Union, N.J.-With just one senior among its members, the women's basketball team's bench entered the year far more inexperienced than the squad's starting corps. But despite the players' youth, the bench proved to be a strength this season, as the Judges' reserves consistently outscored their opponents' bench, most notably during last Friday's 74-71 comeback victory over Southern Maine University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, when they did so 30-17.

"You saw two bench players at the end . that really [were] an integral part of how we came back," coach Carol Simon told reporters after last Friday's win. "With [reserve point guard Lauren Rashford '10] and [reserve forward Amber Strodthoff '11], it definitely makes us more athletic, so we were pushing the ball more, and defensively I just thought we were a little quicker with the two of them in."

Strodthoff and Rashford have been used most frequently. In her first NCAA Tournament game, Strodthoff played more minutes than any other Brandeis player last Friday and posted a career-high 13 points, second-most on the team. She finished the season averaging 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

"Their composure, I thought, at the end was tremendous," Simon told reporters. "Especially [Strodthoff] as a freshman, I think that's really amazing."

Rashford missed the first half of the season with an illness, but has been the Judges' most-used reserve guard when healthy, averaging 4.3 points and 2.3 assists in 18 games. She picked up eight points and a team-high four steals last Friday, including one on sophomore point guard Nicole Paradis that sealed the Judges' victory in the final seconds.

"[Rashford] really played a great game. She's composed distributing the ball," Simon told reporters.

Not only have the statistics proven the value of the 10-man bench (which became a nine-man unit after forward Amanda Wells '09 suffered a season-ending foot injury Feb. 10), but its ability to perform in pressure situations has also been a key part of the team's success. Down by 15 points last Friday with 8 minutes, 20 seconds remaining, reserve guard Carmela Breslin '10, who finished second on the team in three-point shooting percentage at just over 44 percent, nailed a three-pointer from the right side to jump-start Brandeis' eventual comeback.

"[Breslin] came in for eight minutes, and she gave us a couple big shots," Simon told reporters. "She came in and really hit that big three. We actually set up a play for her, and she hit a three for us."

Breslin, who averaged 4.1 points per game in just 9.4 minutes per contest, stressed the importance of a bench's dependability.

"The bench plays a big part on any team because obviously when you sub your starters, you don't want to lose in depth," she said. "So it's important for the bench to be reliable and consistent.