Box Score Yale Grabs 15 Offensive Rebounds In Loss
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Despite causing 18 turnovers and holding Penn's leading scorer Sydney Stipanovich to only six points, the Yale women's basketball team mustered a season-low point total, losing to the Quakers, 61-42, in the Lee Amphitheater on Friday night.
The Bulldogs' (11-10, 5-2 Ivy) defense provided the same effective half and full-court pressure against Penn that it has for the past month, but the Elis shot only 31.7-percent from the field for the game, including 20-percent in the second half (6-of-30).
As a team, Yale was only 1-of-18 from long range and 3-of-7 at the free throw line. Penn converted on 18-of-21 free throw attempts, taking advantage of its trips to the charity stripe.
Junior guard Nyasha Sarju (Seattle, Wash.) led the Bulldogs with 13 points on 6-of-15 shooting, which was her eighth double-digit scoring performance this season. Freshman guard Tamara Simpson (North Babylon, N.Y.) scored eight points of her own.
Yale's bench outscored Penn's, 23-12, continuing to show the depth of the Bulldogs' roster in Ivy League play.
The Quakers (13-7, 4-2 Ivy) controlled the boards for most of the game, ending with a 41-31 advantage as helped by the starting frontcourt of Michelle Nwokedi, Kara Bonenberger and Stipanovich, who combined for 23 rebounds.
Penn, who entered the game as the Ivy League leader in defensive rebounds (29.3 per game), grabbed 28 defensive boards to Yale's 16.
Penn's scoring was led by Nwokedi with 13, while Bonenberger added 12 and Kathleen Roche chipped in 11.
The Bulldogs struggled to gain offensive rhythm in the second half, scoring only 14 total points after trailing by five at halftime. Penn held its largest lead of 21 with under a minute to play in the game.
In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Quakers jumped on a 17-8 run and took a 15-point lead as the Penn zone-defense forced the Bulldogs into unwanted shots. The Elis would score six points the rest of the way, never getting within 13 points of the lead.
Freshman guard Clara Mokri (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored her first points of the season for the Bulldogs and led Yale with four points in the second half.
Trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, Yale valiantly fought back into the game before the intermission.
In the final three minutes, the Bulldogs went on a 9-2 run to cut the Penn lead to five at halftime. Two jump shots by Sarju and layups by Simpson and sophomore guard Lena Munzer (Highland Park, Ill.) had the Elis right back in the game.
Though they shot poorly in the second half, the Bulldogs shot an impressive 43.3-percent from the field in the first half (13-of-30), due in large part to Sarju's 6-of-10 and Simpson's 4-of-7.
The Bulldogs caught an early break, as Stipanovich earned her second personal foul at the 16:40 mark of the first half, leaving Penn without her for most of the first half. However, the Quakers proved to be strong on the boards even without their 6-3 center, going into the locker room deadlocked at 16 rebounds each with the Elis.
Yale's defense turned in another strong effort overall, recording six blocks and seven steals on the night. Simpson, who is fifth in the league in steals, snatched four more on Friday night.
The Elis also kept up their dominance on the offensive boards, pulling down 15 rebounds on the offensive end, proving why they are ranked first in the Ivy League in getting second-chance possessions.
Junior guard Whitney Wyckoff (West Chester, Ohio) played a strong game for the Bulldogs, scoring six points, grabbing five rebounds, and dishing out a team-high three assists in 22 minutes on the floor.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday night for a Valentine's Day matchup with the undefeated Princeton Tigers at 7 p.m. in the Lee Amphitheater. The game will be Yale's annual 'Pink Night and Youth Day' celebration. Admission is free for all spectators and donations will be collected to help support the Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven.
Princeton (22-0, 6-0 Ivy) enters the game nationally-ranked at No. 16/18 in the AP and Coaches Polls. Yale's last victory over a nationally-ranked opponent came on Dec. 18, 2010 against 14th-ranked Florida State (91-85) in the Lee Amphitheater.
Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity Assistant
