The star continues to break records. The defense continues to pester teams into poor shooting and turnovers. The coach continues to pile on the wins. The women's basketball team has been plowing through the competition, and it continued last week. Danielle Fitzpatrick '04 led four Judges in double figures with 20 points and seven rebounds as Brandeis never trailed, defeating visiting Case Western Reserve 65-60 on Sunday. It was the fifth consecutive win for coach Carol Simon's team and the ninth victory in 10 outings. The win followed a 70-47 demolition of visiting Emory University at home on Friday. The Judges finished the week bolstering their record to 16-3 record overall, including 7-2 in the UAA. With five conference games remaining, the Judges are only two victories away from matching the 1991-92 team's record of nine UAA wins.
The Judges led by as many as 13 on Sunday, but a late Case Western run trimmed the lead to three late in the game. Amanda DeMartino '06 had all five of her points in the final minute, icing five free throws to seal the game. Christine Clancy '06 and Basia Gryzb '07 each scored 11 points, while Caitlin Malcolm '07 chipped in with 10. The Judges attempted 30 free throws and scored 24 of their points from the strike.
"We played good enough to win," Simon said. "We didn't play the best that we can."
"[Case Western] is a tough team, so we knew we were going to have to play hard," Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick's outing gave her 1,154 points for her career, moving her into third place on the all-time scoring list. Fitzpatrick's seven rebounds gave her 462 career rebounds, good for seventh most in school history.
Before Case Western came to Gosman, Simon's defense forced Emory University into 27 turnovers in a 70-47 blowout. Fitzpatrick and Malcolm led all scorers with 18 points each and DeMartino helped out with 10. The Judges came up with 13 steals and crushed Emory on the glass, out-rebounding the Eagles 44-32.
The Judges will have an intense week of practice in preparation for a challenging weekend. Brandeis will host the University of Rochester on Friday at 6 p.m. in what will likely be the hardest game of the season for the Judges. Rochester is the ranked fourth nationally and is 17-2. The Yellowjackets average four players in double figures and have a dominant front line to stymie Fitzpatrick. Rochester started the season with 15 consecutive wins, including a 68-62 win over Brandeis in January. The Yellowjackets were undefeated until an 82-78 double overtime loss to Case Western Reserve. Rochester's only other loss came at the hands of Washington University.
"Rochester is a very physical team," Simon said. "They're talented and they're big. But we approach every game like it's the biggest challenge of the season."
One thing that does not concern Simon is the Judges three-point shooting. Usually consistent from behind the arc, the Judges shot 6-30 from three-point range over two games last weekend, good for 20 percent.
"They were good shots, they just weren't going in," Simon said. "I'm more concerned with our defense. If we miss shots like that and then don't come up with stops on the other end, then I worry."
"We're going to have a hard few days of practice coming up," Fitzpatrick said. "We just have to keep working on our defense. We feel this is a game we can definitely win.