NEW YORK – The ultimate goal for Yale women's basketball is to develop a tenacious defense as the foundation for a championship-caliber program. There were some signs of that happening Saturday as the Bulldogs took on first-place Columbia at Levien Gym – but ultimately not enough. The Bulldogs held the Lions six points below their season scoring average and 20 percentage points below their season shooting percentage. But Columbia ultimately had the firepower to come away with a 74-46 win. Sophomore guard
Nyla McGill continued to shine for Yale, posting her third straight double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds).
The first meeting between these teams was six weeks ago, so Saturday's game marked a chance for Yale (11-12, 5-5 Ivy League) to measure its progress in that short span. Having allowed 97 points in a loss to the Lions Dec. 31, this time around the Bulldogs showed dramatic improvement. It took a hot-shooting fourth quarter (53.8 percent) for Columbia to boost its shooting percentage for the game to 43.1 percent, still below its average coming into the day (45.1 percent). The Lions' 74 points represented just the fifth time they have been held to that low a point total in an Ivy game this season. Their .286 three-point shooting percentage for the game was well below their season average entering the day, .366.
"We did a lot better job defensively for three quarters," said
Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "We were locked in and applied our scout. We also did a good job boxing out."
The teams were tied 7-7 at 5:26 of the first after sophomore guard
Christen McCann's layup. Still working her way back after missing 13 games due to injury, McCann's six points in 18 minutes Saturday – combined with eight points in 20 minutes in the previous game against Dartmouth – provide hope that she is rounding into form.
"Chris is a really good scorer; we've got to build her confidence after she missed so much time. We've got to get her in rhythm," said Eshe.
After McCann's layup Columbia (19-4, 8-2 Ivy League) went on a 14-0 run that did not end until McCann's pull-up jump shot at 6:16 of the second. That run provided the Lions with a cushion that the Bulldogs were never able to eliminate completely. They got within 11 later in the second, but by halftime Columbia had a 32-17 lead. Yale got no closer than 13 in the second half, with the Lions scoring progressively more points in each quarter as the game wore on (13, 19, 20, 22).
In addition to McCann, the Bulldogs also got valuable minutes off the bench from sophomore guard
Avery Lee. Her 17 minutes played marked the most time she has seen since playing 23 minutes at Quinnipiac Dec. 7.
"
Avery Lee did a really good job facilitating our offense and coming off ball screens," said Eshe.
Junior guard
Klara Astrom finished second on Yale with eight points but, like multiple Bulldogs, was limited by foul trouble. She fouled out with 8:31 left in the game, and was one of three Bulldogs with four or more fouls.
McGill added a game-high four steals to her double-double, her seventh double-double of the year. Junior guard
Jenna Clark was second on the team in rebounds with seven.
With the loss Yale is now two games behind the two teams tied for third in the Ivy League standings, Penn and Harvard (7-3). Columbia keeps pace atop the standings with Princeton, as both teams are 8-2.
Yale hosts Penn next Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Princeton next Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
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