The Justice

Forward Lauren Orlando '09 is pressured underneath the basket. David Sheppard-Brick/the Justice

With 11 minutes, 41 seconds left in last Sunday's home game against Washington University in St. Louis, guard Jessica Chapin '10 drove to the basket and completed a layup to give the women's basketball team a 39-36 lead, their largest advantage up until that point.

But it would get much larger. The Judges outscored the Bears 27-12 the rest of the way en route to a 66-48 win, just the third victory over WashU in 39 games throughout their history. It was also the women's basketball team's first home win against the Bears since 1997 and its second in the last three years.

"This is one of the best wins of my career," captain and guard Jamie Capra '08 said. "We beat WashU three times in history. To be part of two of them now, it's amazing."

The win was part of a 2-0 homestand that moved the Judges' record to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the University Athletic Association after a 60-56 victory over the University of Chicago last Friday.

"They were games we had to have," coach Carol Simon said. "At this point, you have to have every game, just with the [UAA] being so tough."

WashU jumped out to a quick start, taking a 17-6 lead on back-to-back free throws from junior guard Shanna Lei-Dacanay with 9:08 left in the first half. Brandeis responded with a 15-2 run, capped by a jumper from captain and forward Cassidy Dadaos '09, who finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and a team-high six assists. The shot gave the Judges their first lead of the game at 21-19 with 3:21 remaining in the first half.

"We've been a very strong first-half team this year," Dadaos said. "We kept it close in the first half … and knew we needed to notch it up in the second half, because that's been our struggle."

Despite shooting 30 percent from the free-throw line and 33.3 percent from the field during the first half, the Judges trailed just 25-23 at halftime thanks to a strong defensive effort.

"We didn't play well offensively in the first half, and to stay within two points is good," Simon said. "You've got to attribute that [to] our defense."

Brandeis continued to apply defensive pressure in the second half, and strong inside play kept them within one point of the Bears over the first seven minutes of the period.

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