After a blowout win over Husson College on Dec. 31, the women's basketball team looked to build that momentum into an explosive start to the new year. However, after a three-game losing streak to kick off the year, the Judges are still struggling to reestablish themselves in 2012.

The women's basketball team dropped all three University Athletic Association matches last week against Emory University, the University of Rochester and New York University.

Brandeis drops to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in conference play with the losing streak.

The Judges missed many key scoring opportunities last Sunday, letting Emory dominate the tempo of the game en route to a 70-40 defeat.

Guard Morgan Kendrew '12 led the Judges' scoring effort with 11 points, which was still not enough to best the Emory offense.

Starting forward Samantha Anderson '13 expressed her disappointment with the team's inability to fight back in crucial situations.

"We get down and we stay down," she said. "We need to fight our way out in those types of situations and today we just couldn't do that."

Coach Carol Simon was very impressed with the talent that Emory brought on both sides of the court.

"Emory is a very athletic squad that can put a lot of pressure on the opposing team both on the offensive and defensive end," she said.

Last Friday night, the Judges continued their struggles against conference opponents, suffering a tough 77-56 loss against the No. 5 and undefeated University of Rochester YellowJackets.

At halftime, and after 11 lead changes and five ties, the Judges trailed by 2 points. Yet, the YellowJackets pulled away in the second half despite a season-high 18 points from Kendrew. First-year guard Hannah Cain '15 also put forth a tremendous effort with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

While outrebounding a Rochester team known for dominating the boards, the Judges still could not handle the offensive pressure the YellowJackets brought to the game.

Starting guard Kelly Ethier '12 stated the recent string of losses stemmed from periodic lapses throughout games that the Judges fail to recover from.

"It's not a matter of how hard we've been working; we just haven't been able to finish and play," said Ethier. "We play with teams every game; it's just that we have lapses every four or five minutes and don't really recover."

Simon was impressed with the tenacity and persistence that Rochester displayed in the match.

"This is a team that is well disciplined and executes their stuff very well," said Simon. "They are also very deep so they can wear you down."

Simon's statement proved true in last Friday's match, as the Judges ultimately could not keep up with Rochester's consistently efficient offense.

In their first game after an impressive rout over Husson, in front of a packed crowd at New York University's Coles Sports Center, Brandeis could not seal the deal in a 66-57 overtime loss to NYU last Saturday. Although the Judges led by as many as five points in the second half, NYU seized offensive control of the match in the last few minutes of the game to notch the win.

Simon was proud of her team's physicality and determination in the game, despite the loss.

"Our squad played a very physical game, as both teams battled hard to take this match."

Although Kendrew ignited an 11-0 run for the Judges with a 17-point scoring effort, her individual heroics could not carry Brandeis to victory.

Guard Dianna Cincotta '11 MA '12 drained 15 points in the match, while forward Courtney Ness '13 contributed six points and seven rebounds in the loss.

Simon noted the Judges' failure to score the ball in overtime was the main factor in their loss.

"It really came down to the last five minutes of the game, and in that time, we did not execute as well as we needed to on the offensive end."

While the Judges look for their first conference win this weekend, Anderson stated this slump could actually help the Judges.

"It comes down to motivation," said Anderson. "Losing three in a row gives us huge motivation to prove ourselves in future games."

The Judges next travel to St. Louis to face another UAA foe, Washington University, occurring this Friday at 7 p.m.