NEW HAVEN, Conn. – All season long, Yale women's basketball sophomore guard
Nyla McGill has displayed a knack for finding ways to make good things happen for her team. On Sunday in overtime against Drexel at Lee Amphitheater, she showcased that aptitude when the Bulldogs needed it most. When junior guard
Jenna Clark got the ball with 4.9 seconds left and the game tied 58-58, Clark had the full attention of the Drexel defense – understandable given that she entered the day leading Yale in scoring and leading the Ivy League in assists per game. McGill took the opportunity to slip in behind three Dragon defenders and camp out in the paint with no-one near her. So when Clark's last-second three-point attempt came up short, there was McGill, leaping up to grab the ball and put it up and in just before time expired, earning Yale an exhilarating 60-58 win.
"That's just Nyla being Nyla," said
Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "She always seems to be in the right spot and the right time."
The initial plan was for Clark to drive to the basket, but when that option was cut off she had to try hoisting up a three. McGill made the play look like it was planned, getting the ball up and out of her hands just before the clock hit zero and then turning to celebrate as she was mobbed by her jubilant teammates.
The remarkable play capped a roller-coaster ride of a day for Yale (5-6, 0-0 Ivy League). Coming off a tough 75-59 loss at Quinnipiac Wednesday, the Bulldogs fell behind 9-0 Sunday. The difference this time around was that, whereas on Wednesday Yale trailed by 14 at the end of the first quarter and never got closer than 12 the rest of the way, on Sunday the Bulldogs quickly got the game back to a manageable deficit (two) by the end of the quarter. A 6-0 run at the end helped, with half of those points coming on a three-pointer by junior guard
Klara Astrom. That was part of an 11 point day for her.
"I was happy to see that," Eshe said of Yale's comeback. "That showed that we learned from the Quinnipiac game, where we could not stop the bleeding. It just took us some time to figure out the zone."
The third quarter proved to be a turning point. Trailing 28-23, the Bulldogs went on a 10-0 run that started with a pair of three-pointers from first-year guard
Kiley Capstraw, who then tacked on a pair of free throws. She would finish with a team-high 18 points, continuing to play with a maturity beyond her years and emerging as a reliable scoring option for the Bulldogs.
"She's a total sponge, a coach's dream," said Eshe. "She's just trying to absorb everything, and she's receptive to constructive criticism. You can see that she is somebody we have great trust in."
After McGill hit a pair of free throws to cap the run, Yale had a 33-28 lead.
The Bulldogs got the lead up to 11 in the fourth before Drexel (5-3, 0-0 CAA), the preseason favorite in the CAA as the defending regular season champions, responded. The Dragons went on an 8-0 run that was finally interrupted by a pair of Capstraw free throws with 2:07 left.
A pair of Drexel jump shots got the Dragons within one with 1:31 to play. Astrom came up with another big play with just over a minute left, drawing a charge to deny the Dragons' chance to take the lead. But after Drexel rebounded a Yale miss, a foul gave Drexel guard Keishana Washington two free throws with 22 seconds left. She made one – part of a 33 point night for her – to send the game into overtime tied at 54.
The two star guards, Washington and Clark, traded driving layups to start the overtime scoring. McGill then came up with a steal – her 21st of the season, second on the team – and a layup for the lead with 1:59 to play. The Dragons went 2-for-4 from the free throw line in the final minute to set up the dramatic last play, which started with Clark taking an inbound pass from Astrom.
McGill finished eight points, nine rebounds and five assists – the type of do-it-all game the Bulldogs are coming to expect from their breakout star, who leads the Ivy League in double-doubles with three. She also had two steals and a blocked shot.
"The big thing is she has bought into what we are doing defensively," said Eshe. "She never stops working. Everybody else might have been ball-watching [on that last play], but she was on to the next play. Her intensity won us this game."
One unsung hero emerging for Yale was junior forward
Haley Sabol. Her 37 minutes Sunday represented a career high, and she earned them with the type of gritty play that doesn't show up in the stats (seven points, three rebounds).
"Haley has always worked hard," said Eshe. "We said that the players who are going to defend the hardest are the ones who are going to see the floor. It's not the most glamorous role, but she is doing all the intangible things to help us win a ball game."
The Bulldogs have little time to celebrate; they return to the court Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. to face BU.
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