The women's basketball team was blown out in two University Athletic Association home games last weekend. The team lost to Washington University in St. Louis 66-36 last Sunday after losing 71-38 against the University of Chicago last Friday. Brandeis is now 9-7 on the season and 1-4 in conference play.
On Sunday, Brandeis got off to a slow start against No. 9 WashU. The visitors hit a 3-pointer to open the game and quickly mounted a 21-11 lead against the Judges. Brandeis trailed by 28 points after the first period, 42-14.
With about 7 minutes to go in the second half, the Judges found themselves down by 37 points, but they kept fighting to the very end. The team went on a short run on scores by forward Amber Strodthoff '11, guard Julia Scanlon '14 and guard Janelle Rodriguez '14, to crawl back to within 31 points of WashU, but could not get much closer as they lost by 30.
This was also the Judges' third-straight game with no scorer in double digits. Scanlon led the team with 9 points in the effort. Rodriguez came off the bench to snag two rebounds, get two steals and score 4 points.
Against No. 16 Chicago last Friday night, the women were crushed by a score of 71-38. The visitors scored the first basket of the game and never ceded the lead.
Down 9-1, Brandeis attempted to claw its way back into it as Strodthoff hit a jumper and guard Shakara Scott '13 laid the ball in for another 2 points, bringing Brandeis back within 4 points. However, Chicago then scored 6 unanswered points and quickly ran away with the game. By the end of the first period, Chicago led by an insurmountable 29 points.
"We had a lot of offensive struggles," Strodthoff said. "We were having a hard time getting good shots off and getting second opportunities. We really just didn't take control or handle our game very well in the first half at our end of the court," she added.
In the second half, Brandeis played much stronger basketball and was able to better keep pace with Chicago but was never able to get back into the game.
"In our locker room, we told each other, 'it's time to go to war,' and that it was time to play your hardest and try to make sure that, win or lose, we leave that court giving it everything we've got," Strodthoff said. "We tried to amp up the energy. We took a few more risks. . I don't know if [our play] was necessarily as successful as we wanted it to be, but it definitely improved over the two halves."
The Maroons built their lead up to 35 points, but Brandeis was able to cut this figure down to 31 after guard Kasey Dean '14 nailed a shot and Scanlon added two foul shots after being fouled by Chicago junior forward Karly Kasper. The Chicago lead fluttered around the 31-point deficit mark for the rest of the game, and Chicago finished the game up 33.
The Judges' effort was spearheaded by Strodthoff, who led the team with 8 points and guard Mia Depalo '11, who came away with a team-high five rebounds.
Brandeis' bench outscored Chicago's 23 to 15 during the game. Scanlon had 7 points off the bench in 12 minutes of action. Another bench standout was Scott, who hauled in four rebounds and scored 4 points in 19 minutes of play.
The women host two more UAA games this weekend. They face the Emory University Eagles, who are 8-8 overall and 1-4 in UAA play, this Friday at 6 p.m, and will take on the 13-3 University of Rochester YellowJackets on Sunday at 2 p.m.