Worcester, MA (courtesy WPI sports information) ---
Jessica Chapin (Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima)
and Kasey Gieschen (Boonton Township,
N.J./Mountain Lakes) each tallied 12 points to lift
nationally-ranked Brandeis to a 66-32 victory over host WPI in
non-conference women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon.
The contest was the season opener for both squads.
The Judges, ranked ninth in the D3hoops.com preseason Top 25, used
an 15-0 run to jump to a 19 point advantage (25-6) midway through
the opening stanza. The Engineers battled back and sliced the
advantage to seven at 31-24 before Diana Cincotta
(Plymouth, Mass./West Boylston) drained a 3-pointer with 12 seconds
left in the half to give the visitors a ten point halftime
cushion.
In the second half, an already stingy Brandeis defense stiffened, holding WPI without a field goal for a 14:41 span, highlighting a 23-2 spurt. For the game, the Judges limited the Engineers to 24.5% shooting from the floor and just 13.3% from 3-point land.
Cincotta netted all 11 of her points in the first half while Morgan Kendrew (Cotuit, Mass./Barnstable) totaled 10. The duo sparked a Brandeis effort off the bench that saw the Judges reserves outscore their WPI counterparts by a 38-5 margin. Gieschen, who recorded career highs in scoring and rebounding, led all players with eight caroms, while Chapin swiped a game-best four steals.
Elle Fontaine (Franklin, MA) paced the WPI attack with a
game-high 13 points, including both of the Crimson and Gray's
3-pointers. Melissa Kuhn (Stoughton, MA) filled the stat
sheet with six points, four rebounds, three assists and a
steal. Charlotte McDonnell (Swansea, MA) joined Fontaine and
Kuhn with a team-high four
rebounds.
WPI is off until Friday at 5:30pm when they take on Nichols in the
opening round of the Worcester City Tournament. The matchup
will be a rematch of last season's ECAC championship game won by
WPI. Brandeis will conclude a brief two-game season-opening
road trip on Tuesday with a 7pm contest at Babson.