CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Brandeis University women's basketball team scored the final nine points of the first quarter to pull ahead for good, then held host Case Western Reserve without a field goal over the game's final seven-and-a-half minutes as the Judges pulled away for a 72-60 road University Athletic Association victory.
TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 9-6, 2-2 UAA.
• Case Western Reserve, 6-9, 1-3 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The lead changed hands five times with one tie over the game's first six minutes. CWRU took their last lead on a Jordyn Call bucket with 4:11 left that made it 10-9 in the hosts' favor.
• Brandeis responded with a 9-0 run, taking the lead for good on a jumper by senior Caitlin Gresko (Howell, N.J./Howell) on the next possession.
• Gresko would finish with five points in the decisive run, as Brandeis held Case Western Reserve to 0-4 from the field with five turnovers over the final 3:44 of the first. The Judges took an 18-10 lead into the second.
• Brandeis extended its lead to 10 points on a hoop by junior Katherine Vaughan (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) to open the second.
• Case closed to within three a couple of times in the second, but Brandeis kept them at bay thanks to five points each from seniors Mollie Obar (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely) and Lulu Ohm (Waltham, Mass./Waltham), as the Judges were up 36-27 at the half.
• The third period played out in a similar fashion, with CWRU closing to within four early thanks to Mya Hartjes' 3-pointer that made it 36-32 with just under two minutes elapsed.
• The Judges answered with nine of the game's next 11 points, with the last four coming on Vaughan buckets, to push their lead back to nine at 45-34 with 5:19 to go.
• The visitors pushed their advantage as large as 12 points, but Case Western Reserve got it back down to a two-possession game before a late Vaughan free throw put Brandeis ahead, 56-49 entering the fourth.
• A 5-0 run got the home team within a bucket on a Maura Schorr 3-pointer, but Ohm answered with a jumper after an Obar steal.
• CWRU's Evie Miller cut the lead to two again at 58-56 on a lay-up with 7:45 to go in the game, but Brandeis's defense put the clamps on from there, not allowing a Spartan field goal the rest of the way as they missed their last 12 shots from the field.
• Meanwhile, the Judges outscored the Spartans, 14-4 over that stretch, including a lightning 6-0 run thanks to a traditional three-point play by junior Abby Kennedy (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) and a 3-pointer by Obar in a span of 30 seconds that extended the Brandeis lead back to eight at 64-58 with 5:49 left. The Brandeis defense and free throw shooting took over from there.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Ohm, the UAA's leading scorer, turned in her eighth 20-point performance of the season, finishing with a game-high 23 points. She connected on 7-of-12 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and all six of her free throws.
• Ohm also led the Judges with six assists and two steals.
• Vaughan finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-5 from the line, with seven rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.
• Vaughan also blocked three shots, bringing her within three of her single-season record of 40, set last year, and within four of Brandeis's career record.
• Gresko finished with a season-high 13 points off the bench and Obar had 10 in reserve.
• Junior Brooke Reed (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, four offensive.
• Brandeis outshot CWRU, 41.4% (24-58) to 32.8% (20-61), holding the Spartans to 27% shooting in the first period (4-15) and just 13% in the fourth (2-15).
• The Judges controlled the paint, outscoring the Spartans, 34-20, inside.
• Hartjes led the Spartans with 17 points and a game-high seven assists, while Schorr had a double-double off the bench with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• With the win, the Judges have their highest overall win total and UAA win total since the 2021-22 season, also the last time they won on the road in the league – also against Case Western Reserve.

UP NEXT
The Judges head to Pittsburgh, Pa., to face #24-ranked Carnegie Mellon, on Sunday at 2 p.m. The Spartans meet top-ranked NYU at the same