Brandeis Women's basketball falls to #7 Washington University in St. Louis 69-42

Sam Anderson '13 (Photo by sportspix)
Sam Anderson '13 (Photo by sportspix)

ST. LOUIS, Mo.- The Brandeis Women's basketball team fell to the 7th ranked Washington University in St. Louis Bears 69-42. The Judges hung on through the first half after shooting 40.7% from the field, going into the break down by just seven at 33-26. Unfortunately, Brandeis shooting went cold in the second half to the tune of just 28.6% from the field and just two field goals over the final 12 minutes of the game. Brandeis falls to 7-8 on the year and remains winless in the University Athletic Association at 0-4 while the Bears improved to 13-2 (3-1 UAA).

Samantha Anderson (Johnsonville, N.Y./ Hoosic Valley) led the Judges with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and 2-of-4 from the line. Classmate Courtney Ness (Norwich, Vt./ Hanover (N.H.)) contributed nine points off the bench as the team's second leading scorer. Despite outshooting the Washington University in the first half, Brandeis was just 3-of-8 from the charity stripe while the Bears went to the line 20 times and converted 12. Still, the Judges went into the locker room down just seven and in a competitive contest.

The second half was a different story with the Judges shooting just 6-of-21 overall from the field, 0-of-4 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-10 from the line. Meanwhile, the Bears came alive shooting 10-of-24 from the field including a terrific 5-of-7 from three-point range and 11-of-14 from the free throw line. Brandeis was also held to just two field goals in the final 12 minutes after pulling to within eight at 42-34 with 10:08 left in the game on a pair of free throws from Anderson.

Anderson led the Judges with five rebounds while rookie Hannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./ Gloucester)  was second on the team with four. Senior Kelly Ethier (Springfield, Mass./ Minnechaug Regional) led the team with four assists. Brandeis' demise came in the form of 17 turnovers to just 11 assists, a 1-9 performance from behind the arc, and just 7-18 from the line while the Bears went 23-34. Still, the Judges hung with the 7th ranked team in the nation for three quarters of the game. Brandeis travels to the University of Chicago for a UAA matchup on January 22nd while Washington University stays at home for a UAA contest with NYU on January 22nd.