WALTHAM, Mass. - With wins over two other nationally-ranked
teams in the first two weeks of the season, the Brandeis University
women's basketball team has entered the d3hoops.com Division III
national poll at No. 12.
In coach Carol Simon's 22nd season at the helm, the
Judges are off to a 5-0 start for the fifth time in the past six
years. They have defeated Bowdoin (then ranked 15th, now
22nd) at home on Nov. 23, 71-44, and topped Tufts (then
16th, now 20th) on the road on Nov. 30,
81-76. In five games overall, Brandeis is defeating its opponents
by an average of 19.2 points per game with a +4.0 rebound margin
and +3.4 turnover margin.
The Brandeis women are paced by the inside-outside tandem of
junior guard Jessica Chapin of Mendon,
N.Y., and senior forward/center Lauren
Orlando of Peabody, Mass. Chapin leads
the Judges in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game while
contributing three steals and 2.4 assists per game. She is shooting
52 percent from the floor (28-53), including 50 percent from
3-point range (12-24). With 87 career trifectas, Chapin is
currently ranked No. 6 in Brandeis history and is on pace to become
the third player in school history to reach 100 for her career this
season. Orlando is second on the team in scoring at 14.0 points per
game and is the squad's top rebounder at 6.0 boards per game.
Orlando is shooting 58.8 percent from the field (20-34) and 78.1
percent from the free-throw line (25-32), moving into Brandeis's
career top-10 in both categories. She is fifth in field-goal
percentage (45.3%) and ninth in free-throw percentage (69.3%).
The Judges return to the d3hoops.com poll for the first time
since the 2007-08 preseason poll. They are one of four teams from
the University Athletic Association in the first d3hoops.com poll
of the 2008-09 regular season, along with Rochester (#4),
Washington Univ. (#9), and Chicago (#18). They also lead five New
England schools, with Amherst (#13) and Southern Maine (#25)
joining Bowdoin and Tufts. Brandeis has three more games before the
end of the semester, taking on Emmanuel tonight at 7 p.m. in Red
Auerbach Arena, before heading to Wheaton on Thursday at 8 p.m. and
hosting Babson on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Click here to see the complete d3hoops.com Top 25.
