“Playing with joy and playing to win:" these are the goals of senior captain of the Brandeis University women’s basketball team Lulu Ohm ’25 as she heads into her final year playing collegiate basketball. 

Ohm has certainly made the case for her vision. A spirited and competitive Brandeis team began their 2024-25 season with a rousing 74-58 victory versus Framingham State University on Nov. 8. 

Ohm was the star of the night, putting up 37 points to break the old school record of 36, which was set by current Brandeis Director of Athletics Jessica Chapin ’10. Her record-breaking point-scoring mark also included going 7-8 in 3-point range.

Opening the season at home with a win and a school record is Ohm’s proudest moment at Brandeis. Reflecting on this success, she said that she “finally felt like a lot of [her] work has paid off.” Waltham has been lucky enough to witness Ohm’s hard work over the years — she began her 17 years playing basketball in the city’s local youth programs and graduated from Waltham High School in 2021. 

Ohm enjoys being homegrown and she says that with more playing time this year, “more people from Waltham, … a lot of friends from high school, their families and old teachers” have come to her games.

As a senior who, in self-deprecating fashion, recalls always scoring “on the lower side,” Ohm said that she’s “not usually [the] type of person who's going to drop that many points.” It was “kind of crazy,” she admits. “My mom was like, ‘What? What? What happened?’”  

In a Nov. 18 interview with The Justice, Ohm spoke about the positive difference that bringing in new coaching staff has made for her and her teammates. As a part of the selection committee, Ohm appreciated being able to use her voice alongside fellow teammate Brooke Reed ’24 as they navigated the process of replacing former head coach Carol Simon. 

“It was a very unique experience and [it was] really interesting to see the hiring process and stuff like that,” Ohm remembered. “And, you know, I'm reading people's resumes and cover letters, and I'm like, ‘I'm also doing my resume and cover letter!’”

All in all, Ohm and her teammates are looking ahead to new success instead of back on a painful past few seasons. Ohm has observed that the atmosphere on the team this season is “definitely way more positive than it has been … with the news around our team and the whole coaching change and stuff like that.” 

She said that coaching turnover is “definitely a big change,” as the “new coaching staff come[s] in and basically disrupt[s] everything that we've been taught.” Ohm added that this is a good thing and that even with “a lot of adjusting, a lot of figuring out the new coach, … it's been very positive.” The team is “working harder than ever before,” she affirmed. 

Ohm praised new Head Coach Julie Prichett,“she’s awesome”, as well as new Assistant Coach Jessica Nichols-LaRosa and Assistant Coach Jill Lantanowich, who served as the interim head coach last season. 

“Julie’s very passionate,” Ohm said. “She’s very intense, … [which is] so good, because you know that your coach cares so much.” In Ohm’s assessment, Prichett has the passion that “has been lacking in years past.” 

The team benefits from having somebody at the helm who “really wants to win and is definitely doing everything she can” to lead their team to a winning record, Ohm stated. “She wants to change the program.”

After turmoil with coaching staff took the focus away from individuals and any positive success that the team has had the past few years, Ohm said that during the selection process she was looking for a coach that was committed to the team long-term and who had experience winning. Going forward and looking to build momentum, she also wants the story surrounding the University’s women’s basketball team to be more positive. 

Ohm remembered that when coming into the job this summer, Prichett asked her players how they would prefer to deal with the situation and what they needed from her in terms of support. Prichett was willing to listen and help the team process, but also offered an opportunity to “not necessarily forget about it, but move on.” Ohm said that the team responded “unanimously… we want to play basketball again.”

She knows that as a senior, “it’s crazy that [her career at Brandeis] is … coming to an end.” Ohm said that this year she wants to “just treat every single day as one of [her] last days playing basketball … and just play with as much joy as [she] can” and “as much confidence as [she] can” too, she added. Her confidence has improved this past fall, partly thanks to her participation in a men’s league in her free time. It is “mostly … 40 year olds and up,” Ohm laughed. 

“But I joined their league… and they gave me a ton of confidence in how I'm shooting and stuff like that,” she said. “I think that's why I’ve been shooting really well, because I played against those guys.” They have encouraged her to drive through the hoop more, which isn’t usually her game. Against Framingham, Ohm’s new courage to drive and make daring plays definitely shone through. 

Having fun and connecting the dots — wisened by her experience — Ohm steadies what has been a rocky four years. Important to supporting her team is prioritizing “positive reinforcement,” and treating teammates like her second family, Ohm said. She knows that basketball “is such a sport where people can have good games and bad games and you can have a good play and then turn the ball over. It's just so fast.” Ohm also noted that establishing “constant communication and constant reinforcement” is crucial to keeping their heads up.

Ohm’s favorite thing about her sport is how team-oriented it is. She believes that “you cannot win a basketball game with one person scoring a lot of points.” Celebrating individual successes are always part of the story, but in Ohm’s words, “it has to be a team effort every single game no matter what.”

The Judges are throwing themselves into the opportunity for hope and hard work that a new season and a new coach offers as they look to improve from last year's 5-20 record. And despite suffering a 61-67 loss against Tufts University in their most recent game on Nov. 16, the Judges can celebrate their Nov. 13 game at the University of Massachusetts Boston as their best defensive outing since 2016. Currently sitting at 2-2, Ohm and the Brandeis women’s basketball team aim to improve their record against the Rivier College Raiders tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 19, at home.