The women's basketball team came home this week following a quick two-game road trip and extended their winning streak to six games, recording two close victories over Case Western Reserve University on Friday and Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday.

Brandeis won 65-56 over Carnegie on Sunday and 71-58 over Case on Friday, nearly identical scores to the road victories over the two teams last weekend. The Judges, with the wins, improve to 12-8 overall and 6-3 in University Athletic Association games while moving to third place in the conference.

The Judges struggled on offense against the Tartans on Sunday and never got into a rhythm but used a stifling defense to take the victory. Only two players-center Nicolina Vitale '14 and forward Maria Jackson '17-managed to shoot over 50 percent from the field for the game, going three-for-five and five-for-eight, respectively. As a result, the team shot 33 percent for the game.

Fortunately, the Judges defense held up against Carnegie throughout the game, forcing the Tartans to shoot 26 percent from the field.

Guard Niki Laskaris '16, who contributed six points in the win, pointed to the defense as a catalyst for the recent win streak.

"We followed the game plan, took care of business, and we're feeling good right now," she said. "Our defense is where we pride ourselves and we try and keep the games low-scoring."

The Judges' timely three-point shooting gave them a slight lead in the beginning of the first half, and yet, the Tartans would not go away.

The Judges led the entirety of the first half, but ultimately they could only extend the lead to six points. Guard Paris Hodges '17 drained a three-pointer with time running out of the first half to make the score 32-27.

Laskaris alluded to timely shooting as a key component of the Judges' offensive game plan over the win streak.

"We've come together recently and we're staying with our motion offense and taking the open shot," she explained.

The second half played out much like the first as neither team managed to find a way to run their offense efficiently.

Carnegie managed to pull ahead 35-34 with 17 minutes, 21 seconds left to go in the game on two free throws by Carnegie sophomore forward Liza Otto.

Guard Samantha Mancinelli '16 fittingly responded with a three-pointer to give the Judges a lead they would not relinquish.

At a critical juncture in the second half with 3:28 left to go, clinging to a one-point lead, Brandeis responded with a sudden offensive surge. The women pulled away in the final minutes of the game, attacking the basket and forcing the Tartans into bad shots and turnovers on the other end.

The Judges relied heavily on the outside shot, shooting six-for-15 from the three-point line, and staunch defense down the stretch to hold onto the lead and win the game by a score of 65-56.

On Friday, the women went up against a weaker Spartans team, and while the result was similar, the game played out in a much different fashion.

The Judges got off to a very slow start on Friday, turning the ball over and committing fouls on defense that allowed Case to go up by as many as 16 points with 4:04 left in the first-half.

Two three-pointers by guard Frankie Pinto '17 helped cut into the lead, but ultimately, the women still went into the half down by a score of 39-30 and their recent streak of success against UAA opponents stood in jeopardy.

Laskaris singled out the Judges ability to speak up while on defense, a feature the team used to climb back into Friday's game.

"[We've been working on our] communication on defense," Laskaris remarked.

"We try to talk to the whole team, so even if someone misses a beat or is tired, it rattles the other team when everyone is together."

Coming out of the half, the Judges got off to a quick start, reeling off a 9-0 run to tie the game up after less than three minutes of action. Brandeis then put together a 12-2 run, highlighted by aggressive offense and multiple appearances on the free-throw line.

With a 64-51 lead with 4:20 left in the game, the women had gained control on both ends of the floor. The Judges gave up 19 points to Case in the entire second half due to solid team defense.

In fact, Case endured scoreless stretches for four or five minutes at a time.

Brandeis cruised in the final minutes of the game, winning by a score of 71-58.

The Judges will look to extend their solid conference play and their winning streak with two more conference games this week.

The hosts welcome No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis to town on Friday and the University of Chicago on Sunday.