The women's basketball team dropped a tough loss on Sunday to New York University 68-50 at the Red Auerbach Arena on Senior Day in the final game of the regular season. The loss came following a ceremony that honored the team's five seniors for their services to the team.

At the pregame ceremony, each of the honorees' highlights of their time on the team were read out to the Senior Day crowd. Nicolina Vitale '14, Kasey Dean '14, Julia Scanlon '14, Janelle Rodriguez '14 and Angela Miller '14 all accepted their honors and proceeded to have strong games for the Judges. Unfortunately, the hosts ended up falling to their University Athletic Association rivals to cap their winning season off with a fourth-place finish in the division and an overall record of 13-12 and a UAA record of 7-7.

To begin the game, NYU went on an early 11-2 run, and after a brief timeout, the Judges responded with a 7-2 run of their own to cut the deficit down to 13-9. However, this was the closest the Judges would get. For the rest of the game the Violets maintained their lead with timely offensive runs.

NYU eventually took a 31-17 halftime lead behind an impressive 11-point performance from NYU freshman guard Kaitlyn Read. NYU was impressive from behind the arc, shooting 10-for-27 and outscoring the Judges from three-point range by 27 points. Brandeis had very little opportunity to close that gap, attempting only seven three-pointers of their own during the half.

Niki Laskaris '16 and Scanlon contributed eight straight points with under 10 minutes left in the second half to cut the lead down to 38-27. However, the Violets maintained their grip on the game, never allowing the Judges to pull within nine points over the remainder of the contest.

Laskaris and Paris Hodges '17 shared the team lead with 10 points, but it was not enough to keep the Judges in the game. Another key difference besides the advantage in three-pointers was NYU's edge in free throw shooting.

The Violets went 12-for-14 from the line while the Judges could only muster up 11 free throws on 22 chances from the line.

Brandeis finished its regular season in a stretch of difficult games against UAA opponents, playing to mixed luck on a road trip in late February. Brandeis dropped the opener of the trip 74-51 to the University of Rochester on Feb. 21, but responded two days later with a win over Emory by a 75-72 final.

At Rochester, not one member of the Judges could record double-digit point totals. However, Hodges finished with a team-high nine points and added a pair of steals in 20 minutes. Miller added an effective 17 minutes off the bench, recording five rebounds, an assist and six points to pace the way for the Judges.

While Rochester cruised to victory, the Judges survived a nail biter in their win over Emory on Feb. 23.

Although the team entered the half down 48-30, Brandeis dominated the second half. The Judges outscored the host Eagles 37-32 in the second half to secure the 75-72 win, clinching the team's winning record on the season.

The Judges put three players in double figures. Forward Maria Jackson '17 led the charge, collecting 15 points and seven rebounds to go along with a steal and an assist. Vitale, who contributed 14 points and eight rebounds and guard Samantha Mancinelli '16, who gathered 13 points and five rebounds, joined her in the double-digit scoring column.

While Sunday's loss to NYU put a damper on the overall mood of the day, the seniors still performed admirably in what was potentially their last career home game. Vitale put up eight points and nine rebounds to the scoring for the seniors. Scanlon and Miller contributed seven and six points respectively while Dean and Rodriguez had good games on both sides of the ball, balancing their points, rebounds and assists. Rodriguez ended up leading the team with three assists.

The women next travel to Emmanuel College tomorrow night for a first round matchup of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament as the eighth seed.

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