PHILADELPHIA – The Yale women's basketball team faced all sorts of challenges Saturday afternoon against Saint Joseph's at Hagan Arena, including playing the entire second quarter without the team's leading scorer (junior forward
Camilla Emsbo was in foul trouble) and falling behind by as many as 19 points. Still, thanks to a gritty second-half comeback, the Bulldogs surged ahead of the Hawks 48-43 with 3:28 to play. But there was no storybook ending for Yale, as SJU rallied to tie the game and then got a game-winning three pointer with two seconds left.
Yale (5-4, 0-0 Ivy League) had fallen behind by double digits in each of its last two games, but rallied to win the first one (at Fairfield Nov. 28) and nearly rallied to win the next one (at Quinnipiac this past Wednesday). So when Saint Joseph's (2-6, 0-0 Atlantic 10) jumped out to an 11-0 lead Saturday, the Bulldogs at least had comeback experience to draw upon. Emsbo scored Yale's first points, but she would pick up two fouls in the quarter -- and that hindered the Bulldogs' ability to start their rally.
The Hawks shot 8-for-13 (.615) in the first quarter, taking a 23-7 lead into the second. They quickly extended that lead to its largest amount, 19 (26-7), 90 seconds in. Sophomore guard
Elles van der Maas provided a spark with a pair of three-pointers, and eventually Yale held the Hawks to 12 points in the quarter. But the Bulldogs could not make up ground. They scored 11 points, all off turnovers -- the Hawks had eight in the quarter.
With Emsbo back on the floor, the Bulldogs truly shined in the third quarter. They outscored SJU 14-2 to start, with Emsbo scoring six points and senior forward
Alex Cade adding four. By the time the quarter was over the Bulldogs had cut the deficit to three, 40-37. They outrebounded the Hawks 14-4 in the third, limiting them to a 2-for-12 shooting performance.
That set the stage for a dramatic fourth quarter, as Cade eventually got Yale its first lead of the game. Her layup at 8:56 made the score 41-40, and after SJU answered with a three-pointer sophomore guard
Jenna Clark tied the game 43-43 with a jumper.
Neither team scored for more than four minutes before Cade hit a pair of free throws to put Yale back ahead. Clark then added a three-pointer -- seven of her eight points for the game came in the fourth. The Bulldogs had their largest lead of the game, 48-43.
Guard Alayna Gribble then snapped SJU's scoreless spell (6:09) with a three-pointer, presaging the game's final moments. After a layup by Hawks guard Katie Jekot tied the score 48-48, the teams traded free throws (sophomore guard
Klara Astrom and Jekot) as the game entered its final minute.
Cade grabbed a critical rebound of a Gribble miss with 45 seconds left, but the Bulldogs missed a pair of shots and SJU took possession with 20 seconds left. That enabled the Hawks to work the clock down until Jekot found Gribble in the corner for the three-pointer that proved decisive.
Three of Yale's four losses this season have come by three or fewer points.
"We have got to be better and more consistent," said
Allison Guth, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "We fought in the third and fourth quarter to erase that deficit, but it didn't have to be that way."
Emsbo led Yale with 11 points, while Astrom and Cade added 10 each. Cade had a team-best 11 rebounds, and Clark had five assists.
Yale visits LIU Wednesday to conclude a stretch of six straight road games.
