The women's basketball team struggled to find momentum again this week, splitting its two matchups against University Athletic Association rivals. The women snapped their three-game slide last Friday with an impressive comeback victory at home against Carnegie Mellon University. The team then lost to Case Western Reserve University last Sunday and is now 11-11 on the season and 3-8 in UAA play.Against Carnegie Mellon, the Judges fell behind 26-7 midway through the first half after 14 unanswered points by CMU. During that stretch, Brandeis committed three turnovers and went 0-3 from the field as their offense stagnated. The Judges were down 32-15 with 3 minutes, 35 seconds to go in the first when they began to turn it around with a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to 34-22 at the half.

"It hit us at halftime that we were down to a team that we should have been beating, and it was our last weekend at home so we wanted to end with a bang, so we wanted to push ourselves for the last 20 minutes," said forward Courtney Ness '13.

The Judges came out of halftime on a roll, streaking on a 17-7 run in the first 4 minutes of play. A deep Morgan Kendrew '12 2-pointer cut the lead to 41-39 with 11:26 to go. Both teams then began to struggle on offense, as neither team could consistently find the hoop. The teams combined for only 12 points were scored in almost 8 minutes. However, Brandeis tied the game for the first time with 4:55 to go on a 3-pointer from Kendrew. CMU regained the lead on its next possession with a layup from junior guard Nicole Vaccarella, but this would be the last time CMU would lead in the game. Forward Mia Depalo '11 connected from beyond the arc on the next possession, giving the Judges a 49-48 lead, which they would keep for the duration of the game. Two foul shots from forward Amber Strodthoff '11 gave the Judges a 51-48 lead with 3:08 to go. CMU tied the game at 52 with 37 seconds to go, but Kendrew proved to be the hero, as she drained a critical 3 with 37 seconds remaining. The Judges defense and foul shooting sealed a thrilling 59-54 victory.

Kendrew led the Judges with 16 points, scoring 12 of them in the second half. Ness grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, seven coming in the second half. DePalo added 11 points, with 9 coming from beyond the arc. Vaccarella led CMU and all scorers with 19 points. Freshman guard Gina Tudi led all players with a career-high nine assists for CMU.

The Judges failed to capitalize on Friday's win and squandered last Sunday's game against Case. In a reverse of last game, the Judges came out strong, propelled by a 10-2 run that put them up 12-6 in the early going, before fading down the stretch.

"We definitely carried the momentum from the last game," Ness said. "The second half, the story is that the other team had a run, we had a really good push at the end, but it was that 10-0 spurt that gave them the game."

Case came back and tied the game at 16 with 1:18 to go in the first half, but the Judges ended the half with two-straight buckets from Ness to go up 20-16 at the break. At the start of the second half, Brandeis and Case Western traded baskets, with neither side gaining the upper hand. Brandeis took a 26-23 lead at the 14:16 mark after DePalo stole the ball from sophomore guard Erica Iafelice and drove down the court for an easy layup. The Judges, however, began to falter, as Case Western responded with 10 straight points to take a 33-26 lead with 12:13 remaining. Layups from Kendrew and Strodthoff made it a 3-point game, but senior guard Caitlin Henry drained two straight threes to put Case Western up by nine.

The women, however, showed life with an 8-2 run, that brought them within 3 for a score of 43-40 with 3:27 left. However, this would be as close as they would get. Despite holding Case Western to just 6 points in the final 3 minutes, the Judges only scored 5 points themselves, losing an up-and-down game at home.

"We offensively didn't have much flow, and our communication defensively wasn't where it should have been," Ness said. "We weren't making rotations. It was more of a mental lapse then a physical lapse; no doubt in my mind we played a tough physical game for 40 minutes," said Ness.

Kendrew led Brandeis scorers with 13 points and six rebounds, while Ness continued her strong weekend with 8 points and nine rebounds.

Case junior forward Erin Hollinger led all scorers with 18 points.

The Judges are next in action at the University of Chicago on Friday.