The Justice

Media Credit: David Sheppard-Brick Guard Diana Cincotta '10, left, and forward Lauren Orlando '09, right, sit sadly on the bench as time expired on the Judges' season last Saturday night.

AMHERST, Mass. -- As the clock dropped closer to zero in the women's basketball team's Round of Eight loss, many of the Judges players were seen with tears in their eyes at the prospect of their season's end. But half an hour later, the satisfaction of the squad's historic season had returned, for the players were all mingling with family members and smiling as they took their team photo.

The No. 25 Judges lost to No. 11 Amherst College 68-54 last Saturday in the Round of Eight at Amherst a day after defeating No. 18 Muhlenberg College 82-70 in the Sweet 16, but despite the loss, the team advanced further in the NCAA Tournament than it ever had in school history and reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in six seasons.

"I think we brought the program to a whole different level, and we're truly an NCAA program now," forward Lauren Orlando '09 told reporters after the loss. "We've proven that everyone in the community that we can go out and play."

The Lord Jeffs will face Brandeis' University Athletic Association rival, Washington University in St. Louis, in the Final Four in Holland, Mich. The Bears upset top-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University 58-53.

Amherst got out to a quick 3-2 lead on Saturday and never trailed after that, going up 31-22 at the break. Forward Cassidy Dadaos '09 kept the team close in her final collegiate game with 11 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Meanwhile, guard Jessica Chapin '10, the Judges' leading scorer this season with a 14.1 point-per-game average, was held to one point in the first half and ultimately hit just two of her 13 field goal attempts.

"They put great pressure on me the entire game," Chapin told reporters. "And that's tough. You can run me off of so many screens or I can try and create shots but [Saturday] the shot wasn't falling, and they were putting great pressure on me so you got to give them some credit."

In the second half the Judges got as close as 34-28 with 15 minutes left in the game but could not get any closer. Amherst scored the next seven points to take a 13-point lead and never let the Judges cut the deficit to single digits the rest of the game.

Continued...

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