The women’s basketball team saw four players named to the All-University Athletic Association teams last week while the men’s squad saw its offensive leader named co-UAA Rookie of the Year. The women were led by the selection of guard Hannah Cain ’15 to the All-UAA Second Team. 

 For the men, forward Jordan Cooper ’18 was the first Brandeis player since 2005 to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

Cain, the Judges’ leader in scoring and assists, helped the squad complete impressive back-to-back winning seasons as the team earned their first Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament championship since the 2004 to 2005 season. 

Cain finished the season averaging 9.9 points per game. 

The Judges also earned three honorable mention spots in the All-UAA squad, as guard Paris Hodges ’17, forward Maria Jackson ’17 and guard Niki Laskaris ’16 all earned honors. Hodges earned her second-straight honorable mention by posting 8.2 points and grabbed 3.9 rebounds per game, appearing in 17 contests during the regular season. 

Hodges turned in her best game of the season in a Jan. 23 loss to Chicago when she netted 12 points on 3-of-9 shooting and a perfect 6-for-6  from the free-throw line. Hodges also added a crucial trio of rebounds, a pair of assists and forced two turnovers in a losing effort to the Maroons.  

Jackson made 17 appearances in the regular season, averaging 8.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. She helped anchor a Judges’ defense that finished third in the conference, giving up only 60 points per game with a scoring margin of plus six by season’s end. Jackson pulled down a team-leading 6.1 rebounds per game in the regular season while also registering 27 steals and 12 blocked shots. 

Laskaris started in 24 of the Judges’ 25 games during the regular season, netting 8.3 points per game, and knocked down 31 three-pointers.The men’s team had Cooper—its offensive leader with 12.4 points per game—named as an honorable mention to the All-UAA team and sharing Rookie of the Year honors with New York University freshman guard Ross Udine. Cooper averaged 13.9 points per game in UAA contests, 10th best in the conference, and knocked down 44 of his 57 free-throw attempts, good for a 10th -best .772 percentage. The guard led the team in scoring during 10 games and reached the 20-point plateau three times during the regular season. 

Cooper turned in his best performance of the season in a five-point loss to Bates College on Jan. 6 when he scored 28 of the Judges’ 55 points, connecting on 9-of-16 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc, while also pulling down five.

— Avi Gold