Thursday, February 11, 2010

Brandeis basketball player Jessica Chapin hopes to guide Judges back to NCAA tournament


Photo by Mark Turesky/Sportspix

Brandeis University senior guard Jessica Chapin is coming off a record-breaking week for the Judges.

By Justin A. Rice/Daily News correspondent
Posted Feb 11, 2010 @ 12:07 AM

For years, Jessica Chapin's father and coaches have been telling her to let the game come to her. But when the dynamic Brandeis senior guard needed to follow that advice the most, the advice - just like her game - had to come to her on her own terms.

Admittedly not one to struggle with self-esteem, Chapin hit a mid-January slump during a weekend in which the Judges (13-6) lost back-to-back games to Washington University of St. Louis, 67-57, and the University of Chicago in Chicago, 74-61.

``I was losing some confidence in my shot, which clearly has never been a problem for me,'' Chapin said. ``Those two games I really did decide to relax and let things come to me. I think it took a game to set in. In Chicago, I realized I was just kind of forcing things, so I struggled again.''

All of that, however, is in the rearview mirror now.

Chapin was named University Athletic Association (UAA), New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Player of the Week for the second week in a row last week.

Playing at Case Western Reserve University on Feb. 5, and Carnegie Mellon University two days later, Chapin led the Judges to a 2-0 week by averaging 27 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.5 steals. She shot 53.8 percent from the field (14-for-26) and 69.2 percent from 3-point range (9-for-13).

``I felt like, on Sunday (vs. Carnegie), anything I threw up was going to go in,'' she said. ``So it was kind of crazy.''

In the 65-56 win at Case Western, she had 18 points, five rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes, hitting 5-of-11 from the floor, 2-of-4 from 3-point range and 6-of-9 from the line.

In a 59-50 win against Carnegie Mellon, she set a pair of school records, scoring 36 points to erase the previous mark set by Pam Vaughan 20 years ago.

The Mendon, N.Y. native also tied a school record with her sixth career game of 25 or more points.

``The past couple of weeks she has been playing really well, really shooting the ball well,'' Brandeis coach Carol Simon said, ``just doing a good job getting the team involved and getting things going a little bit. In the past couple of weeks, she's really been in the zone.

``What really benefited her is she let the game come to her rather than forcing things. There's been a couple of games where she's been forcing things. This kid is a real competitor and wants to get it done. There was one game she was just trying too hard. I was like `Jess, Jess just relax, let the game come to you.'''

The 23-year coach, whose four NCAA tournament bids have come the last four seasons, said Chapin is peaking at the perfect moment.

``This is coming right at the right time,'' she said. ``We have five more games. They are games we have to win, so I don't need her waiting.''

Simon said she thinks her team needs to win at least four out of the last five games on their schedule, including rematch games against Washington University and the University of Chicago on Feb. 12 and 14, to earn an NCAA berth. This time those games will be at home.

``We control our own destiny with five more games against top-ranked teams,'' Simon said. ``If we're lucky enough maybe to get four or five wins, I think we're in a good position again. I don't know, I'm not on committee. It's just a matter of taking care of business and winning your own games.''

Both Simon and Chapin also said it's a matter of Chapin being able to get her teammates involved more against those teams.

``It's hard because I'm trying to create things for everyone else and force things sometimes,'' Chapin admitted. ``(Wash U) stuck one of their better defenders on me and I was just not in the rhythm. I was just probably taking some shots and making some passes that were not really there.

``Like I told coach, and I tell everybody, if I have to score 36 points for us to win, that's what I'll do. But if I score two points, and we win, that's fine too. Definitely, down the stretch, we're going to need more people to contribute and have big games.''

Last year was the team's best-ever tournament run when they lost in the Elite Eight to Amherst.

``We're pretty motivated by that,'' Chapin said of getting revenge against Amherst. ``Every year our goal is to get to the tournament. It doesn't matter how it's done, how pretty or ugly, we'd like to get there.''

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