was that we didnt want to give them any room. So in their offense, they run a great half-court offense, I think we took away a lot of their looks and every pass they made, they had to work for it.
The Judges started the first half in strong fashion with co-captain Caitlin Malcolm 07 seemingly able to score at will.
We wanted to get down low because we knew they werent as big down there. I thought when we did, we executed pretty well. Coach Simon explained. Malcolm scored the Judges first 10 points and would go on to finish her collegiate career with a double-double, 23 points and 14 rebounds. Both led the team. The first half bogged down as Emmanuel took advantage of Brandeis miscues to cut the lead to two before Brandeis went on a 13-2 run to build up a 13 point lead. However, Emmanuels swarming full-court press was starting to have their effect on the Judges as the Saints scored seven points in the final ninety seconds of the first half to trail Brandeis by the margin of 39-32. Although Brandeis held the lead, momentum had clearly shifted.
My adjustment was that we started off playing man and then, were not very big so my adjustment was, we went to a 2-3 zone, Yosinoff explained, We had some success but I thought the zone press cost us in the first half.
The Judges started the second half on a positive note, scoring the first four points and playing swarming defense. It was not the case as Emmanuel kept hammering away at Brandeis until a Leah Lipschitz jumper tied the game at the 13:47 mark.
I think the second half, when our team put it together;
we knew we could do it. Emmanuel Jade Paez stated, I felt that we play defense hard, we came together as a team, the crowd got into it, we got into it, we just played our hearts out.
Lauren Rashford 10 provided Brandeis with borrowed time with a three pointer, but it was not to be as Iman Daviss three, the only one Emmanuel made, gave them the lead for the first time and a jumper by Brittany Bushman gave the Saints the lead for good. Despite their efforts, Brandeis couldnt crack the full court press and in the final minutes, couldnt even get a shot off.
Coach Simon summed it up, Bottom line was 35 turnovers. You dont have to be a brain surgeon to figure that one out.
I think what we didnt do well was we didnt look up-court real well. Youre not going to beat their press by dribbling and again its easier said than done. Theyre just so athletic in every position that its really hard to make that long pass when two or three kids are on ya. We just werent getting to open spaces, I thought, very well. But again, we knew what we were getting into, they followed their game plan and you have to give Emmanuel all the credit in the world. They did what they were supposed to do to beat us
Jaime Capra 08 followed up her Friday heroics with a miserable performance, scrapping together 10 points on 5-14 shooting. She was able to pull down eight rebounds which was one more than the team leading seven turnovers she had. Even more telling was that she had no foul shots and the visible frustration she felt. Rookie Jessica Chapin 10 came on strong, making three straight three point attempts and finished with 11 points, but was shut out of the second half. Guard and co-captain Alison Chase 07 finished her collegiate career in quiet fashion, converting her only shot attempt in ten minutes of action.
The style that we preach here is that we go 94 feet, we take chances, Coach Yosinoff stated.
Despite using their size advantage to dominate the boards, 49-31, Brandeis had no answer for Emmanuels full court press, which they utilized to make them the GNAC leaders in steals. The Saints converted Brandeiss 35 turnovers into 36 points and held the Judges to 29% field goal shooting in the second half. The free throw shooting woes that doomed the Judges in their final regular season game against NYU reared its ugly inaccurate head as Brandeis was 12-20 in the second half a 60% conversion rate.
Emmanuel was led by rookie Iman Davis who matched Malcolm with 24 points of her own while fellow rookie and namesake Tommia Davis had 15 points and eight rebounds. Guard Jade Paez rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points and eight assists, a game high. The Saints managed to prevail despite being out-rebounded and were a dreadful 16-27 from the charity stripe. Nonetheless, turnovers were the key and as a result, Emmanuel extends their win streak to 20 and faces off against DePauw next week.
It was a bitter end to the collegiate careers of Caitlin Malcolm and Alison Chase. Malcolm finished her career as Brandeis career scoring champion with 1413 points, breaking the record held by Racheal Perry 92 on February 11. Malcolm is also third in rebounds with 770 and fourth in steals with 201. One of the focal points of the offense aside from Capra, Malcolm often faced double and triple teams throughout the season and still managed to average 11.1 points per game and led the team with 6.2 rebounds per game. After the game, Malcolm was speechless;
only silence holding back the emotion leaving Coach Simon to speak for her co-captain.
She left it on the court today. She probably took more offensive fouls, whether called or not called more than any person here. This isnt a day that she didnt come out to play. Im going to speak for her when I say, she should have no regrets.
Co-captain Chase, although a starter, played a quieter role on the team. Averaging 5.5 points, she tied Jessica Chapin with 1.8 steals per game, second only to Malcolms 2.8. During the regular season, she set personal records with six rebounds against Carnegie-Mellon on February 9 and swiped the ball from NYU seven times back in January 13. Her finest moment though came in last years playoff action against Bowdoin where she scored 14 points including a clutch three that tied the game in the final seconds, leading Coach Simon to refer to her as their stealth bomber at the time.
Ali is that unsung hero that nobody plays or hears about. Did she have a great game? Probably not but overall, Alis won a lot of big games for us with her defense and steals and again. Shes quiet and she just does her thing.
Chase and Malcolm, especially Malcolms departure, will be felt on what will be a relatively younger team next season. Their contributions were crucial to Brandeis four straight 20-win seasons and back to back NCAA appearances. Coach Simon described the impact they had on the team and the program in general as it evolved from doormat to mediocre to contender.
I told you guys the first time going in to the NCAAs is the hardest but the more I thought about it, I think staying and getting up there is the hardest and sustaining is very hard. Again, I think that people like Ali and Caitlin have brought…its what Brandeis basketball is now. Its a different type of demeanor. People come in here expecting to win. Recruits come in expecting that were going to make NCAA tournament and its not going to be given to us but they know theyre at a place where they are going to be playing with some good players
Nonetheless, with the season over, there is little time for sentiments and Coach Simons eyes are already on next season.
Were going to miss Catie and Ali dearly but this program has learned from them and you dont replace these kids, you just teach to do what they need to do.
