Judges 51, Carnegie Mellon 66

Looking forward to finishing the season strongly, the Brandeis Judges visited the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans on Friday. In this University Athletics Association matchup, the Judges suffered a 6-21 second-quarter run and lost to the Tartans, 51-66. 

Brandeis put up a fight in the first quarter, led by two early layups from center Kerry Tanke ’22. A 3-pointer followed by another mid-range jumper from captain Camila Casanueva ’22 closed the gap and ended the first quarter trailing by two. The Judges went cold in the second quarter and gifted the Tartans a 21-6 run propelled by their consistency from the 3-point line. The Judges attempted to get back into the game and closed the game out with their own 11-0 run, but that was not enough for the comeback.

Casanueva led the team with 12 points. Sophomore Christina Bacon provided an efficient scoring performance off the bench, contributing 11 points in just nine minutes with seven of eight shooting from the foul line. Junior captain Emma Reavis filled the sheet with eight points, seven rebounds, and five assists. The Judges could not connect from distance and struggled collecting defensive rebounds, giving the Tartans a 10-point advantage off second-chance points. 

Judges 61, Case Western 58

Spending their Super Bowl Sunday in Cleveland, Ohio, the Judges faced off the Case Western Reserve University Spartans. The Judges balanced their offense, spiced up their defensive plan, and celebrated the night with a 61-58 win.

Casanueva opened up the game for the Judges off an elegant backdoor cut assisted by Reavis. A 3-point bucket from captain Francesca Marchese ’23 gave the Judges an early 7-2 lead, but the Spartans closed the gap with two 3’s of their own. Tathiana Pierre ’23 regained the lead with two consecutive baskets, and a corner 3 from Casanueva pulled the Judges away. Bacon also went on a 4-0 run on her own, followed by a Reavis bomb from distance and her defensive effort to close out the quarter, Judges leading 21-12.

Case Western became more aggressive on defense in the second quarter and went on an 8-0 run in the first three minutes; this run was ended by a layup from Tanke. First-year Mollie Obar joined the 3-point party with 4:40 left in the quarter and was found open before the buzzer but could not make the shot. The Spartans took advantage of the shots given by the Judges’ 2-3 zone defense and took over the lead, 31-28.

Starting off the second half, Casanueva tied the game with her trifecta. Marchese built onto the effort, sank from distance, and stole the ball defensively, and Tanke stepped through the Spartans shield wall, drew the foul, and took back the lead from the line. As foul trouble sent Casanueva off the court, Reavis took over with her 3-point shot, collected the defensive rebound, and found Pierre off the break. Defensively, Bacon locked the Spartans’ leading scorer down effectively. Another 3-pointer from Marchese gave the Judges a double-digit lead with 1:40 left in the third quarter, but the Spartans responded with a 4-0 run. Judges entered the final period with an eight-point lead, 52-44.

The Spartans cashed off another 5-0 run to start off their fourth-quarter action, which was, again, ended by Tanke. While the Spartans threw in double teams and forced some turnovers off the Judges, first-year Caitlin Gresko stayed calm, dialed in from the 3, and forced a CWRU timeout. After the break, the Spartans implemented a full-court press that did not work out well. A Reavis steal combined with a long-rebound by Gresko down the stretch seemingly secured the Judges win, but a frustrating foul and some funny turnovers gave the Spartans some chances to tie the game up. However, crucial help defense from Pierre stripped the ball in the lane and crushed the Spartans’ last hope. The Judges took care of business defensively and closed the game out, celebrating the weekend with a 61-58 win.

Gresko led the team with 12 points. Marchese made three out of nine attempts from distance and cashed off nine points. Reavis was on triple-double watch as she contributed another all-around performance of nine points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Pierre came up big off the bench and scored eight. Casanueva, who left the game after a right-ankle injury, also chimed in eight points. The Judges carried out a balanced offense with a spectacular 43.5% shooting from downtown and mixed up their defense with a 2-3 zone from time to time. 

The Judges will host the University of Chicago Maroons this Friday and will feature another against the Washington University Bears on our very own Senior Sunday.