ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Brandeis women's basketball team trailed 15-6 after the first quarter and the Judges were unable to recover as they dropped a 70-54 decision at host Washington University today in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest. With the loss, the Judges fall to 10-5 overall, 2-3 in the UAA. The Bears ranked 12^th in Division III, improve to 13-2, 3-2 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Brandeis took a brief 4-2 lead after senior Sydney Sodine (New York, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) hit a lay-up and two free throws.
• The Judges hit only one more bucket in the first period, shooting 2-of-12. Though they held the Bears to 3-of-10 in the stanza, WashU scored nine points from the line to take their 15-6 lead.
• In the second period, both offenses heated up, though the Bears hit 53% (9-of-17) with four 3-pointers, compared to 47% (7-for-15) with just one trifecta as the hosts outscored Brandeis, 25-15 to take a 40-21 lead into the locker room.
• WashU led by as many as 24 points at 48-24 early in the third quarter and were still ahead, 54-34, after 30 minutes of play.
• The Brandeis offense sparked in the fourth period, hitting 7-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and forcing four WashU turnovers, to creep within 11 points with 2:56 on the clock on a Paris Hodges (Southampton, N.Y./Southampton) lay-up.
• WashU called timeout after that and went on to score the next eight points to snuff out the Judges' rally.

FOR BRANDEIS

• Rookie Katie Goncalo (Fall River, Mass./Tabor Acad.) made the most of her seven minutes by scoring 10 points – including eight in the fourth quarter.
• Goncalo hit 4-of-5 from the floor including both of her 3-point attempts.
• Sodine and Hodges both scored eight points each.
• Hodges, senior Maria Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) and rookie Hannah Nicholson (Sunderland, Vt. / Burr and Burton Acad.) each grabbed five rebounds.

FOR WASHINGTON U.

• Madeline Homoly scored 19 points in 22 minutes off the bench for the home team, hitting 8-of-15 from the field and 3-of-6 from the line.
• Natalie Orr added 18 with 6-of-11 overall, 2-of-4 from deep and 4-of-4 from the line.
• Lily Sarros just missed a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds and nine points.
• Becca Clark-Callender led all players with five assists.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (FULL BOX HERE: http://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/wbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20170122_wqzt.xml?view=boxscore)

• WashU outshot Brandeis, 51 percent (25-49) to 39% (21-54) for the game.
• The Bears controlled the boards, 35-29, and outscored the Judges, 15-8, from the line.
• Although the turnover battle was even at 14-14, WashU turned their takeaways into 16 points compared to just eight for Brandeis.

UP NEXT

• The Judges continue their four-game UAA road trip next weekend at Emory (Friday night at 6 p.m.) and Rochester (Sunday afternoon at 1:00).