The Brandeis women’s basketball team continued its impressive start to the season by picking up two more home victories last week, beating Anna Maria College last Tuesday and Johnson & Wales University on Saturday, bringing their record to 6-1.

The Judges controlled the majority of both games, besting Anna Maria with a score of 65-38 and Johnson & Wales 73-56 to drop both opposing teams to 3-3.

On Saturday, the Judges opened on a 10-0 run in the first 3:09 of the game and never trailed the rest of the way. The team held Johnson & Wales to 31% shooting from the field in the first half and just 1-of-14 shooting from the beyond the arc. Guard Niki Laskaris ’16, on the other hand, was efficient from the three point line, shooting 3-of-4 to lead the Judges with 11 points in the first half.

Even with a powerful offense, forward Maria Jackson ’17 gave most of the credit to the team’s strength on defense. “As a team, our main focus is discipline. Every practice and game we try to follow the game plan and play solid, disciplined defense,” she said.

The Judges increased their lead to 15 with a 7-0 run to start the second half. While Johnson & Wales would manage to cut the lead to single digits on a pair of free throws with 8:08 left in the game, the Judges secured the win with a run of their own that would grow the lead to 20 points at the 2:40 mark.

Laskaris led the team with 19 points, while guard Sydney Sodine ’17 led the team in rebounding with nine boards and guard Hannah Cain ’15 added five steals.

The Judges had similar success against Anna Maria on Tuesday, but it wasn’t until the second half that they began to pull away. Brandeis got off to a lethargic start to the game, shooting 1-of-7 through the first 4:20 to go down 12-2. 

After a 30-second timeout, the Judges clamped down on defense and held Anna Maria to just four points over the next nine minutes and 11 seconds of game time to take a 24-16 lead over the visitors.

Jackson stressed the importance of help defense to the team’s success on that end of the floor.  “[It is important to] always look out for the girl next to you, and don't let her be stranded and left alone,” she said.

The Judges entered the half with a 32-26 lead after recovering from their slow start, and they would dominate after the break.

Their defense once again led the way, forcing Anna Maria to shoot a startlingly low 5-of-29 from the field in the second half. The team’s lead was never put into question the rest of the way, as the Judges gained an important non-conference win.

Sodine led the team in scoring and rebounding, as she recorded the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Judges did a good job on the glass, outrebounding Anna Maria 49 to 32  to get 19 second-chance points.

The Judges’ two victories this week moved them to 6-1, which marked the team’s best start since the 2008 to 2009 season, when it won its first 10 games.

The squad knows that the schedule will get tougher once conference play begins, but Jackson still has high expectations for the team.

“When conference [play] starts, the competition gets better, and I feel that we will rise to the challenge. Our goal is to get to the NCAAs and face Tufts again, this time getting the win,” she said.

The Judges' lone loss of the season came to No. 3 Tufts University 74-51 on Nov. 22.

The Judges will be off for most of winter break and will return to action on Dec. 31, when they will welcome Gordon College to Red Auerbach Arena.