With 11 minutes, 41 seconds left in last Sunday's home game against Washington University in St. Louis, guard Jessica Chapin '10 drove to the basket and completed a layup to give the women's basketball team a 39-36 lead, their largest advantage up until that point. But it would get much larger. The Judges outscored the Bears 27-12 the rest of the way en route to a 66-48 win, just the third victory over WashU in 39 games throughout their history. It was also the women's basketball team's first home win against the Bears since 1997 and its second in the last three years.

"This is one of the best wins of my career," captain and guard Jamie Capra '08 said. "We beat WashU three times in history. To be part of two of them now, it's amazing."

The win was part of a 2-0 homestand that moved the Judges' record to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the University Athletic Association after a 60-56 victory over the University of Chicago last Friday.

"They were games we had to have," coach Carol Simon said. "At this point, you have to have every game, just with the [UAA] being so tough."

WashU jumped out to a quick start, taking a 17-6 lead on back-to-back free throws from junior guard Shanna Lei-Dacanay with 9:08 left in the first half. Brandeis responded with a 15-2 run, capped by a jumper from captain and forward Cassidy Dadaos '09, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists. The shot gave the Judges their first lead of the game at 21-19 with 3:21 remaining in the first half.

"We've been a very strong first-half team this year," Dadaos said. "We kept it close in the first half . and knew we needed to notch it up in the second half, because that's been our struggle."

Despite shooting 30 percent from the free-throw line and 33.3 percent from the field during the first half, the Judges trailed just 25-23 at halftime thanks to a strong defensive effort.

"We didn't play well offensively in the first half, and to stay within two points is good," Simon said. "You've got to attribute that [to] our defense."

Brandeis continued to apply defensive pressure in the second half, and strong inside play kept them within one point of the Bears over the first seven minutes of the second half.

"Defensively, in the first half, we did great, [and in] the second half, we came out even stronger defensively," forward Lauren Orlando '09 said. "I feel like this was one of our best defensive games."

A layup by reserve forward Amanda Wells '09 put Brandeis ahead by one point, setting the stage for the Judges' game-ending offensive tear.

"We were being a little too complacent or passive in the first half," Simon said. "You've got to attack. You have to want to score. It was very simple. We try to keep the game of basketball simple, and that's what we did [in the second half]."

Capra had 14 points and 15 rebounds, her second double-double of the season, to lead the way. Chapin added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Orlando chipped in with 13 points.

Brandeis collected 24 points in the paint in the second half compared to just eight in the first, and had a 28-15 rebounding advantage over the Bears after the break.

"We definitely worked on being more aggressive [in the second half] and attacking the basket, and we got to the foul line a lot," Capra said.

Last Sunday's loss was the first in eight games for WashU as well as their first UAA defeat this season.

"We had a good start, but Brandeis had a better finish," WashU coach Nancy Fahey said. "They were aggressive and took it right to us and definitely controlled the rest of the game once we lost our lead."

In last Friday's game against the University of Chicago, Brandeis led by 13 at halftime, but a three-pointer by Maroons junior Alex Leach put Chicago ahead by three points with 8:54 remaining in the second half.

A Chapin layup with 6:27 left in the game put Brandeis ahead for good, propelling the Judges to their seventh straight win against the Maroons. Capra led the way with 23 points, and Chapin had a team-high eight rebounds.

The team next plays at Case Western Reserve University Friday at 6 p.m. and then at Emory University Sunday at 2 p.m.