WALTHAM, Mass. – Simmons basketball fell to the Brandeis University Judges 69-37 Tuesday evening in non-conference action. Brandeis was led by junior guard Kasey Dean, who scored a game-high 12 points on 5-of-10 from the floor. Dean also finished with a game- and season-high six assists, two shy of a career-best.

Sophomore guard Mikaela Garvin just missed joining Dean in double figures with nine points off the bench on four-of-eight shooting. Five other Brandeis players scored between six and eight points. Rookie Niki Laskaris led Brandeis and tied her career-high with six rebounds. The Judges also had a balanced attack on the glass, with four different players grabbing four boards and two others with three as they owned a 41-35 rebounding edge.

Simmons senior Liz O'Connor (Milton, Mass.) just missed a double-double with nine points and a game-high nine rebounds. O'Connor also led the Sharks with four assists and a blocked shot. Sophomore Olivia LaCroix (Manchester, N.H.) also had nine points off the bench for Simmons.

Brandeis never trailed in the contest, scoring the first six points of the game, four coming from Dean. Simmons kept the score close in the early stages of the game, as the Sharks were within five at the 9:30 mark after O'Connor converted a traditional three-point play to make it 19-14. The teams traded buckets on the next two possessions, so the score was 21-16 with 8:50 left in the first half. The Judges held Simmons without a field goal the rest of the way, allowing them just four free throws, on a 16-4 closing run. A bucket at the buzzer by rookie Samantha Mancinelli made it a 37-20 lead at the break for Brandeis, as the Judges outshot Simmons, 50 percent to 25.9 percent.

Done for the semester, the Brandeis women will return to action with an inter-session game on December 31 at 1 p.m. against Husson College, one final tune-up before University Athletic Association play begins against New York University on January 5 at 2 p.m.

The Sharks are off until January 3rd when they travel to Mount Holyoke College at 6:00 p.m.