NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team moved to within half a game of first place in the Ivy League standings Sunday afternoon, dropping Dartmouth 57-43 at Lee Amphitheater for the team's fifth win in six Ivy games. A balanced Bulldog offense featured six players who scored at least six points, and the Yale defense limited Dartmouth to a .276 field goal percentage. That was the second-lowest field goal percentage and point total for a Bulldog opponent this year.
Coming off a 63-53 win vs. Penn Saturday, Yale (12-6, 5-1 Ivy League) kept its momentum in place by outscoring Dartmouth 27-17 in the first half. The Bulldogs held the Big Green scoreless (0 for 11) for nearly six minutes at the start of the game.
This wound up being the second game of the weekend in which the Bulldogs never trailed. Dartmouth closed to within six at the start of the third quarter, but sophomore guard
Jenna Clark started a 13-4 Yale run with a three pointer. Sophomore forward
Haley Sabol capped the run with a pair of three-pointers, giving her three for the weekend. The stretch also included four points from senior forward
Alex Cade, part of a big day for her that also included a team-high 13 rebounds.
"Cade was an absolute star for us today," said
Allison Guth, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "Her motor and competitiveness, along with her 13 rebounds, really gave us a spark.
Haley Sabol has been fantastic with her energy level and communication, and she has given us some instant offense. She did a tremendous job."
Yale got the lead up to as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter. Dartmouth (1-16, 0-5 Ivy League) closed with a 7-2 run. The Big Green did not score more than 14 points in any quarter.
Clark led Yale with 12 points and six assists. First-year guard
Christen McCann added 11 points and provided her usual excellent defense.
"
Christen McCann is that consistent player that we can always count on with the way she defends," said Guth.
The win sets up a potential battle for a spot atop the league standings with Princeton next Saturday at Lee Amphitheater. The Tigers are 5-0 in Ivy play, a half game ahead of Yale. Columbia sits at 4-0 heading into a midweek matchup with Penn.
"We prepare our team for a faceless opponent," said Guth. "We want our team locked in, and I'm fully confident in our staff's ability to prepare for an excellent Princeton team. So much of it is focusing on improving our deficiencies."
The five-game winning streak is Yale's longest since winning eight in a row from Dec. 19, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020.
