WALTHAM, Mass. - Brandeis senior guard Jessica
Chapin (Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima) scored 23 of her
game-high 29 points in the first half, including her school-record
setting 138th career 3-pointer, but it was former Judge
assistant coach Anthony Ewing's University of New
England Nor'easters who got the last laugh tonight, rallying from a
12-point halftime deficit to take an 81-77 decision in Red Auerbach
Arena. UNE improves to 8-3 with the win, while Brandeis closes its
non-conference slate at 7-3.
The Judges never trailed in the first half and led by as many as
18 points. With 5:42 left in the stanza, Chapin surpassed
Jen Curran '01 with her fourth trifecta of the
game. She was fouled in the process and completed the four-point
play to give Brandeis a 35-17 lead. At that point, the senior
co-captain was outscoring the visitors by herself, 19-17.
UNE closed the gap quickly, going on an 11-2 run over the
next 3:20. They gotback to within single digits at 37-28 on a deep
shot by junior forward Chelsey Meszaros (North Clarendon, Vt./Mill
River Union). Brandeis sophomore Morgan Kendrew
(Cotuit, Mass./Barnstable) nailed a 3-pointer of her own with 41
seconds left to close out the first-half scoring as the Judges
owned a 42-30 lead. Kendrew had 11 first-half points.
In the second half, Brandeis struggled from the floor early,
missing their first seven shots as the Nor'easters climbed back
into the contest. UNE outscored the Judges, 11-3, in the first 4:15
after intermission. The run included a pair of traditional
three-point plays by sophomore guards Kari Pelletier (South Paris,
Maine/Oxford Hills) and Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine/Nokomis
Regional) and was capped by a deep 3-point bucket by junior guard
Carrie Bunnell (Barnet, Vt./St. Johnsbury Acad.) that trimmed the
lead to 45-43.
Brandeis answered with back-to-back buckets from a pair of post
players, junior Amber Strodhoff (DePere,
Wisc./DePere) and rookie Courtney Ness (Norwich,
Vt./Hanover (N.H.)), but Meszaros answered from deep to stem the
tide. The teams traded punches over the next five minutes, with the
Judges' edge bouncing between two and five points. The lead was
four, 59-55, with 8:17 left on the clock when Ness found an open
Strodhoff for a bucket.
UNE answered with the next six points of the game, taking the
lead at 61-59 with 7:08 remaining on a Paradis trifecta, her first
of the contest. Chapin responded with her fifth trifecta of the
game and Kendrew added a bucket to put the Judges ahead 64-61, but
Meszaros connected from beyond the arc again, knotting the game at
64-64 with five minutes left in the contest.
After a Brandeis free throw, the Nor'easters answered with their
fifth 3-pointer of the second half, this time by Bunnell, putting
the visitors ahead for good. That bucket sparked a 7-2 run, and
solid free throw shooting (8-of-10) down the stretch salted the
game away.
Brandeis was paced by Chapin's 29, but after going eight-for-11
from the field in the first half, she connected on just one-of-nine
in the second. She finished five-of-12 from downtown, giving her
139 career 3-pointers. Kendrew and Strodhoff each finished with 15
points. Strodthoff also had a game-high 12 rebounds for her first
career double-double. The Judges owned a 42-31 rebounding advantage
but were outscored 28-13 from the free-throw line, falling to 2-3
in games when their opponents take more foul shots.
UNE put four players in double figures, led by 20 from Paradis
on seven-of-10 from the field with a 3-pointer and five-of-seven
from the line. Fourteen of her 20 points came in the second half.
Senior forward Katie Diggins (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) had 14
points, while sophomore forward Margo Russell (Madison,
Maine/Madison Area) hit 10-of-14 from the line en route to 14
points. Russell also led the Nor'easters with eight rebounds.
Meszaros has a perfect shooting night in 13 minutes off the bench
with 11 points, hitting all three of her 3-point attempts and both
free-throw attempts. Pelletier and Bunnell also each finished with
nine points.
UNE shot 52.2% from the floor in the second (12-of-23),
including 83.3% from deep (5-of-6) to overcome their slow start.
They used a 17-8 edge in bench scoring, as Meszaros outscored all
Brandeis reserves with her 11 points.
Brandeis is next in action on Saturday for their University
Athletic Association opener at 2 p.m. at New York University, while
UNE is at Thomas College Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
BOX
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