WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis University women's basketball team had three players in double digits to lead the Judges past Emory, 67-57, in a University Athletic Association contest. Brandeis is now on a three-game winning streak and are currently 16-6 overall and 6-6 in the UAA, while Emory falls to 12-11 and 3-9 in the conference.
Junior guard Jessica Chapin (Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) led the Judges with 15 points on 5-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-6 from 3-point range. Chapin also had eight rebounds, a game-high five assists, one block and a game-high five steals. Rookie guard Morgan Kendrew (Cotuit, Mass./Barnstable) put up 12 points, seven coming in the second half, while grabbing four rebounds. Kendrew was perfect from the free-throw line connecting on 5-of-5. Sophomore point guard Diana Cincotta (W. Boylston, Mass./ W. Boylston) added 10 points on 3-of-10 from the field and 3-of-4 from the stripe. A key and the difference in the game were turnovers. Brandeis scored 23 points off of 20 Emory turnovers while Emory only produced seven points off of 16 Brandeis turnovers.
Emory got a game-high 17 points from two of their players. Senior forward Lora Turner (Florence, Ala./ Mars Hill Bible School) had a double-double with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. She shot 6-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-9 from the line. Her counterpart was junior guard LeShonda Lillard (Bloomington, Ind./ South Mercer) who went 6-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-7 from behind the arc. Lillard had a game-high five assists to add to her 17 points. Senior guard Jenny Kraus (Ann Arbor, Mich./Ann Arbor Pioneer) added in nine points on 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
Brandeis scored the first nine points of the game and seven minutes in had a 12-2 lead that Emory could not overcome. Kendrew hit a 3-pointer at the 17:40 mark and Chapin finished on a breakaway for a bucket and a foul, which she converted to make a three-point play. Emory did not let the game get out of hand as they slowly crept back into the contest. They got a big 3-pointer out of Lillard to get within eight of the Judges, 20-12. In the final moments of the first half, Chapin hit one of her three 3-pointers to put Brandeis up, 26-19, with 40 seconds left in the half. Emory answered in their last trip down the floor. They got an important offensive rebound by Keenan Whitesides (Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover) which they turned into a last-second layup to go into the half down, 26-21. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Emory went on a 16-8 run.
Emory came out of the break looking to force turnovers and up the intensity by putting a great deal of pressure in the Judges' backcourt. They forced four Brandeis turnovers in the first three and a half minutes but could not get any points off of them. Chapin would hit another 3-pointer at the 17:28 mark before Emory made an impressive charge. In the next seven minutes, Emory went on a 16-9 run to pull them within two points, 40-38. Brandeis would yet again be resilient as rookie Kelly Ethier (Springfield, Mass./ Minnechaug Regional) converted on a layup attempt and pushed the lead back to 46-39 with nine minutes to play. Emory would fight back yet again and bring the score to 49-47, on a Turner layup with 5:03 left to go in the game. With only 2:14 left in the game, Cincotta stepped up and hit a 3-pointer to put the Judges up six, 59-53. Brandeis would not look back as they finished off the contest by hitting eight out of their last 10 free-throws to take a 67-57 victory.
Brandeis will look for a fourth consecutive win over Case Western on Sunday February 22, at 2:00 p.m. in their regular season home finale.