BOSTON, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's basketball team used a balanced attack to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2009-10 tonight as the Judges defeated Emerson College, 75-53, in their first road game of the campaign. The Lions fall to 1-4 with the loss.
Brandeis led nearly wire-to-wire, placing four scorers in double digits. Leading the way was junior forward Kerry Tanke (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan), who tied her career-high with 15 points in just 18 minutes of action. She hit 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-5 from the line. Sophomore Christina Bacon (Scituate, R.I. / LaSalle Academy) came off the bench to score 12 points, doubling her total from her previous two games, on 4-of-6 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. First-year forward Caitlin Gresko (Howell, N.J. / Howell) and junior guard Emma Reavis (Miami, Okla./Deerfield Academy) each scored 11 points. Reavis also led the Judges with six rebounds, one shy of her career-best.
Senior guard Camila Casanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos) led the team with four assists, moving into sixth place on the team's career list. She also hit two 3-pointers in the early going, giving her 131 for her career, moving into sole possession of third place on the Judges' all-time list.
Brandeis won the turnover battle with Emerson, 18-9, turning that advantage into a 23-12 edge in points off turnovers. The Judges also outscored the Lions, 21-6, from the free-throw line.
Emerson's Chelsea Gibbons led the home team with 13 points, while Devin Hill had nine off the bench. Hill also led the Lions with seven rebounds, while no Emerson player had more than two assists.
The Judges only trailed briefly and early in this game, as Emerson's Chelsea Gibbons hit a 3-pointer after Tanke opened the game with a layup. The Judges scored the game's next seven points and never looked back. They hit 53 percent (8-15) from the field, including 75 percent from 3-point range (3-4), as Casanueva scored all six of her points for the game in the first period on two trifectas. Brandeis led 22-13 after one quarter and pushed the lead to 44-27 at halftime thanks to a 10-for-11 performance from the line in the second. Tanke helped the team pull away even further in the third, nearly outscoring the Lions on her own with nine points to the opponents' 11. The Judges' led by as many as 25 points in the fourth en route to the 22 point victory.
The Judges will put their four-game winning streak on the line on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they take on seventh-ranked Tufts University in their second-straight road game.