Traveling to the Midwest for a two-game weekend road trip against University Athletic Association opponents, the women's basketball team was unable to return home victorious in either game.

The Judges fell to the University of Chicago on Sunday, as the team failed to stop the Maroons' potent offense and fell with a score of 97-81. Earlier in the weekend, the Judges were bested by fourth-ranked Washington University in St. Louis on Friday, falling 73-49.

The first half of Sunday's game was a close affair as both teams went back and forth trading baskets until Chicago pulled away with a minute left, using timely three-point shots and good free throw shooting. Guard Kasey Dean '14 got fouled on a last-second three point attempt with just one second left in the first half and made all three of her free-throws to cut the score to 37-30 at the break.

The game started to fall apart for the Judges in the second half as their defense had no answer for the Maroons' offensive attack, ranked second in UAA scoring offense. With 16 minutes, 39 seconds left in the game, Chicago sophomore guard Caitlin Moore made a three-point shot to push the lead to 46-36.

The Maroons never led by less than 10 points over the remainder of the game.

While the Maroon offense was firing on all cylinders, the Judges displayed undisciplined defense throughout the game. Brandeis continuously fouled the Bears, a move that stopped the game and allowed Chicago to add points via the free-throw line. Chicago finished the game shooting an impressive 37 of 41 from the line.

Other than the Judges' lackluster defense, on the stat sheet the game was quite close. Both teams shot an identical 39 percent from the field and the Judges even led in assists 20 to 16. The difference was made on the foul line.

This was a disappointment considering the Judges' effort on Friday when they faced a much tougher opponent in WashU.
The Judges came into WashU Field House to face the Bears and struggled to put together a complete game against the second-ranked team in the nation.

Four turnovers to start the game put the team into a quick 10 point deficit just three minutes into the first half.

The struggles continued as the Judges could not get an offensive rhythm going which forced head coach Carol Simon to call a timeout with 15:19 left in the first half with the team trailing 15-2 and the game seemingly slipping away.

Over the next 10 minutes the Judges came out with a renewed offensive energy led by guard Paris Hodges '17 and her drives to the basket, as well as strong inside play of the team's frontcourt.

The women grabbed a 22-21 lead with 5:22 left in the half, and were in position for a major upset down just four points at the half.

In the second-half the Judges' defense collapsed as WashU stretched its lead with a barrage of three-pointers midway through the half.

The story of the game was Brandeis' lack of offensive cohesion compared to WashU's excellence on the offensive side of the ball. WashU's 21 assists outpaced Brandeis' 11, and their 18 offensive rebounds were eight more than the Judges managed.

For one half and five minutes of the second half it looked as if the Judges would be able to upset the Bears, but the final score was not indicative of the fight the Judges put up, as the squad eventually fell by a score of 73-49.

The Judges look to end this three-game losing streak with two home games coming up during their HOOPcoming weekend.

On Jan. 24th, the Judges host the the University of Rochester and host Alumni Family Basketball Day on Jan. 26th before a game against the Emory University.

The team could not be reached for comment at press time.