The women's basketball team headed into Atlanta. and Rochester, N.Y. looking to sweep the season series against the Emory Eagles and respond to last week's loss to the Rochester YellowJackets. Unfortunately, the Judges, now 10-10, 2-7 in University Athletic Association play, couldn't find their mark against either opponent and lost both games last weekend.
Last Sunday afternoon, the Judges faced the YellowJackets, who beat Brandeis 61-50 last weekend. The Judges held a slim lead until midway through the first half, when the YellowJackets began to fire on all cylinders and control the game from then on, pulling away for a resounding 80-51 win.
In the first half, the Judges and YellowJackets maintained a tie game until 16 minutes, 1 second when the Judges went on a 7-0 run to take a 13-6 lead. Brandeis held this lead until 6:23 to go in the half when Rochester tied the game at 22 apiece. The YellowJackets got hot from the field and went on a 15-2 run to end the half, heading into the intermission with a commanding 37-24 lead.
It wasn't the Judges' shooting that went cold but rather their defense that couldn't match up against Rochester.
"We struggled defensively at some points," said coach Carol Simon. "We fight hard, but we just have some breakdowns that tend to affect us on the offensive end."
The Judges couldn't get a rally going early in the second half, trading points with the YellowJackets through the first 9 minutes. Leading by 9 points with 11 minutes to go, the YellowJackets began to pull away. Rochester silenced the Judges' shooters on pace to a 14-1 run to push the lead to 23 points with 5:22 left in the game. With the starters checking out of the game with 3 minutes left and a lineup of five rookies, the YellowJackets cruised the rest of the way, outscoring the Judges 29-9 from the 11-minute mark through the end of the game.
Other than points-in-the-paint and blocks, the Judges were on the losing end of all major statistical categories. The YellowJackets dominated the Judges in rebounds, steals, assists and bench points. Rochester's defense shone in the game as well, forcing 17 turnovers, on pace to a 22-0 edge in points off turnovers. It also held the Judges to 0 second-chance points compared the YellowJackets' 18.
"It came down to key turnovers, and [Rochester] executing on the other end," Simon said. "They were taking advantage of our mistakes, and we didn't take advantage of their turnovers. We didn't make them work hard enough, and they made us work very hard."
Guard Mia DePalo '11 led the team with 14 points and added three rebounds. DePalo also was locked in from 3-point range, hitting on all four of her attempts from beyond the arc. Guard Morgan Kendrew '12 added 11 points, her 15th double-figure game in 20 games this season. Forward Samantha Anderson '13 added 4 points and five rebounds, and forward Amber Strodhoff '11 contributed 8 points.
Last Friday night, Brandeis was in Atlanta for a rematch against Emory. Despite a close first half, the Eagles had the Judges' number in the second half, winning the game 72-55 to earn a split in the season series.
The teams traded shots through the first 8 1/2 minutes, but the Judges rallied off 8 straight points to take a 17-10 lead with 9:19 to go in the first half. Brandeis held the lead until 3:16 left, when the Eagles went on a 8-2 run to end the half and head into the break with a 30-29 lead. Kendrew paced the Judges with 10 first-half points.
The Eagles rallied off 4-straight points to start the second half to take a 5-point lead. The Judges cut the deficit to 2 with 15:33 left, but a 9-2 run by the Eagles left the Judges in a 9-point hole, and the Judges couldn't respond. The closest Brandeis would get the rest of the game was within 6 points, but the Eagles finished the game on a 27-16 run, pushing the lead as high as 22 before winning 72-55.
The Judges were able to keep the Eagles' shooting in check in the first half, holding Emory to just 30 percent from the floor and 23 percent from beyond the arc. However, the Eagles found their mark the second half, shooting an impressive 71.4 percent from the field and 62.5 percent from 3-point land. In fact, the Eagles would miss just 6 shots the second half, hitting 15 of their 21 shot attempts.
The Judges shot 40.9 percent in the second half, insufficient to keep up with Emory. Both teams also had difficulty making free throws the second half, with each shooting under 50 percent from the line.
Subpar defense also plagued the Judges in the second half.
"We were not good defensively at all," Simon said. "We didn't defend the drive at all. When the other team shoots 72 percent in a half, it makes it very difficult to dig your way out of a couple of holes."
Kendrew led the Judges with 16 points for the game. DePalo added five assists and three steals, as well as six turnovers. Anderson played a team-high 30 minutes and contributed 4 points and four rebounds. Strodhoff added 8 points and a team-high five rebounds.
Two first-year guards also had solid games, as Kasey Dean had 6 points and four rebounds on the game and Julia Scanlon '14 added 8 points.
Simon stressed that ball control would one of the focuses for this week's practices.
"Our biggest problem is giving points off of turnovers," she said. "We're going to make mistakes, but it's what you do after that mistake where you have to dig even deeper to get a stop."
The Judges will return to action this weekend for contests with UAA rivals Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve University on Friday and Sunday, respectively.