WALTHAM, Mass. – The Brandeis University women's basketball team cruised in their annual New Year's Eve day game, defeating Salem State, 77-44, in Red Auerbach Arena. The Judges had a season-high 26 assists on their 31 baskets in the win.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 4-6.
• Salem State, 5-8.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Salem State took advantage of a cold start for the Judges. The Vikings were ahead, 10-1, as the Judges missed their first nine shots of the game.
• Brandeis broke through on a 3-pointer at the 3:34 mark by sophomore Lulu Ohm (Waltham, Mass./Waltham).
• The bucket sparked a 13-1 run to close the stanza, as Brandeis took its first lead on a trifecta by senior Tathiana Pierre (Jericho, N.Y. / Sacred Heart Academy) with 19 seconds to go that made it 14-12, Judges, after one quarter.
• Brandeis blew things open in the second, outscoring SSU, 24-8.
• Ohm had as many points as the Vikings in the period, hitting two 3-pointers and one lay-up for eight points as she reached her career scoring high of 11 points by halftime, as the Judges 38-20.
• The third quarter was highlighted by first-year Katherine Vaughan (Bedford, Mass. / Bedford), who nearly repeated Ohm's feat by scoring 10 points in the stanza as Brandeis outscored the Vikings 21-12 to take a 59-32 lead after 30 minutes.
• Brandeis's lead swelled to as large as 35 points before the 33-point final margin.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vaughan led all scorers, finishing with a career-high 19 points in just 21 minutes.
• She hit 9-of-19 from the field, 1-of-2 from the line. Vaughan also pulled down six rebounds, tied for a career-high, with all six coming on the offensive glass.
• Ohm added a career-best 14 points in 20 minutes of action, connecting on 5-of-8 overall and 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
• Two other Judges scored in double digits, sophomore Caitlin Gresko (Howell, N.J./Howell) and senior Francesca Marchese (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Academy), who each had 10 points.
• Gresko led the Brandeis assist brigade, dishing out a career-best eight helpers, while also making three steals.
• Senior Emma Reavis (Miami, Okla./Deerfield Academy, Mass.) added six assists, while five others had two and two more had one.
• Brandeis had their second-best shooting day of the season, connecting on 44.3% (31-70), while holding SSU to the lowest point total by an opponent this season and just 29 percent from the field (18-62).
• The Judges also forced 28 turnovers and hit eight 3-pointers to one for the Vikings.
• SSU was paced by Abuk Teng, who had nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds – seven on the offensive glass.
• Kylie Gates added nine points and a team-high four assists, while Ermidia Goncalves had eight points and five steals.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Judges' 26 assists are their most in a game since the 2013-14 season, when they had 28 in an 81-54 win over Husson – also in a New Year's Eve day game.
• Marchese hit two 3-pointers to give her 108 for her career, moving past Diana Cincotta '12 into seventh place on Brandeis's all-time list.
• Brandeis has won six in a row over Salem State.

UP NEXT

• The Judges travel to Worcester, Mass., on Tuesday at 5 p.m., to Clark University to finish up their non-conference schedule before hosting top-ranked NYU next Saturday at 1 p.m.
• Salem State opens MASCAC play on Wednesday with a home game against Worcester State at 7:30 p.m.