From Brandeis University Athletics
The Brandeis women's basketball team is back in the ECAC Division III New England tournament for the second year in a row. The Judges (13-12) earned the sixth seed and will travel to sixth-seeded Roger Williams (19-7) on Wednesday, March 4, at 6 p.m.
Brandeis will make its fourth ECAC tournament appearance in head coach Carol Simon's 28th season at the helm. The Judges won the tournament title in 2003 and 2004. Last season, as the eighth seed, they upset top-seeded Emmanuel College to advance to the semifinals.
The Judges, who finished fifth in the University Athletic Association are a balanced squad, with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game but none more than 25 minutes and eight players scoring between 6.0 and 9.6 points per game. Senior guard Hannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) topped the squad in scoring (9.6 ppg), assists (2.3 apg) and steals (1.8 spg) while also finishing third in rebounding (4.9 rpg). Sophomores Sydney Sodine (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) and Maria Jackson (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) tied for the team lead in rebounding (6.1 rpg), while junior guard Heather Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester) shot 48.7% from the field. Brandeis also finished third in the UAA in scoring defense at 59.7 points allowed per game.
Roger Williams tied for first in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with eventual champion University of New England. The Hawks were seeded second in the CCC tournament but were upset in the quarterfinals. RWU coach Kelly Williams, in her sixth season, has been named CCC Coach of the Year in each of her past two years. She guided Roger Williams to a program-record 10-game winning streak and 10-game winning streak. The Hawks ranked second in the league in both scoring offense (62.8 ppg) and scoring defense (57.2 ppg) in the regular season. Junior Angelica Ariola was a first-team All-CCC selection after averaging 16 points per game and becoming the program's eighth 1,000-point scorer.
Earlier this season on Nov. 19, Brandeis defeated Roger Williams, 73-71, in Bristol, R.I. The Judges trailed the Hawks by nine points with four-and-a-half minutes to go, but they closed the contest on a 15-4 run. Sodine grabbed three late rebounds and put back a miss with 16 seconds to go in regulation for the game-winning points. She was one of five Brandeis players to score in double figures, led by junior Niki Laskaris (Swampscott, Mass./Swampscott) who had 15 points on five 3-pointers. RWU's Arciola led all players with 22 points. The win gave Brandeis a 5-2 lead in the all-time series.
Other first-round matchups on Wednesday include top-seeded Westfield State (22-5) hosting #8 Western New England (17-10); #2 Emmanuel (18-10) hosting #7 Curry (17-11) and #4 Norwich (22-5) taking on #5 Keene State (17-10). The semifinals and finals will be played on Saturday, March 7 and Sunday, March 8, at a site to be determined.