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The visiting Washington University women’s basketball team outscored host Brandeis University 21-1 during the first 5:18 and 30-3 during the first 9:24 as the Bears defeated the Judges, 66-36, in Red Auerbach Arena. The Bears improve to 13-3, 4-1 University Athletic Association (UAA), while the Judges, who lost their second-straight game against a ranked opponent, fall to 9-7, 1-4 UAA.

The Judges hit just two shots during the first nine-plus minutes, going 1-for-10 from the floor and 1-for-2 from the line, while committing seven turnovers. Meanwhile, Washington, led by senior Kathryn Berger, scorched the nets to open up their 20-point lead. The Bears connected on seven of their first eight shots, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. Berger had five of those seven buckets and four of the trifectas, giving her 14 points little more than five minutes into the game, a mark the Judges wouldn’t hit until 17 seconds remained in the first half.

After Berger’s hot streak subsided, Washington sophomore Kristin Anda scored 10 points in the next stage of the half, including a jumper at the 10:46 mark that made the game 30-3 in favor of the Bears. The lead extended to as many as 32 points before late hoops by Brandeis’ Morgan Kendrew ’12 and Anda made the score 42-14 at the break. The Judges played improved defense in the second half, but were unable to get anything going on the offensive end, holding the Bears to 24 points and 37 percent shooting after a 53.3 percent performance in the first half.

For the game, Brandeis was led by Julia Scanlon ’14, who had nine points on 4-of-8 from the floor with a three-pointer. Fourteen of the 15 active players on the Brandeis roster had a rebound, led by four each from Scanlon, Mia DePalo ’11 and Kasey Dean ’14. For Washington, Berger finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, 4-of-8 from three-point range. Anda finished with 10 points on 5-of-9 from the field. Washington junior Dani Hoover and senior Monika Monson tied for game-high with four rebounds, while Hoover’s older sister Alex led all players with three assists. The Bears had 17 assists on their 26 buckets, with nine different players recording helpers.

Earlier in the week the Brandeis University women’s basketball team was bested by the 16th ranked University of Chicago, 71-36, in Auerbach Arena. With the loss, the Judges fall to 9-6, while the Maroons remain undefeated in conference and improve their record to 12-3.

Forward Amber Strodthoff ’11 led the Judges in scoring tonight with eight points. Scanlon was just behind her with seven points. This was Brandeis’ second game in a row with no players scoring in double digits. Defensively, DePalo led the team with five rebounds.

Chicago was paced by junior guard Meghan Herrick who scored a game-high 17 points and led the game with four steals. Junior forward Taylor Simpson posted a double-double, with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Maroons set the pace early on, scoring eight unanswered points to take a 9-1 lead over the Judges just four minutes into the game. But the Judges answered back with two uncontested shots from Strodthoff and Shakara Scott ’13 bringing Brandeis within four points, making the score 9-5, for their smallest deficit for the rest of the game. For the rest of the half, Chicago outscored the Judges, 30-7, making 14-of-31 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the line. The Maroons closed the half with a 29-point lead at 41-12.

The second half saw a stronger Brandeis squad, improving their shooting percentage to 33.3 percent in the second from 19.2 percent in the first half. Chicago’s junior guard Joann Torres opened the second half with a three-pointer, to give her team a 44-12 lead. A three-pointer by rookie forward Christiane Murray gave Chicago their biggest lead of the game, bringing the score to 66-29 with four minutes left in the game.

Brandeis is next in action next Friday night when they host Emory University in a UAA contest at 6 p.m. The Bears take on Carnegie Mellon University at the same time in St. Louis and Chicago takes on Case Western Reserve at the same time.