After being upset by Kenyon College in the championship game of the Brandeis Tip-Off Tournament last season, the women's basketball team left no doubt they would regain their tournament title this year.Facing No. 15 Bowdoin College in the championship game last Sunday, the unranked Judges never let up as they led for nearly the entire game en route to a 71-44 victory. It was the sixth time in the last seven years that the Judges have won the tournament, and the win moves the Judges to 3-0 on the season.

"It was a huge win for us," point guard Lauren Rashford '10 said. "Defensively and offensively we just picked it up on both sides of the court. ... We worked well as a team, we pushed the ball, and it was a huge win for us. We know that we can definitely beat anybody if we play how we did [Sunday]."

Brandeis fell behind 5-3 less than two minutes into the game but would never trail again as they scored 15 straight points to pull ahead 18-5 with 11 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half. The Judges took a 38-24 lead into halftime.

"Getting off to a good start was key, and the key was that we just kept building on it," coach Carol Simon said, "because [Bowdoin's] a team that can really make some spurts; they can score quickly because they have a lot of three-point shooters. But we held their spurts down."

The Judges were up 49-34 with 13:56 left in the second period when they scored 17 straight points to pull ahead 66-34 with 5:58 left to play.

Guard Jessica Chapin '10, who had a team-high 13 points and was second on the team with three assists, led the Judges in scoring. For her efforts she was named to the all-tournament team. Tournament Most Valuable Player center Lauren Orlando '09 had 12 points and eight rebounds in the contest.

"It's not really about one single person," Orlando said about winning MVP. "We all won it together. [Winning MVP] is great, but we all did it together."

A pair of second-year players also played a big role in the Judges' win. Forward Amber Strodthoff '11 continued where she left off after a rookie season that saw her finish fifth on the team in scoring and in a tie for second on the club in rebounding. Strodthoff finished with a team-high nine rebounds and six points off the bench against Bowdoin. In just her second career start, guard Diana Cincotta '11 had eight points and led the team with five assists, a career high.

Defensively, the Judges held a Bowdoin team that had scored 75 points the night before against Western Connecticut State University to just 44 Sunday. The Polar Bears shot just 22 percent for the game, while the Judges shot 51 percent for the game and 47.1 percent from behind the three-point line.

"We kept playing hard, regardless of the score, and that was one thing we were stressing-regardless of the score we have to keep playing, keep pushing," Simon said. "We wanted to dictate the tempo."

Simon added that "by pushing the ball [and] playing good defense," the team hoped to control the game's speed.

"When we're the ones dictating [the tempo], they have to react to us," she said.

The Judges got to the championship by defeating Widener University 67-48 last Saturday night. Orlando and Chapin led the scoring, with 15 and 13 points respectively. Forward Kasey Gieschen '10 had an active role off the bench with six points and two assists in just 10 minutes of action.

The Judges next host Wellesley College tonight at 5:30 p.m. before traveling to No. 16 Tufts University Sunday at 2 p.m. Tufts was one of the final eight teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament last season.