WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis Judges led from the opening tip and never trailed in a 68-47 win over Endicott's women's basketball team in the opener of Brandeis's Invitational tip-off tournament. 

Brandeis (2-1) jumped out to an 8-1 lead and never looked back as they advanced to the finals of the four-team tournament that also featured Colby College and Clark University. The Gulls fell to 0-1 in their first game of the 2011-12 campaign. 

Endicott had a game-high performance from senior guard Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry), who had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with a pair of free throws. Rookie forward Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) scored nine points off the bench in her collegiate debut. Sophomore center Julie Manning(Hull, Mass./Hull) led the Gulls with eight rebounds, while sophomore forward Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H./Fall Mountain Regional) topped all players with three assists and four steals.

The Judges featured balanced scoring with eight different players scoring between six and 10 points. Leading the way were a pair of guards, senior Kelly Ethier (Springfield, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) and rookie Hannah Cain (Gloucester, Mass./Gloucester), who each had 10 points. Among the rest of the Brandeis starters, senior forward Shannon Hassan (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) had nine points, grad student guard Diana Cincotta (Plymouth, Mass./W. Boylston) had eight and junior forward Samantha Anderson (Johnsonville, N.Y./Hoosic Valley) had seven. Sophomores Janelle Rodriguez (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans Memorial) and Julia Scanlon (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris) and junior Erika Higginbottom (Millbury, Mass./Worcester Acad.) all had six points off the bench.

Brandeis dominated the inside game, thanks to Anderson, who led all players with 12 rebounds, six offensive, both matching career-highs. As a team, Brandeis outrebounded Endicott, 44-33, including 21-8 on the offensive glass. That gave the Judges a 22-12 edge in points in the paint and 19-6 advantage in second-chance points. Brandeis also forced 24 turnovers while committing 15, leading to 20-12 margin in points off those miscues.

The Gulls will play in tomorrow's consolation game against Clark University at 1:00 pm. The Cougars fell to Colby in the other first round game by a 79-57 score. The Mules of Colby and Brandeis will face off in the 3:00 pm championship game.