The women’s basketball team entered the quarterfinals of last year’s Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament as underdogs against Emmanuel College, seeded eighth in the eight-team tournament and matched up with the top seed. Looking to secure a winning season, the women upset the top squad 64-55 and clinched their first winning record since the 2009 to 2010 season.

The squad will look to build on their winning season, returning nine players from last year’s roster and three of the five starters from the past two years. Guard Hannah Cain ’15 will return to the starting five after sitting out last year’s campaign with an injury. The guard started all 25 games as both a first-year and a sophomore, finishing second in points and assists per game in the 2012 to 2013 season and leading the team in assists at the end of her first collegiate season.

Cain’s return to the starting lineup will help improve an offense that finished second-to-last in assists per game and scoring offense. Cain was named to the second-team All-UAA squad in her sophomore year, when she finished with 8.1 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.  

Guard Paris Hodges ’17 will join Cain in the backcourt, following a strong rookie season for which she earned an honorable mention on the All-UAA team at the end of the season. Hodges finished the season fifth on the team in scoring, netting 6.7 points per game, and started in all 27 games as a rookie. Hodges accumulated a season-high six assists and 10 rebounds in a 65-61 upset over No. 7 Emory University on Jan. 26.

Guard Niki Laskaris ’16 will round out the returning members of the backcourt. Laskaris returns as the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 8.1 points per game and made 16 appearances last year.

The squad will also see the return of forward Maria Jackson ’17, who netted 8.6 points per game in 22 starts last year. Jackson ended the year with a .478 shooting percentage, the 10th-best across the University Athletic Association.

Although the squad began the year with a 2-4 record over their first six games last year, they rolled off a three-game winning streak in December and entered conference play with an even 5-5 record.

The Judges struggled again once UAA play began, dropping three consecutive games to New York University, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Chicago in the conference-opening road trip. Returning home on Jan. 24, the Judges embarked on a season-long six-game winning streak with a 58-57 victory over the University of Rochester. Their six-game winning streak was the longest since the 2008 to 2009 season and their first six-game winning streak against UAA opponents since the 2003 to 2004 season.

The squad averaged 63.3 points per game over the winning streak and gave up 57.5 points per game over the same stretch, more than four points better than their season average.

The Judges could not push the winning streak past six when they squared off against Washington University in St. Louis on Feb. 14 and fell by a 10-point margin, spurring a second three-game losing streak on the season. The squad broke the winning streak with their upset of Emory on Feb. 23.

Though the squad ended the regular season with a loss at home versus New York University on March 2, they earned a post-season bid to the ECAC Tournament as the No. 8 seed and upset Emmanuel in the first round, securing their first winning season in five years.

The Judges will look to compete in the UAA this year with a good mix of returning starters and three new first-years on the team. The return of Cain should help the offense recover from its spot in the cellar of the UAA last year and continued growth from supporting players will have the Judges looking toward another winning season.

The squad will open its season Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Mount Ida College in the annual Brandeis Tip-off Tournament.