The Brandeis women's basketball seniors knew early in their college careers that they shared a special bond that even extended to the injuries they endured during their rookie season. 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."

While the four athletes have grown closer on and off the court, they have also grown individually throughout their time at Brandeis. While Goyette missed the entire season this year with arthritis and a herniated disk in her back, she was optimistic about the team's progress and contributed with extra advice for her teammates from the sidelines.

"[Goyette is] probably the most unselfish person," Dadaos said. "I think we all knew that she was really clearly upset [about being injured] but she never let it affect any of us or let it show. She would have her time to be upset, but it was never around the team."

Meanwhile, Wells evolved into a more vocal leader on the court, Simon said.

"[Wells] probably matured most just as a person and [with her] personality," Simon said. "She got her nickname in freshman year-Bob-because she was like Silent Bob: She never spoke. [She matured] this year as a leader, one who was a vocal leader, not just a leader by example. She just improved tremendously in that sense."

Simon also mentioned how much Dadaos and Orlando improved their games throughout their time at Brandeis.

"Her game, her skills got better," Simon said of Orlando. "Each year, she got stronger, she became more of a leader throughout the years. [Dadaos], talentwise, improved immensely from her freshman [to] senior years."

While each of the four players have their own recruiting stories and reasons for attending Brandeis, Dadaos' journey was a bit unorthodox. Coming from a mediocre high school basketball team in Healdsburg, Calif., where she was a two-year captain, Dadaos wanted to play for a team that took basketball more seriously and would let her play in big games. She wanted to play at Brandeis so badly, she said, that she wrote Simon a letter asking the coach to give her a chance.

"I actually recruited Brandeis," Dadaos said. "I kind of found them and came and met the team. . I wanted to be on the East Coast and near a big city, and in a tough conference where I got to travel."

The decision paid off for all four players, as they led the most successful women's basketball team in school history this season. Dadaos averaged 5.5 points per game and had 380 rebounds over her career despite missing most of her rookie season with the foot injury. Orlando contributed both offensively and defensively as a starter with 915 points and 56 steals in four seasons. Wells was a key bench contributor all four seasons and finished her career with 303 rebounds and 64 steals. Goyette averaged 6.4 minutes per game in 35 games in her first three seasons before having her career cut short due to her back injury. She had eight steals her junior year, despite appearing in just nine games.

Regardless of the 79 wins in four years, the four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances or even the best postseason run in Brandeis history, what will ultimately matter to these four women are the off-the-court memories they have formed as a team. "We're not going to remember if we beat [the University of] Chicago at home junior year," Dadaos said. "We'll remember [Goyette] running into a glass door [over spring break].