WALTHAM, Mass.—UMass Boston women's basketball couldn't overcome the red-hot shooting of host Brandeis University, in a 77-55 season-opening loss at Red Auberbach Arena. 
 
THE BASICS
Brandeis University 77, UMass Boston 55
(UMass Boston 0-1) 
(Brandeis University 1-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Brandeis shot 55 percent from the field in the first half and hit 12 of their first 26 3-point attempts, to stymie the Beacons in their first game in 619 days. 
 
Playing with just nine available players, only two of whom had any previous collegiate experience, the Beacons fell behind early and were never able to fully get back into the game. 
 
Sophomores Vienna Monestime (Framingham, Mass.) and Jasharee Greene (Boston, Mass.) paced the Beacons with 12 points apiece in their collegiate debuts. Monestime pulled down five rebounds and both players picked up two assists. 
 
Junior Keriann Farina (Arlington, Mass.) tacked on nine points, five rebounds and a team-best four assists. Sophomore guard Sunny Green (Brewster, Mass.) registered nine points of her own, while Rayla Gonzalez (Boston, Mass.) and Cathryn Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) tied for the team lead with six rebounds. 
 
Brandeis' Camila Casanueva led all scorers with 25 points and tied the Judges program record with seven made 3-pointers (7-9) in a single-game. Kerry Tanke chipped in 15 points for the hosts, while Caitlin Gresko was the final player in double figures with 10. 
 
The Judges leapt out to an 8-0 lead after three possessions, forcing an early timeout from first-year head coach Heather Jacobs. 
 
UMass Boston responded from there as Farina hit a jumper and Meg Dixon (Hanover, Mass.) knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 9-5. Brandeis answered with a 12-4 flurry of their own to open up a 21-9 lead midway through the first quarter. 
 
The Beacons would keep the lead from ballooning any further and put together a 6-1 run late in the second quarter to cut the deficit back to single-digits (33-24). During the span, Monsetime sandwiched a pair of baskets around a R. Gonzalez layup. 
 
Brandeis used their red-hot 3-point shooting to put the Beacons into a big halftime hole. The Judges scored 13 points in the final 3:54, with Casanueva knocking down three-straight 3-pointers to make it 46-24 at the break. 
 
The Beacons cut the deficit to as few as 15 in the third quarter, but that would be as close as they would get to the hosts. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Seven Beacons made their collegiate debuts in the contest. Monestime, Greene and Green all made their first collegiate starts and played 25 or more minutes. 
• The Beacons shot 38.2 percent (21-55) from the field, but went just 3-19 (15.8 percent) from distance. UMass Boston finished 58.8 percent (10-17) from the charity stripe. On the opposite side, Brandeis finished the game shooting 41.4 percent (29-70) from the field and went 12-34 (35.3 percent) from three. 
• Dixon made her return to the floor for the first time since she suffered a season-ending injury on December 30, 2018. She finished with five points and four rebounds in 31 minutes of action. 
• UMass Boston earned a 26-20 edge in points in the paint. 
• The Beacons fell to 3-4 all-time against Brandeis. The Judges have won three-straight over UMass Boston, dating back to the 2015-16 season. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
UMass Boston will continue their two-game road trip to start the 2021-22 season, when they travel to take on Mitchell College on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.