ATLANTA, Ga. – The Brandeis University women's basketball team struggled from the field today as the Judges shot just 33% (17-52), while their opponents, Emory University, connected on 46% (22-48) as the Eagles led wire-to-wire in a 64-48 victory. With the loss, Brandeis sees a three-game University Athletic Association road winning streak snapped as the Judges fall to 12-10 overall, 5-6 in the UAA. Emory improves to 13-9, 4-7 UAA.
Brandeis started the game cold, missing 10 of their first 11 shots of the game and just 3-of-18 overall in the first period (17%). The Judges held EU to just 23% (3-13) and hit all four of their free throws as Brandeis trailed by two, 12-10, after the first.
Judge junior Paris Hodges (Southampton, N.Y./Southampton) scored the first bucket of the second period and was fouled in the act, but she was unable to convert the free throw, leaving the game tied at 12-all. Emory seniors Ilene Tsao and Khadijah Sayyid – playing in their final home games – answered with back-to-back 3-pointers, pushing the home team's cushion back to six.
The Eagles led by as many as eight in the period, but both teams struggled to score in the final three minutes. Brandeis junior Maria Jackson's (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) hoop at the 1:23 mark the only points scored in the last stretch as the Judges trailed, 28-22, at the break.
In the third quarter, the lead fluctuated between six and 11 points, with a flurry of late 3-pointers creating some wild momentum shifts. Sayyid connected from beyond the arc with 1:41 to go to give the hosts their biggest lead to that point, 41-30. Brandeis senior Niki Laskaris (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) answered from downtown. After two EU foul shots, Laskaris did it again, getting the visitors within 43-36 with 53 seconds to go in the period. The Judges forced a turnover, but couldn't make Emory pay, and the Eagles answered with another trifecta from Sayyid, giving EU a 10-point lead, 46-36, after 3.
EU pulled away early in the fourth with a 14-3 run over the first 4:47. The Eagles hit their first six shots, including back-to-back 3-pointers by Fran Sweeney that made it a 60-39 lead with 5:13 on the clock, the largest lead of the game. The closest the Judges would get the rest of the way would be 15 points as the Eagles shot 67% (8-12) in the final 10 minutes to put the game away.
Brandeis had two players score in double figures, as Jackson tallied 11 points and junior Sydney Sodine (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) had 10, eight coming in the first half. Sodine and junior guard Frankie Pinto (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) tied for team-high honors with six rebounds each.
For Emory, Sayyid scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the second half. Sweeney added 10 points, while Dumebi Egbuna had 12 off the bench. Sayyid and Tsao tied for game-high honors with six rebounds each, while Tsao also had seven assists.
The turnover battle in the game was even, with both teams committing 15 miscues, but Emory was more efficient with theirs, outscoring Brandeis, 18-10, in points off TOs. The Eagles also had an 8-2 edge in second-chance points even though the Judges owned an 11-8 edge in offensive rebounds.
Brandeis returns to action next Friday evening against 10th-ranked Washington University at 6 p.m. in a WBCA Play4Kay game to raise cancer awareness. That contest will kick off a three-game home stand to end the season. Emory will be at Carnegie Mellon at the same time.