CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Brandeis University women's basketball team used a balanced attack, with six players scoring between seven and 12 points, and one of their best 3-point shooting games of the season, to come away with a 61-58 University Athletic Association victory over Case Western Reserve University today on the road. With the win, the Judges improve to 7-13 overall, 2-9 in the UAA, while the Spartans fall to 7-15, 2-9 UAA.
The Judges were led in scoring by first-year forward Caitlin Gresko (Howell, N.J./Howell), who netted 12 points on 5-of-10 overall, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Juniors Emma Reavis (Miami, Okla./Deerfield, Mass., Acad.) and Francesca Marchese (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island) each scored nine points, and classmate Tathiana Pierre (Jericho, N.Y. / Sacred Heart Academy) and senior Camila Casanueva (Santa Barbara, Calif./Dos Pueblos) both had eight. Senior Kerry Tanke (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) finished with seven points.
Reavis nearly had a triple-double, as she finished with game- and career-highs of nine rebounds and nine assists. Her assist total was one short of the entire CWRU roster. Marchese scored all of her points on three 3-pointers, as the Judges connected from beyond the arc 10 times in the game, two shy of their season-best. In hitting 10-of-23 from downtown (43.5%), they had their second-best shooting day from long range.
CWRU was paced by Isabella Mills, who scored a game-high 17 points, connecting on 6-of-14 overall, 3-of-10 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-4 from the line. She was backed up by forward Preet Gill, who scored 15 points off the bench. She hit 5-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the line. Sarah Mitchell led the Spartans with seven rebounds, as Case had a 40-35 edge on the glass, while Nyah Moore had three assists off the bench.
In a contest that featured four ties and six lead changes, the key run for the Judges came in the third period. Trailing 31-28 at the break, Casanueva hit a 3-pointer to open the stanza and tie the game up. The Spartans answered and went back ahead by three on a jumper by Margaret Terry with 7:54 to go. Marchese responded with a trifecta, sparking a 9-0 run that put the Judges ahead for good. Case climbed to within one on a Mills lay-up with 4:39 in the period that made it 41-40, but Gresko connected from long range on the other end to push it back to a two-possession game. That trifecta kicked off 11 unanswered points, capped by another Marchese 3-pointer that made it 52-40 with 1:41 to go in the third. Case got within three points a few times the rest of the way, but Brandeis was able to stem the tied.
The Judges will return to action on Friday, February 18th, with a 7:30 p.m. contest against the University of Chicago.