The women's basketball team extended its winning streak to four games after demolishing Wheaton College 83-39 at home on Tuesday, jumping to 4-0 for the season and earning a season-high No. 4 national ranking.The Judges were supposed to play at Babson College on Saturday, but the game was postponed because no officials were present.

The Judges wasted no time in putting Wheaton away as Caitlin Malcolm '07 opened the game with eight unanswered points. Malcolm tallied a double-double just 15 minutes into the game, and finished with 17 points to go along with a career-high 16 rebounds. The Judges were barely tested in the first half, keeping Wheaton at a 14-point deficit at halftime. The Judges came out even stronger in the second half, allowing the Lyons just 20 points in the entire period while Brandeis tallied 50 to seal the blowout.

"The first half we played well but not great, and we picked it up defensively in the second and did a good job holding them to under 40 points," coach Carol Simon said. "Holding them was really the key to the game, because we had an advantage in the post, but we were really focused on getting our defense a little more intense and just being a little better.

Three other Judges besides Malcolm scored in double figures, led by Jaime Capra '07 with 14. Courtney Tremblay '08 chipped in 10, and Lauren Orlando '09 came off the bench to contribute a career-high 15 points. Brandeis owned Wheaton on the boards with a 50-30 rebounding advantage while burying 29 of 35 free throw attempts. The Judges hit six of 12 three-pointers, while shooting 42 percent from the field for the game.

Despite the stellar showing, players felt as though their performances could have been better.

"We didn't play that well at all and I don't really know how we got that far ahead," captain Amanda Demartino '06 said. "I just remember looking up a the scoreboard and noticing we were up by 40 points and it was like, how did that happen? Also, Wheaton's a really scrappy team, and they make you play ugly and that's exactly what they did."

Before trouncing the Lyons, the Judges easily handled Wellesley College 56-37 on Tuesday, November 22. Malcolm posted another double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Capra added eight points. The Judges out-rebounded Wellesley 42-41 and drained 21 three-pointers.

After starting the season with four straight wins, the Judges find themselves ranked in the top five of the nation for just the second time in school history, sitting at No. 4 in the most recent d3hoops.com poll. But players emphasize that the season is still young.

"It's such an honor, but the rankings don't mean anything if we don't come out to play hard everyday," Demartino said. "It's not enough to tell everyone we're the No. 4 team in the country. It takes a lot of hard work, and if we don't continue that hard work, we could not even be ranked anymore."

Capra said the ranking will only make the rest of the season more challenging.

"It makes us work a lot harder because with the No. 4 ranking, the target's on our back," Capra said. "Every team we play will look to have their best game against us, and being ranked No. 4 says we are one of the best teams in the country. Now we have to go out and prove that to people."

Simon agreed, saying that the biggest areas the team needs to improve on are defense and communication.

"We don't think we're at our peak by any means," Simon said. "We still need to be better defensively. Communication is huge for us and right now; we're a very quiet team, and that's something that we need to be much better about."

The Judges take on Worcester Polytechnic Institute at 7 p.m on Wednesday.