WALTHAM, Mass. -- First-year Briana Hunt scored three of her team-high 12 points in the final minute to help the visiting Babson College women's basketball team hold on for a 53-52 win over regional-rival Brandeis University in a non-conference contest on Tuesday night.

With the victory, the Beavers remained perfect at 3-0 on the season, while the Judges suffered their first defeat to fall to 2-1.

Hunt shot 4-for-8 from the field, including a 2-for-4 clip from three-point range, to finish with 12 points in the win. Senior captain Sarah Collins added 14 points, a game-high 17 rebounds, and three blocked shots, and senior captain Allanah Wynn tossed in eight points. First-year Kristen Ferola and sophomore Erin Young each contributed six points, with Ferola also adding five rebounds.

Brandeis received 12 points, nine boards, and four assists from Hannah Cain, and ight points and four steals from Kasey Dean.

The game was tight throughout, with neither team taking a lead larger than six points. The largest margin of the first half was 18-13, Brandeis, after a jumper by junior Janelle Rodriguez with 6:25 remaining. The Judges were still ahead by four at 20-16 with 3:56 left in the first stanza when Hunt hit a 3-pointer to trigger an 8-2 run to close the half. A fast-break jumper by Brandeis rookie Niki Laskaris at the 1:54 mark was offset by Young connecting from deep with 51 seconds left to give the visitors a 24-22 lead at the break. Cain led all players with six first-half points, as nine different Brandeis players contributed their 10 field goals in the first 20 minutes. Collins and Wynn had five each for Babson.

Babson continued its run into the second half, opening with seven of the first 10 points to take a 31-25 lead less than three minutes in. A Wynn traditional three-point play at the 15:34 mark made it a 34-29 Babson lead, but Brandeis answered as sophomore Mikaela Garvin hit an and-one play of her own. Senior forward Erika Higginbottom followed with an offensive rebound and put-back to tie the game at 34-all.

Babson pushed the lead back to six with a Young 3-pointer and a free throw and lay-up by Alicia Wilde that made it 40-34 in favor of the visitors with 12:41 on the clock. Brandeis quickly erased that deficit, however, as Garvin and Laskaris hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the Judges' only two of the game. The hosts added the next two buckets as well, with senior Courtney Ness and Laskaris scoring to make it a 44-40 lead for Brandeis with 9:32 left.

The next five minutes for the Judges were frustrating, as they came up empty on seven straight possessions, despite keeping Babson off the board as well. The Beavers finally broke through from the free-throw line, as Collins and Hunt hit three-of-four to get the deficit back to one. A Collins put-back with 4:31 left put the visitors back on top, 45-44, with 4:31 to go.

The lead changed hands four more times in the final stretch, with Dean's 18-foot jumper from the right side with 46.9 seconds remaining putting the Judges ahead, 50-49. After a Babson timeout with 37.9 seconds on the clock, the Beavers played for a two-for-one possession, with Hunt slashing to the basket to hit with 35.5 to make it a 51-50 lead.

After Brandeis missed its first chance to go ahead and Collins grabbed the rebound, the Judges did have two more chances when Babson could only hit on 1-of-2 on each of their next two trips to the line. Unfortunately, the Judges turned the ball over with 11 seconds left and could only muster a two-point bucket just before time expired, resulting in the 53-52 final.

Brandeis returns to action on Sunday, Nov. 25 at Tufts University. Babson also plays on Sunday, as the Beavers head to Salem State for a 2 p.m. matchup with the Vikings.

NOTE: Portions of this story taken from a Brandeis University press release.