WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis women's basketball team struggled offensively today as the Judges dropped a 53-39 contest to Emory University in a University Athletic Association showdown in Red Auerbach Arena. The Judges fall to 9-6 overall, 1-4 in the UAA, while the Eagles improve to 10-6, 4-1 UAA.
After a tight first period that saw Emory take a 13-11 lead, the visitors pulled away in the second. The Eagles outscored Brandeis, 18-7, as they shot 8-of-16 from the field (50%) while holding the Judges to just 3-of-15 (20%). Emory junior guard Azzairia Jackson-Sherrod (New Hope, Minn. / Benilde-St. Margaret's) outscored the entire Brandeis roster in the period with eight points as the visitors took a 31-18 lead into halftime.
As they did on Friday evening, Brandeis looked to turn the tables on their opponents in the third quarter. The Judges outscored Emory in the third, 14-9, as they climbed within six points on a Katie Goncalo (Fall River, Mass./Tabor Academy) 3-pointer with 2:52 left that made it 37-31. They inched even closer on Hannah Nicholson's (Sunderland, Vt./Burr and Burton Acad.) free throw with 1:13 on the clock, but the Eagles got a momentum-shifting 3-pointer at the buzzer from sophomore Lindsey Tse (Calabasas, Calif. / Harvard-Westlake) that made it 40-32.
Brandeis sophomore Lauren Rubinstein (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) opened the fourth with a trifecta that got Brandeis back within five, but that would be the only field goal the Judges hit over the final 10 minutes, as Emory held them to 1-for-17 from the field. The Judges didn't let the visitors pull away, holding them to just 3-of-11 from the floor, but Emory connected on 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to keep Brandeis at bay.
The Judges were held to season lows in scoring with 39 points, and in shooting at 25.5% (14-55). Senior Eva Hart (Manasquan, N.J./Manasquan) led the Judges offensively with 10 points, including two 3-pointers in the first quarter. She also had eight rebounds, two short of her career best. Nicholson finished with a fine all-around performance with eight points, and team-highs of nine rebounds and three assists. The Judges won the battle of the boards, 39-36, including 17-10 on the offensive glass.
Emory was paced by Jackson-Sherrod, who led all players with 22 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the field. She also had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. The only other player in double-digit scoring was sophomore Alison Chernow (Dresher, Pa. / Upper Dublin) who had 13 points off the bench. Junior center Ashley Oldshue (Glenview, Ill. / Glenbrook South) had a game-high 14 rebounds and five blocked shots, while Tse led all players with nine assists.
Brandeis continues its four-game UAA homestand next Friday night at 6 p.m. against Case Western Reserve University, while Emory meets the University of Chicago at the same time.