AMHERST, Mass. -- As the clock dropped closer to zero in the women's basketball team's Round of Eight loss, many of the Judges players were seen with tears in their eyes at the prospect of their season's end. But half an hour later, the satisfaction of the squad's historic season had returned, for the players were all mingling with family members and smiling as they took their team photo. The No. 25 Judges lost to No. 11 Amherst College 68-54 last Saturday in the Round of Eight at Amherst a day after defeating No. 18 Muhlenberg College 82-70 in the Sweet 16, but despite the loss, the team advanced further in the NCAA Tournament than it ever had in school history and reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in six seasons.

"I think we brought the program to a whole different level, and we're truly an NCAA program now," forward Lauren Orlando '09 told reporters after the loss. "We've proven that everyone in the community that we can go out and play."

The Lord Jeffs will face Brandeis' University Athletic Association rival, Washington University in St. Louis, in the Final Four in Holland, Mich. The Bears upset top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University 58-53.

Amherst got out to a quick 3-2 lead on Saturday and never trailed after that, going up 31-22 at the break. Forward Cassidy Dadaos '09 kept the team close in her final collegiate game with 11 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Meanwhile, guard Jessica Chapin '10, the Judges' leading scorer this season with a 14.1 point-per-game average, was held to one point in the first half and ultimately hit just two of her 13 field goal attempts.

"They put great pressure on me the entire game," Chapin told reporters. "And that's tough. You can run me off of so many screens or I can try and create shots but [Saturday] the shot wasn't falling, and they were putting great pressure on me so you got to give them some credit."

In the second half the Judges got as close as 34-28 with 15 minutes left in the game but could not get any closer. Amherst scored the next seven points to take a 13-point lead and never let the Judges cut the deficit to single digits the rest of the game.

"We definitely tried to get the ball inside early, ... and I thought early on in the game we definitely did that," Amherst coach G.P. Gromacki told reporters. "But we knew they were going to be sending more post players, and we still went at them, and it opened up our outside game a little bit."

The Judges struggled against Amherst's defense, which came into the game allowing 48.4 points per game, second best in Division III. Brandeis came into the game averaging 5.8 three-pointers per game, but the Lord Jeffs allowed the Judges to hit just one three-pointer last Saturday.

Amherst rookie point guard Shannon Finucane led all scorers with 22 points and confounded the Judges defense with her quickness. Coach Carol Simon said the Judges' initial plan was to make her shoot outside jump shots instead of getting into the paint, but the strategy did not work as expected.

"I'll take the blame on [our defensive game plan]," Simon told reporters after the game. "Honestly, I think it didn't make us as aggressive as we needed to be defensively."

The Judges were paced by their two senior starters. Orlando had a team-high 14 points, while Dadaos had her second career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Coming into the tournament, Brandeis had the second strongest schedule in the nation while Amherst's schedule was No. 49 in the same category.

"I thought our schedule was pretty tough," Gromacki told reporters. "It's hard to compare schedules when you are looking at other teams, and I think the thing to look at is how well a team's playing at that time, and right now we're playing as good as anyone in the country I feel."

Prior to last Saturday's loss, the Judges defeated No. 18 Muhlenberg College last Friday night to advance to the Sectional Finals for the first time in school history. Brandeis fell behind 10-9 early in the first half before going on a 20-0 run to take a 29-10 lead with just under eight minutes left in the half. The Mules went on an 8-0 run to get within 36-24 at halftime and got within seven points with 5:42 left but could not get any closer.

All five Judges' starters scored in double figures against Muhlenberg, led by 17 from Chapin. Meanwhile Brandeis' defense held Mules' rookie Alexandra Chilli, who came in averaging 3.2 three-pointers per game, to just 2-7 from that range.

"We hurried a few shots that sometimes you make and sometimes you don't, and we just fell in a hole," Muhlenberg head coach Ron Rohn said.

"You had to stay on her, there was no dig off on Chilli; she's just too good," Simon told reporters.

Brandeis will lose two of its starters and one of its key bench players next year with the graduations of Dadaos, Orlando and forward Amanda Wells '09. Orlando and Dadaos were second and third on the team in scoring, averaging 10 and seven points per game respectively, while Wells was fourth on the team with 100 rebounds.

The Judges backcourt will be well-stocked next season, led by Chapin, their leading scorer this season. Starting guard Diana Cincotta '11, and rookie guards Morgan Kendrew '12 and Kelly Ethier '12, who each got significant playing time in the NCAA Tournament will aslo return, while point guard Lauren Rashford '10, who missed the last 11 games of the season after tearing her ACL in practice Feb. 3, should also return.