With 11 minutes, 41 seconds left in last Saturday's game against New York University, reserve forward Amber Strodthoff '11 found point guard and co-captain Kiersten Holgash '08, who nailed her third consecutive outside shot in a span of less than two minutes.Holgash's shots gave Brandeis a 14-point lead, and the Judges held off a 24-13 Violets scoring tear down the stretch to win 63-60 and secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. Brandeis finished with an 18-7 record in the regular season and wound up third place in the University Athletic Association with a 9-5 mark. They will play the University of Southern Maine in Union, N.J. Friday at 6 p.m.

Holgash, who was honored along with captain and forward Jaime Capra '08 and guard Courtney Tremblay '08 during Senior Day, had a season-high 13 points.

"In practice all week we worked on doubling down in the post because NYU likes to do that a lot," Holgash said. "[Our post players] made some unbelievable passes, . and we had a nice inside-outside game going."

Guard Jessica Chapin '10 led all players with 20 points while picking up six rebounds and two steals, and the three seniors combined for 31 points in their last home game. Capra recorded her third double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Tremblay added five points and two rebounds off the bench in 15 minutes.

"It was a good note to go out on, on the home court and everything," Tremblay said. "I'm proud of myself, [and] I'm proud of [Capra] and [Holgash]. [Holgash] played unbelievable, so you can't really hold a match to that."

The Judges took their first lead of the afternoon with 10:29 left in the first half and led by as many as eight points after forward and co-captain Cassidy Dadaos '09 found Chapin for a three-pointer, putting the Judges ahead 26-18 with 3:02 left in the half. Sixteen of Chapin's 20 points came in the first half of the game.

"My teammates were getting me the ball, and I was open," Chapin said. "Layups and open shots, everything was falling ... My teammates were finding me off the screens, and they were going in."

Defensive prowess allowed the Judges to hold NYU to 23 points on 34.8 percent shooting from the field in taking a seven-point lead at halftime.

"We picked up the defense this game," Chapin said. "We knew we had to get them to turn the ball over and we capitalized on their turnovers, which really helped us."

Capra scored five points in the first two minutes after the break to give Brandeis a double-digit lead, setting the stage for Holgash's perfect shooting from three-point range over a 1:49 span in the second half.

"[Holgash is] a great shooter, and I think a lot of times maybe she passes up shots, but today, she was just feeling it," Capra said.

Still, the Violets nearly came all the way back. Led by junior forward Jessica McEntee, they erupted on a 17-6 run over the last 9:20. McEntee scored 12 points in the process and tied the single-season UAA scoring record with 301 total points this season.

"They are a very tough team," Chapin said. "They just keep chipping away and chipping away. [McEntee] is a phenomenal player. You have to give her all the credit in the world."

A McEntee layup cut the Judges' lead to three with 1:13 remaining, and the Judges came up empty on the next possession after center Lauren Orlando '09 missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw attempt with 45 seconds left. The Violets took their time and passed the ball inside to McEntee, but Orlando forced a traveling violation with 13 seconds left.

The Violets had one more chance to tie the game after Capra missed a free throw with eight seconds remaining, but McEntee's three-point attempt missed badly, and the Judges held on for the win.

The victory was the 300th of Simon's 21-year career with Brandeis, as she became the 53rd active Division III coach to reach the plateau.

"It's about the kids to me," Simon said. "It just probably means I've been coaching for a very, very long time."

Should the Judges win their first-round matchup, they will play the winner of the first-round game between Kean College and Utica College Saturday at 7 p.m.