WALTHAM, Mass.- In a non-conference game between the Brandeis University women's basketball team and the UMass-Dartmouth Corsairs, the Judges fell 71-60. The Corsairs improve to 4-3 on the season while Brandeis goes to 2-4.
In the first half, cold shooting put the Judges in a hole as they missed 11 of their first 12 shots from the field while falling behind 15-2. Brandeis would trail by as many as 17 points before rallying back. Down 27-10 with just under eight minutes to play in the first period, the Judges embarked on a 15-4 run over the next seven minutes. The scoring spurt began with a jumper from rookie Frankie Pinto (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) at the 7:12 mark and ended on a layup by senior forward Nicolina Vitale (Clinton Township, Mich./Chippewa Valley) to cut the UMass lead to 31-25 with 41 seconds remaining in the half. The Corsairs scored five of the final six points in the period to extend their advantage back into double-digits at 36-26 going into the break.
In the second half, Brandeis struggled to make a dent in UMass' lead. The Corsairs claimed their largest lead of the contest following an offensive foul and technical on senior guard Kasey Dean (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) and then a technical on the Judges bench that gave UMass rookie guard Brianna Hochwarter (Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) four consecutive free throws. Hochwarter drained all four to give the Corsairs a 66-48 advantage with 3:02 left in the game. Brandeis made on final run at victory as Pinto and sophomore guard Samantha Mancinelli (Durham, Conn./Coginchaug Regional) each netted five points as two free throws from Pinto made it 70-60 with 15 seconds remaining.
The Judges were led by senior guard Janelle Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans) who had 13 points while Vitale contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Dean added seven points and nine boards and Mancinelli and Pinto each contributed seven points off the bench. Dean led the squad with three assists while Rodriguez had a game-high five steals.
UMass was led by junior guard Kelsey Garrity (Somerville, Mass./Somerville) who poured in 21 points and added a game-high five assists. Rookie forward Megan Ronaghan (No. Attleboro, Mass./No. Attleboro) chipped in 15 points and seven boards while rookie guard Ashley Brown (Fairhaven, Mass./Fairhaven) added 14 more points. Junior guard Erin Fahey (Salem, Mass./St. Mary's (Lynn)) led the squad with 10 rebounds.
Brandeis travels to Johnson & Wales on Saturday December 7th for their next game at 1:00 p.m. The Corsairs go to Plymouth State on Saturday December 7th with a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.