WBBALL: Undefeated season still intact
Playing in its fourth game in seven days and third game in that stretch against teams that participated in the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament, the No. 12 women's basketball team trailed Babson College 18-11 with 9 minutes, 34 seconds left in the first half last Saturday. After rallying to take a 39-32 lead at halftime, the team wanted to come out strong and put the game out of reach early in the second half."We just got [into] a team huddle in the locker room [at halftime] and we came out saying we were going to play Brandeis basketball when we get back out, and we needed to overcome the mental and physical fatigue," point guard Lauren Rashford '10 said.
The Judges did just that, going on a 24-4 run to start the half to take a 63-36 lead with 10:48 remaining. From there, the Judges cruised to an 81-57 win, making them 8-0 on the season after defeating Emmanuel College 94-52 last Tuesday and Wheaton College 69-54 last Thursday.
"[Our players] were just tired [at the beginning of the game]," coach Carol Simon said. "[It was] the fourth game in seven days, and [they had] three really tough games before that. . We just started slow, we weren't sharp. We were beating ourselves, to be honest. And then [in the] second half we just really picked it up and knew what we had to do."
With 8:12 to play in the first half, the Judges came back to take a 19-18 lead on a layup by guard Jessica Chapin '10. The lead then switched hands several times before a layup by forward Cassidy Dadaos '09 put Brandeis ahead 23-22 with 5:48 to play in the half, and Brandeis never relinquished the lead for the rest of the game.
Brandeis stretched the lead to 10 with 3:23 left in the first off a three-pointer by Chapin, but Babson pulled within seven points at halftime before the Judges went on their 24-4 run in the second half to pull away.
Half of the Judges' points during this second-half run came at the free- throw line. While Brandeis shot just five-for-nine from the free throw line in the first half, they finished 91.3 percent from the free throw line in the second.
"Free-throw shooting is key throughout the game," forward Lauren Orlando '09 said. "We practice 50 foul shots every practice before a game, so we clinched them at the end."
Brandeis' bench outscored Babson's 29-13, including 21-5 in the second half. Seven different Judges bench players scored in the game, led by forwards Amber Strodthoff '11 and Shannon Hassan '12, who had six points each.
"We went to our bench early, and we really went deep," Simon said. "[The starters] didn't really get a lot of minutes early in the second half because their legs were just tired. The next group really did a great job to really take the lead. . Our depth just tired [Babson] out at the end."
Brandeis' defense held Babson to 25-percent shooting in the second half, including just 10 percent from three-point range. Brandeis also forced 21 turnovers and scored 27 points as a result.
Chapin led the Judges with 19 points, along with a team-high five assists, while Rashford added 11 points and five rebounds. Dadaos finished with a team-high seven rebounds and added eight points.
Brandeis also defeated Wheaton College 69-54 last Thursday. Chapin and Orlando tied for the team lead with 15 points each, and Dadaos added 11. Rashford had eight points and added a team-high eight rebounds.
Last Tuesday, Brandeis scored the fourth-highest point total in team history with a 94-52 win over Emmanuel College, who knocked the Judges out in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Orlando, who started on the 2006 squad, led Brandeis with 22 points, and Rashford, Chapin, and Strodthoff all reached double figures with 10, 13, and 14 points, respectively.
The Judges are off for three weeks for winter break and will not resume play until Dec. 31, when they host Regis College (Mass.) at 1 p.m.
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