The Brandeis women's basketball team bounced back after losing two out of its previous three games to pick up two big wins at home last week and move to 5-3 on the season. The Judges defeated Roger Williams University 62-52 in a seesaw affair last Saturday after defeating Emmanuel College 72-67 last Tuesday.

Last Saturday, the Judges battled Roger Williams throughout the early minutes, which featured six lead changes in the first 10 minutes. Brandeis fell behind 14-13 with 10 minutes, 26 seconds to go, but the team responded by scoring the next 17 of 21 points to cruise ahead 30-18. The Judges ended the half up 30-21.

Roger Williams stayed in the game, however, and cut the lead to 32-26 early in the second half. Brandeis again responded with a scoring binge: a 20-6 run in a 5:52 span. The Judges hit eight of their 11 shots while holding Roger Williams to just two for six shooting, and forced four turnovers during the run.

The Hawks refused to go away, however, and on their own 10-0 run they cut the lead to 10. Brandeis missed eight straight shots until Samantha Anderson '14 finally put one in off of an offensive rebound.

"We had them up by 20, we tried to keep building on that lead, and unfortunately, they want on a couple of runs," guard Morgan Kendrew '12 said. "I think we handled it well," she added.

Roger Williams cut the lead to seven with a minute to go, but that was not enough as the Judges held on to win the match.

"I just think ... we really clicked: had a couple of defensive breakdowns but were able to score really well, and we got a lot of touches between our post and our guards which really helps," Kendrew said.

Kendrew led Brandeis with 17 points and has led the Judges in scoring for seven of their first eight games. Kendrew also moved into eighth place on the Brandeis all-time 3-pointers list, with 66 career treys.

"I'm trying to concentrate more on my shots and take it aggressive to the hoop," she said. "They gave us a lot of shots because they played a lot of zones, and we're a really good shooting team."

Forward Amber Strodthoff '11 grabbed an impressive 13 boards, including six offensive rebounds. She missed her first career double-double by just a basket as she finished with 8 points and four assists, and she led all players with three steals.

Mia DePalo '11 registered her best game for Brandeis this season, scoring 12 points on five-for-nine shooting and going two for four from behind the arc.

The Judges' bench was also exceptional, outscoring their counterparts 20-6 with six points apiece from Anderson, Courtney Ness '13 and Janelle Rodriguez '14.

"We're really deep; it comes down to confidence with our team, especially with our freshmen who are very talented," Kendrew said. "Sometimes they get into their heads and lose their confidence, but they're great players and can help us out tremendously."

Kendrew also attributed the team's early successes to how seriously the players have taken practice.

"I think that we've been concentrating on pushing each other in practice and rebound, which was our weak part so far," she said. "We've been focused in practice."

Roger Williams sophomore Alexandria Lenieri led all scorers with 18 points and was an impressive 9-14 from the field. Senior guard Carly Spagnola added 10 points, and Junior Ryan Weeks nearly had a double-double, finishing with 9 points and eight boards.

Last Tuesday, the Judges had to battle back to defeat Emmanuel. Brandeis started the game slow and eventually ended the first half down 32-29.

The second half did not begin well, either, as Emmanuel put together an 8-0 run and began the half outscoring the Judges 14-6. Brandeis, however, bounced back and took the lead with 2 minutes left to play as Strodthoff converted a 3-point play. Brandeis did not look back, and the Judges iced the game with a 3-pointer from Rodriguez. Strodthoff led Brandeis with 15 points, and senior Emmanuel guard Kristin Lebel led all scorers with 27.

The team is off until Dec. 31, when it will take on Husson College.