WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University women's basketball senior Lulu Ohm (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) scored 30 points for the second time this season, and the Judges held visiting MIT without a field goal for a 10-minute stretch tonight as the Judges defeated the Engineers, 67-59, in Red Auerbach Arena.

TEAM RECORDS

• Brandeis, 4-4.
• MIT, 2-5.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The game was back-and-forth in the first period, with four ties and five lead changes.
• MIT owned a 16-15 lead after an Angie Choi 3-pointer with just over two minutes to go, but Brandeis answered with the game's next seven points.
• Judge junior Katherine Vaughan (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) capped the run with a traditional three-point play before MIT's Elise Harvey hit a trifecta to end the period with Brandeis leading, 22-19.
• Points were hard to come by early in the second period, but MIT scored the first five to take a 24-22 lead on a bucket by Kamsi Nwogu with just over four minutes elapsed.
• Ohm took over the game at that point, scoring 12 points in the final 4:02 of the half. The Judges held MIT to just one 3-pointer over that stretch at the 2:00 mark exactly, giving them a 38-28 lead into the second half. Ohm led all players with 19 points at the break.
•  The Brandeis defense continued to shine into the second half, holding MIT to just three free throws over the first eight minutes of third quarter. A 3-pointer by junior Abby Kennedy (Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) with 2:26 remaining gave the hosts their largest lead of the game at 51-31.
• After Nwogu snapped the visitors' field-goal streak at 12 misses in a row with 2:01 left in the third, MIT did not go quietly.
• Using full-court pressure to claw their way back into the game, the Engineers trimmed the deficit to 14 by the end of the third period, closing on an 8-2 run to make it 53-39.
• MIT continued their run with the first nine points of the fourth, getting within 53-48 after Libi Matitayahoo blocked a shot and went the other way with the rebound for a lay-up.
• The Judges called timeout, and after both teams got stops, Ohm penetrated into the paint to stop the Brandeis bleeding.
• Ohm scored the game's next bucket on another driving lay-up, and first-year guard Saviah Shabazz (Plano, Texas/Plano West Senior) knocked down a corner 3-pointer with 3:13 on the clock to push the lead back into double digits at 60-48.
• Ohm converted five of her last six free throws to help ice the game and reach the 30-point plateau.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Ohm's 30-point performance came on 9-of-22 from the field, 1-of-4 from 3-point range, and 11-of-14 from the line. In the second quarter, she outscored the entire MIT team, 12-9.
• Ohm becomes the fourth player in school history with multiple 30-point games in a season, the first since Brandeis Director of Athletics Jessica Chapin '10 did it in her senior season.
• Ohm also had six rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• Vaughan was the only other Judge to finish in double digits in scoring, adding 10 points on 4-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from the line. Vaughan just missed a double-double with a team-high nine rebounds.
• Vaughan also blocked three shots to give her 21 on the season and 72 in her career. She is more than halfway to her single-season record in just six games, and has moved into fourth place on the Judges' career list – and four out of second place.
• Kennedy finished with nine points and seven boards, while junior Maya Williams (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) had also had seven rebounds, four on the offensive glass.
• Brandeis outshot MIT, 35.4% (23-65) to 26.3% (20-76). They limited the Engineers to just 18% (6-33) in the middle two quarters.
• MIT was led by Nwogu's double-double performance of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Angie Choi had 11 points and nine boards, while Sara Berman had 10 points.
• The Judges had a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points and 36-24 edge in points in the paint, while MIT led in bench points, 18-9, and points off turnovers, including 13-4 in the second half.

UP NEXT

• The Judges will close out the Fall 2024 semester next Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. at Bridgewater State University.