Spring Break
WBBALL: Four NCAA Tournaments, four friendships
The four seniors who made Judges history
by Melissa Siegel
Senior writer
Sports | 5/19/09
Posted online at 1:49 AM EST on 5/15/09
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After senior forward and captain Cassidy Dadaos '09 discovered a stress fracture in her foot in December four years ago, she was forced to wear a boot for several months while it healed. Just as Dadaos was ready to get back onto the court the following spring, classmate and teammate guard Lauren Goyette '09 suffered the same injury.
"It was actually really funny. The minute she got out of her boot, I had a stress fracture in my foot, so she passed it down [to me]," Goyette said.
"It's another bond that we share," Dadaos added, laughing.
The four seniors-starting forwards Dadaos and Lauren Orlando '09, reserve forward Amanda Wells '09 and Goyette-have strengthened that bond over the past four years and will graduate as the first women's basketball class in Brandeis history to make the NCAA Division III Tournament for four straight seasons, going 79-28 in that span. This season, the team made its deepest run in the NCAA Tournament in the school's history, when its historic run came to an end just one game away from the Final Four in the Round of 8, after a loss to Amherst College March 14.
The women's basketball team will best remember the Class of 2009 players for the close connection they shared with each other. The four athletes grew close during their rookie year and stayed in touch over the summer. Wells and Orlando roomed together their sophomore season, and the four women have shared a suite for the past two years. They also have had many classes together over the years.
"It's a miracle we don't hate each other," Dadaos joked.
As rookies, together they made the same mistakes on the court. The foursome recalled one experience during their rookie season at the first practice the day after Thanksgiving.
"Our first practice after Thanksgiving, you don't know what to expect, and you eat a huge meal, and then you come and you're sprinting the next day," Orlando said with the others laughing around her. "[Coach Carol Simon] had four trash bags [on the floor]. You don't know as a freshman not to eat a lot during Thanksgiving meals."
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