When reserve guard Lauren Rashford '10 nailed a three-pointer to cut the women's basketball team's deficit to just one point with 6 minutes, 44 seconds left in last Sunday's game at No. 21 University of Rochester, the Judges seemed poised to complete the comeback. "At that point, when the three went in, [and] we were down by one, we definitely got brewed up for that, after that shot," Rashford said.

Instead, they were outscored 24-9 for the rest of the game and fell 77-61, faltering down the stretch for the second time in three games against a top-25 University Athletic Association foe on the road. Brandeis previously blew a 10-point lead in a loss to then-No. 4 New York University Jan. 12. The Judges dropped to 10-4 with the loss and 1-2 in the UAA, including last Friday's 74-56 win at Carnegie Mellon University.

"Our defense at some point breaks down, and that's what we need to work on," Rashford said. "In a conference like the UAA, any time a team breaks down, the other team is going to take advantage of that, and that's what Rochester did [Sunday]."

The Judges led for much of the first half, but the Yellowjackets rallied for a 26-24 lead with 2:12 remaining in the half on a layup by junior forward Alex Porter, who hit a free throw to tie the score at 30 heading into the break.

"I was thinking that we'd need to pick up defensive pressure and respond well because they'd probably come out with a lot of fire [in the second half]," guard Carmela Breslin '10 said.

Just like in the loss to New York University, the Judges could not stop a Rochester surge in the second half.

"What Rochester does is they really run their sets very well and they really rotate the ball very well," coach Carol Simon said. "They just got the ball to their good shooters and she hit key shots at the end, so you have to give credit."

The Yellowjackets took a four-point lead on a jumper by rookie center Courtney Donovan with 11:05 left to play, but the Judges pulled within one point on Breslin's three-pointer from the left corner which made the score 49-48 with 9:10 left.

"[Guard Jessica] Chapin '10 had a nice pass to me," Breslin said. "I wasn't really thinking about the score. 'We need to get a stop on defense' is what I was thinking."

Brandeis would not collect another field goal until Rashford once again pulled them to within one point with 6:44 remaining, but that would be as close as the Judges would get. Unwilling to let Brandeis regain the momentum, Rochester went on a scoring surge, led by rookie guard Melissa Alwardt, who outscored the Judges 11-2 by herself over a minute and a half stretch at the end of the game. She hit a long two-point jumper to push Rochester's lead to 57-52 with 4:37 remaining, and then hit three consecutive three-pointers on Rochester's next three possessions, the last of which gave the Yellowjackets a insurmountable 68-56 lead with 2:51 remaining.

"Really it was two minutes of defensive breakdowns," Simon said. "If you have any mental lapses or you have any breakdowns, [Rochester] is so good at taking advantage of your mistakes and scoring off of them, and that's exactly what they did. It was a four-possession game where we made bad choices defensively, and they capitalized and scored on all of them."

Alwardt, who once hit a school-record seven three-pointers in one high school game, finished with 20 points off the bench, including four three-pointers. Chapin led the Judges with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and captain guard Jaime Capra '08 added 12 points despite missing 11 of her 15 field goal attempts.

The Judges picked up their first UAA win Friday against Carnegie Mellon, led by 13 points from Breslin, which tied her career high. Capra added 12 points, and the Judges pounded the Tartans on the glass, owning a 45-32 rebounding advantage.

"We just knew we needed to run them and get them tired," Breslin said. "There are only nine girls on their roster, so they don't go very deep."

The Judges host the University of Chicago Friday at 6 p.m. and Washington University in St. Louis Sunday at 2 p.m. in their first two UAA home games.