WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis women's basketball team got one milestone performance and one career-high, but it wasn't enough to stop a strong fourth quarter from rival New York University as the Violets took a 76-68 victory from the Judges in the University Athletic Association opener for both teams. The Judges fall to 5-5, 0-1 in the UAA, while the Violets, ranked 5th in Division III by the WBCA and 15th by D3hoops.com, improve to 10-0, 1-0 UAA.
One of the highlights of the game for Brandeis came with 6:35 remaining on the contest when senior guard Camila Casanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos) hit a driving lay-up to become the 10th 1,000-point scorer in Judge women's basketball history. Casanueva finished with 12 points on the afternoon, six in the fourth quarter, pushing her career total to 1,004 points. She is the first Brandeis player to reach the milestone since 2010, when Jessica Chapin '10 did so. Casanueva also had six rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Senior forward Kerry Tanke (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) also had a fine performance, scoring a game- and career-high 20 points. Tanke hit 7-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from the line. She also led the Judges with eight rebounds (three offensive). Junior Emma Reavis (Miami, Okla./Deerfield (Mass.) Academy added 13 points and six rebounds.
NYU placed four starters in double figures, led by Erica Miller's 17, 16 of which came in the first half. Belle Pellecchia added 14 points, while Jordan Janowski had 13 and Jenny Walker had 12. Walker led all players with nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Janowski topped the Violets with five assists.
NYU owned a 23-19 lead after the first quarter, thanks to 53% shooting from the field (9-17) while holding Brandeis to 39% (8-21). Brandeis scored the first eight points of the second quarter and maintained their lead until the half, taking a 42-41 edge into the locker room. Tanke scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half, seven in each period, while Miller had 16 for NYU.
Brandeis would take their largest lead in the third quarter, going up 52-45 on a Casanueva 3-pointer at the 5:10 mark. It was still a seven-point game after a Tanke lay-up with 1:20 remaining in the third, but NYU scored the last four points of the quarter from Natalie Bruns and Walker to cut the lead to 56-53 after three. The Violets extended the run into the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of 12 points to take the lead on a Janowski lay-up. Casanueva answered with her milestone bucket, but NYU went on another 10-2 run, going ahead by a 69-62 score on two Janowski free throws with 3:34 remaining. Though Casanueva scored another bucket on the next possession, it did not slow down the visitors, who scored an 8-0 run to close things out before two late Brandeis buckets. The Violets outshot Brandeis, 50% (8-16) to 36% (5-14) in the final 10 minutes, while also outscoring them 7-2 from the line and forcing seven turnovers without committing any.
Brandeis returns to action next Friday evening, January 14th, at 5:30 p.m. against Carnegie Mellon. Spectators will not be permitted, but the game will be streamed at www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/wbkb/streaming
