HANOVER, N.H. – The 2021-22 Yale women's basketball team continued establishing itself as one of the best defenses in the Ivy League Friday night, delivering a historic performance at Dartmouth's Leede Arena. The Bulldogs limited the Big Green to 33 points, matching the lowest total by a Yale opponent since the Bulldogs' 54-33 win vs. Columbia Feb. 10, 1996. Junior forward
Camilla Emsbo's 19 points, including the 1,000th of her career, led the way for Yale offensively in the 48-33 win.
"The thing we're most proud of is holding them to 33 points," said
Allison Guth, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "We shared it 13 times, and
Camilla Emsbo had a fantastic night."
Yale (13-7, 6-2 Ivy League) was coming off a frustrating loss to Princeton that snapped the Bulldogs' five-game winning streak. A cold shooting start – 4 for 16 – left the Bulldogs trailing 11-9 after one. Yale held Dartmouth scoreless for more than five minutes in the second and took a 14-13 lead on a three-pointer by first-year guard
Christen McCann, but four Bulldog turnovers in the final 3:21 helped Dartmouth rally and tie the game 16-16 heading into halftime.
Entering Friday's game Yale had outscored its opponents by more than 100 points in the third quarter, and that frame proved pivotal Friday. The Bulldogs scored the first five points of the quarter, holding Dartmouth scoreless for 4:31 to start. The Big Green closed to within three twice, but Yale answered each time. Emsbo's layup off an assist by sophomore guard
Klara Astrom with 4:35 left started a 6-1 run that gave the Bulldogs some breathing room heading into the fourth.
Dartmouth (1-18, 0-7 Ivy League) would get no closer than within nine after an Emsbo and-one off a fast break pass from Clark two minutes into the fourth quarter got the lead to double digits. The Bulldogs shot a blistering 63% for the quarter.
Emsbo, who now has 1,002 career points, added a game-high nine rebounds while Clark had 14 points and six assists.
Yale's 55.8 points allowed per game this season is second only to Princeton in the Ivy League. The win keeps the Bulldogs in sole possession of third place in the Ivy standings, trailing only two undefeated teams – Columbia and Princeton, who play each other Saturday. Yale plays at fourth-place Harvard (5-3 in the Ivy League) Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
