The Justice

Several of the women's basketball team's key players relax during last Wednesday's 77-32 blowout of Simmons College. The Judges went on to lose their first conference game to No. 4 New York University last Saturday. Sara Brandenburg/the Justice

Prior to the start of the season, point guard Kiersten Holgash '08 said one of the women's basketball team's goals would be to "play a solid 40-minute game." But while the Judges have been able to accomplish that goal for the most part so far this season, they were unable to do so in their first University Athletic Association game against No. 4 New York University last Saturday.

After taking a 10-point lead early in the second half, the Judges crumbled under the Violets' defensive effort, hitting just five of 26 shots in the second half in a 57-47 loss that snapped their seven-game winning streak and dropped their record to 9-3 on the season.

"In the second half NYU's defensive [pressure] stepped up a lot and it caused a lot of problems for us and our offense," Holgash said.

Guard Jamie Capra '08 led the Judges with 16 points and eight rebounds in the game, but in the end it was not enough to upset the Violets, who moved to 11-0 on the season.

"The first half was definitely our better half," forward Amber Strodthoff '11 said. "We've proven to ourselves we can beat them, [but] we just couldn't seal the deal. The competition in the UAA-it's like a whole other season."

Brandeis led the Violets 24-18 at halftime and took a 31-21 lead with 15:41 left on a layup by rookie forward Amber Strodthoff '11. The Violets opened the second half with four missed three-pointers, and the Judges corralled every defensive rebound during that stretch.

But despite the 10-point advantage, players knew that the Violets, who had not lost in front of the home crowd since February 19, 2006, would not let the Judges spoil the bid for their 27th straight home victory.

"The 10-point lead really sparked everyone's energy, [but] we knew they weren't going to come out in the second half and relax," Holgash said. "The way we handled the pressure was the main reason why the first half and the second half was such a dramatic difference."

Continued...

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