BOSTON, Mass. (info taken from a UMass Boston release) -- The Brandeis University women's basketball team dropped its final non-conference game tonight, suffering a 69-65 setback at UMass Boston. The Judges finish the non-league slate with an 8-3 record headed into Saturday afternoon's University Athletic Association opener against No. 8 NYU. The Beacons improve to 7-4 on the campaign.
The Judges had three players score in double figures, paced by sophomore guard Frankie Pinto (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente), who scored 18 points, 13 in the second half. She hit 6-of-10 overall and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. Senior captain Hannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) added 16 points and three assists, while sophomore Sydney Sodine (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) just missed a double-double with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
UMass Boston got a career-high 26 points from Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.), including five 3-pointers, and six assists. They also saw Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) score five of her 13 points in the final minute from Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.).
Burston and Geary teamed up for the most important play of the game, as the freshman fed Burston with under 10 seconds on the shot clock and Burston drained a go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Beacons a 66-64 lead with 39 seconds remaining. She later added two free throws with two seconds remaining to ice a game in which Brandeis led or was tied for all but a minute and 48 seconds. The Beacons managed to stick with the Judges by forcing 22 Brandeis turnovers.
Geary was joined in double-figures by Burston, Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) and Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.). Murphy overcame a slow start to finish with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Morrion added 11 points and a game-high three blocks.
The Judges held control of the contest from the opening tip but struggled to put away the Beacons. After opening up the game on a 10-5 run behind back-to-back 3-pointers from Niki Laskaris (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) and Cain, the Beacons cut it to 10-8 on the first of Geary's four, first-half threes.
Brandeis would push the lead out to 25-15 with 6:42 to play in the first half, but the Beacons closed out the half on a 15-5 run. Murphy knocked down back-to-back baskets, before Geary scored 10 of the Beacons' final 11 points of the half. With the Beacons trailing 30-20 with two minutes to play, Geary knocked down three-straight threes, including one from NBA distance, to knot the game at 30-30 heading into the break.
UMass Boston carried their momentum into the second half, as the Beacons took their first lead of the game (35-34) two minutes into the half, behind another Geary 3-pointer and a Morrison layup.
The Judges weren't to be deterred so easily though, as they responded back shortly afterwards with a 10-0 run. Pinto knocked down back-to-back threes and Sodine and Olivia Shaw (Saco, Maine/Thornton Acad.) hit layups to make it 44-37 in favor of the visitors with 14:59 to play.
A 12-5 run five minutes later seemingly put the game out of hand, as Brandeis leaped out to a 60-48 lead with just 7:31 remaining.
That's when the Beacons began their 21-9 run to close out the game.
Morrison sparked an 8-0 run with a pair of baskets and Murphy and Geary followed with layups to cut the deficit to 61-58 with 3:18 to play. The two teams would trade free throws, before Morrison knocked down a layup to make it 64-62 in favor of Brandeis with 2:14 left.
After Geary made one of two free throws, sophomore guard Mallory Nelson (Topsham, Maine) came up with a huge block on Pinto to keep the game within one.
On the ensuing possession, UMass Boston had to inbound the ball from underneath the Brandeis basket. Nelson's pass to Geary was deflected into the backcourt and the freshman had to dash after it to keep it away from Paris Hodges (Southampton, N.Y./Southampton); the freshman just barely won the foot race and brought it across half-court with 12 seconds left on the shot clock. After a couple dribbles to her right, she dished it off to Burston who drained her third 3-pointer of the night to give UMass Boston just their third lead of the game at 66-64 with 39 seconds to play.
Sodine forced a Beacons' foul on the next possession, but she only hit one of two to cut the deficit to 66-65. From there, Geary knocked down another free throw and Burston hit both free throws after Brandeis' 22nd turnover of the game, to give the Beacons the win.
After a very slow start shooting the ball, UMass Boston finished the day shooting 38.1 percent (24-of-63) from the field and 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from distance. Brandeis knocked down 41.5 percent (22-of-53) of their field goal attempts and 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) of their 3-point attempts.
Brandeis also owned a 41-31 edge in rebounds, but the Beacons made up for the deficits by turning the ball over just 11 times and earning a 24-16 advantage in points in the paint.