WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's basketball senior Abby Kennedy (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the Judges played outstanding defense, holding visiting Bridgewater State to a season-low in scoring, defeating the Bears 61-46 in Red Auerbach Arena tonight.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 8-1.
• Bridgewater State, 1-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half saw the lead change hands seven times with three ties.
• The Judges looked to open up a lead in the first when Kennedy scored seven unanswered points midway through the stanza to give Brandeis a 17-10.
• BSU's Savannah Azoff hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to cut the deficit to four, 17-13, after one.
• Defenses ruled in the second quarter, as the teams combined to hit just 23% from the field. Bridgewater State outscored the Judges, 10-7, in the period.
• The lead changed hands four times in the period, with sophomore Jazzy Perez (Johns Creek, Ga./Centennial) hitting a jumper in the lane on the Judges' final possession to give them a 24-23 lead at the break.
• Kennedy and senior Katherine Vaughan (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) led the Judges with eight points in the first half, while BSU's Sophie Bradbury led all players with nine points, scoring six her team's 10 points in the second quarter.
• Brandeis began to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Bears, 23-7. The Judges held BSU to 18.8% from field (3-16) in the stanza.
• Though the Judges shot just 29.4% (5-17) themselves, they were able to get to the line for 12 free throws, converting 11 (91.7%).
• Kennedy was dominant in the quarter, outscoring BSU on her own with 12 points to enter the fourth with 20 as Brandeis took a 47-30 lead.
• The Judges scored the first eight points of the fourth, establishing a 24-point lead with 2:26 elapsed on a bucket by graduate student Elena Delicado (Madrid, Spain/IES Parque de Lisboa), and Brandeis never looked back.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Kennedy finished with her first collegiate double-double with 26 points – two shy of a career-best – and a career-high 10 rebounds. She hit 7-of-16 from the floor, a career-best six 3-pointers on nine attempts, and 6-of-6 from the line.  
• Vaughan finished with eight points, while Perez and senior Molly James (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) each had six.
• Senior Maya Williams (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) grabbed seven rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. She and Kennedy helped the Judges outrebound BSU, 47-36.
• The Judges also used a 14-4 advantage from the free-throw line and 20-13 margin in points off turnovers.
• Bridgewater State was paced by 14 points from Sophie Bradbury and 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots by Emilie von der Linden.
• This was the largest margin of victory in the five-game series between Brandeis and Bridgewater State, as the first three meetings were decided by one point and last year's meeting was a six-point Brandeis win.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will travel to MIT on Saturday at 1 p.m. to close out the fall semester.