WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's basketball team led nearly wire-to-wire today as the Judges picked up a University Athletic Association victory over the visiting Case Western Reserve University Spartans, 77-69, in Red Auerbach Arena.
 
TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis: 12-6, 2-5 UAA.
• CWRU: 8-10, 1-6 UAA.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams came out on fire in the first quarter with the Judges holding a 28-21 lead. Both sides shot 50% or better, as Brandeis made 11-of-19 from the field (57.%), including 3-of-5 from 3-point range (60%), while the Spartans hit 7-of-14 (50%) overall and 4-of-9 from deep (44%).
• Case Western Reserve had a 13-12 lead on a 3-pointer by Taylor Angieleski with just under four minutes left in the stanza, but the Judges closed on a 16-8 run to go ahead for good. Six different Brandeis players contributed to the run, with senior Brooke Reed (Chantilly, Va./Westfield) kicking it off with back-to-back buckets.
• Brandeis sophomore Saviah Shabazz (Plano, Texas/Plano West) had seven points in the first period, while CWRU's Jordyn Call had eight.
• The Judges cooled off a tad in the second, hitting 44% (8-18), while Case Western Reserve nailed 50% again (8-16), but an extra 3-pointer gave the Judges a one-point advantage in the stanza and a 47-39 lead at the break.
• Brandeis was able to cool off the visitors in the second half, holding the Spartans to just 25% from the floor in the third (4-16) and 31.3% in the fourth (5-16). Meanwhile, the Judges dipped to 35.3% in the third (6-17) before hitting 50% in the final stanza (5-10).  
• Senior Abby Kennedy (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) sparked the Judges in the third, scoring nine of her game-high 21 points in the stanza.
• The Judges led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but their lead never dropped lower than eight points after the first Case basket of the second half.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Kennedy was the game's high scorer with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
• Shabazz and Reed each added 11 points, with Reed leading all bench scorers as the Brandeis reserves outscored their CWRU counterparts, 23-15.
• Senior Katherine Vaughan (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) led the Judges with nine rebounds, while Reed had eight. Both players grabbed five offensive boards as Brandeis had 20 total rebounds on their own end of the floor while outrebounding the Spartans 42-28 in total.
• Three different Brandeis players tied for game-high honors with five assists  - Shabazz, junior Claire Candela (Maynard, Mass./Milton Acad.) and junior Sofia Berisha (Old Tappan, Conn./Winchendon School).
• In addition to their bench advantage, Brandeis also owned the paint, outscoring CWRU 42-18 in the lane.
• The Spartans were paced by Mya Hartjes, who scored 16 points with five assists. Call added 13 and Maura Schorr had 12.
• Emily Plachta just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
• With the win, the Judges have matched their win total from 2024-25 with seven contests to go.

POST-GAME INTERVIEW


UP NEXT

• The Judges will meet Carnegie Mellon next Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. before a rematch with the Spartans next Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m.