At the start of the second half, the No. 25 Brandeis women's basketball team was clinging to a 25-23 lead at No. 20 New York University after being up by 13 points earlier in last Saturday's contest. Then, just 20 seconds into the second half, NYU senior forward Jessica McEntee hit a three-point shot to give the Violets a lead they would never relinquish.

The shot came in the middle of a 20-0 NYU run that spanned across both halves, helping the Violets defeat the Judges 62-49 to sweep the season series.

NYU defeated the Judges earlier this season at Brandeis 61-49 Jan. 17. The most recent loss drops the Judges to .500 in the University Athletic Association as they finish the regular season 17-7, 7-7 in conference play.

Despite the loss, the Judges made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year and will host the first two rounds of the Tournament, playing Western Connecticut State University in the first round Friday night.

"It's not often that teams make an NCAA tournament," head coach Carol Simon said. "It's hard enough to get in it and that much harder to host, so I would hope that the University and all the students and the administration will be down here on Friday supporting us."

Brandeis got out to a quick start against NYU, scoring the first six points and taking a 10-2 lead on a layup by guard Diana Cincotta '11. The Judges would go up 25-12 with 5 minutes, 48 seconds left in the first half before the Violets went on an 11-0 run to close the half to pull within two.

After McEntee's three-pointer gave NYU its first lead of the game, the Violets continued their run from the first half, scoring the next six points to take a 32-25 lead with 17:04 left to play.

"I think that we built a big lead in the beginning of the first half, and they kind of just started to chip away," forward Cassidy Dadaos ' 09 said. "They really executed on second chance opportunities and were able to get it in off of offensive rebounds. We didn't box out well, so I think that really kind of got them going on both ends of the floor."

Brandeis closed the gap several times in the second half, pulling within three after a three-pointer by guard Jessica Chapin '10 with just over 9 minutes left in the contest.

They got within three points again with 3:37 to go on a jumper by reserve forward Amber Strodthoff '11 but could not get any closer.

McEntee was the game's top scorer with 27 points, the only Violets player to reach double figures in the game.

She also added 17 rebounds for her 48th career double-double, and her second against Brandeis this season. McEntee had 19 points and 12 rebounds at Brandeis Jan. 17 in New York's 12-point victory.

"She's really a good player. You have to give her a lot of credit because they find a way to give her the ball," Chapin said. "We struggled boxing out and she got to the foul line and those are all keys to putting up big numbers."

Both teams struggled offensively in the game, as the Judges shot only 34.5 percent for the game, including 2-12 from three-point range, while the Violets shot an even worse 33.3 percent, including 7-23 from three-point range. NYU was helped by a large disparity in free throws, shooting 17-23 while Brandeis had 11 fewer attempts, converting seven of 12.

This was similar to the first game between these two teams, when Brandeis had just seven free throw attempts in the game compared to 31 for NYU.

"They take the ball to the basket hard and get the contact and get the bucket and the foul," Chapin said of NYU. "I think overall we need to take more advantage of getting to the free throw line, because those are easy points."

Brandeis had two players in double figures for the game. Chapin led the way with 11 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.

Cincotta was next on the team with 10 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists.

It was the final regular season game for senior forwards Lauren Orlando '09, Dadaos, and Amanda Wells '09, who have made the NCAA tournament every year since they began playing for the varsity team at Brandeis.

"Clearly my time here has been really more than I could have asked for," Dadaos said. "I think that we've just had a very successful run the last couple of years. It's been a very fun program to be a part of and a very successful program to be a part of."

The Judges return to the NCAA Tournament despite posting their worst UAA record since the 2002 to 2003 season.

Five of the Judges' 17 wins came against NCAA tournament teams. They defeated Bowdoin College, Tufts University, Widener University, Emmanuel College and the University of Rochester this season.

Brandeis will play its first-round tournament game at 7 p.m.