PRINCETON, N.J. – A win at Penn Friday night brought the Yale women's basketball team within one victory of clinching a spot in the Ivy League Tournament, but after a loss at Princeton Saturday night the Bulldogs will have to wait a bit longer before making their postseason plans. The first-place Tigers, who clinched their spot in Ivy Madness the night before, extended their conference winning streak to 37 games with a 74-36 win.
Yale (14-10, 7-5 Ivy League) was within 12-9 after a layup by junior forward
Camilla Emsbo eight minutes in, but the Tigers closed the quarter with a 9-2 run. A three-pointer by first-year guard
Christen McCann pulled the Bulldogs within eight in the second quarter, but Princeton then reeled off 11 straight points to lead 38-19 at halftime.
The Tigers' defense thwarted any chance of a Yale comeback in the third quarter, holding the Bulldogs to five points. Princeton (19-4, 11-0 Ivy League) then outscored the Bulldogs 19-12 in the fourth to finish off the win.
Emsbo led Yale with 11 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard
Jenna Clark added eight points and a team-best three assists.
"Princeton is a top 30 team in the country that is playing very well right now," said
Allison Guth, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "But we are very disappointed in not leaving here with our tanks empty."
Yale did get some good news earlier in the day, as a loss by fourth-place Harvard at Cornell ensured that the Bulldogs would maintain sole possession of third place in the league heading into the final two weekends of play. With a one-game lead over Harvard and a 1.5 game lead over fifth-place Penn, the Bulldogs remain in control of their own destiny for earning a spot in the Ivy League Tournament. Yale hosts Cornell next Saturday for Senior Day at Lee Amphitheater.
