WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University women's basketball junior Camila Casanueva of Santa Barbara, California, has earned All-University Athletic Association second-team honors for the second year in a row, while senior Hannah Nicholson of Sunderland, Vermont, was an All-UAA honorable mention.
Casanueva, who was the league's Rookie of the Year in 2018, led Brandeis in scoring and was seventh in the UAA, averaging 12.8 points per game. She also topped the squad and was second in the UAA and 62nd in Division III in assists at 4.3 per game, while her 6.1 rebounds per game were second on the team and 11th in the conference. Casanueva also finished third on the team in steals with 21 and second in blocks with 18. She placed second in the conference, fifth in all of Division III and set a Brandeis single-season record for free-throw percentage, hitting 90 percent from the line (72-80). Her 42 3-pointers were second on the team, 11th in the UAA and marked just the 10th single season of 40 more at Brandeis, including her school-record 47 trifectas as a sophomore.
Casanueva led the team in scoring 11 times and had 16 double-digit scoring games with three 20-point contests, including a career-high 32 in a narrow loss to 2nd-rankedTufts on November 23rd. She also put together two double-doubles in UAA play, with 13 points and a career-high 10 assists against Case Western Reserve on January 31, and 14 points and 10 rebounds at Rochester on February 14. Casanueva will enter her senior season with 868 career points, 17th on the Judges' career list, while her 119 3-pointers rank fourth all-time. She is also seventh in career assists (253).
Nicholson was Brandeis's second-leading scorer at 11.4 points per game, while her 9.1 rebounds per game led the UAA. She also led the conference with 10 double-doubles, 85th in Division III, and was second in the UAA in field-goal percentage at 53.1% (111-209), the fifth-best single season in program history. She was sixth in the UAA in free-throw percentage (84.7%, 61-72) and eighth in blocked shots (21).
Nicholson led the Judges in scoring in 11 games and in rebounding 16 times. She had 16 double-digit scoring games, including a 20-point performance against Johnson and Wales on Dec. 7, and 13 double-digit rebound contests, tying her career-high with 16 boards in an overtime win over Babson, December 3. Five of her 10 double-doubles came in UAA contests, including a 10-point, 12-rebound performance at Washington University on January 24 that led to only the third-ever Judges' win in St. Louis. Nicholson will graduate with 711 career points and 642 rebounds, good for fifth all-time. She will graduate as one of only two players to shoot at least 50 percent from the field for her career, finishing exactly at 50% (284-568), while her 74.7% free-throw shooting will rank ninth and 41 blocked shots are tied for 11th.
In head coach Carol Simon's 33rd season, the Judges finished their campaign with a 13-12 record, their first winning season since 2014-15. The Judges were 3-11 in the UAA, tied for seventh. They led all of NCAA Division III in free-throw shooting, hitting 78.2% from the field as a team. The Judges will return three starters next season, losing only Nicholson and guard Lauren Rubinstein of Southbury, Connecticut.
Casanueva is a 2017 graduate of Dos Pueblos High School.
Nicholson is a 2016 graduate of Burr and Burton Academy.
For more information on Brandeis women's basketball, visit the team's web page at http://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/wbkb.
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