NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The first game of 2024 is a big one for the Yale women's basketball team, as the Bulldogs head to Cambridge to take on archrival Harvard in the Ivy League opener Saturday (1:00 p.m.,
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Last Game
Yale (3-10, 0-0 Ivy League)
beat Quinnipiac 72-48 last Saturday at Lee Amphitheater. It was the team's largest margin of victory since a 28 point win (65-37) at LIU Dec. 8, 2021. Senior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) led the team in points (16) and rebounds (nine).
Dramatic Reversals
The work Yale put in during the nine days between the team's 75-56 loss to St. John's Dec. 21 and the 72-48 win vs. Quinnipiac Dec. 30 paid off in multiple categories. Here is a comparison of three key stats in both games:
- Cut turnovers down from 20 to 10
- Cut personal fouls down from 25 to 13
- Improved three-point shooting from 0-for-10 to 5-for-14
Heating Up at the Free Throw Line
Yale has shot .764 (26-for-34) at the free throw line over the last three games. The Bulldogs shot .640 (89-for-139) on free throws in their first 10 games.
Bulldogs Among the Best on the Offensive Boards
Yale is second in the Ivy League and 61st in the nation in offensive rebounding, averaging 14.0 offensive boards per game.
McDonald Sets, then Ties, Career High
The last two games have seen senior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) play some of her best basketball. She set her career high with 16 points against St. John's Dec. 21, then tied it Dec. 30 vs. Quinnipiac. She totaled 17 rebounds for the two games, leading the team in rebounds each time.
Clark Among Ivy and National Leaders
Senior point guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Yale's captain, is among the NCAA top 12 and/or Ivy League top four in multiple categories:
- 36.58 minutes per game – 1st in Ivy League, 12th nationally
- 6.6 assists per game – 1st in Ivy League, 10th nationally
- 86 assists – 1st in Ivy League, 11th nationally
- 2.21 assist/turnover ratio – 1st in Ivy League
- 190 field goal attempts – 2nd in Ivy League
- 78 three-point attempts – 6th in Ivy League
Clark has led the Ivy League in assists for the last two years.
Lynn Joins Yale's Scoring List
Yale's only first year, guard
Lucy Lynn (Liberty Lake, Wash.) scored her first career points – on her first career shot – in last Saturday's 72-48 win vs. Quinnipiac. Lynn, who led the Greater Spokane League 4A in scoring last season, has appeared in four games for the Bulldogs this season and has totaled 16 minutes.
On The Road Again
Saturday is Yale's first road game since Dec. 6 at Stony Brook. Five of Yale's first eight Ivy League games are on the road.
Ancient Eight Schedule
Once known for a league schedule that typically included six weekends of back-to-back league games on Fridays and Saturdays, in recent years the Ivy League has shifted its scheduling model. The conference season moved from an eight-week to a 10-week schedule, with the new format debuting in 2021-22. It consists of six one-opponent weekends and three of the league's signature Friday and Saturday back-to-back weekends. Each team also has a contest on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.
McGill Loves Seeing Crimson
Junior guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) averaged a team-best 17.5 points per game and 15.5 rebounds per game in Yale's two games vs. Harvard last year. She totaled eight steals, also a team best, and tied for the team lead with five assists. Her .556 shooting percentage (15-for-27) was best among all Bulldogs who took eight or more shots.
A Look Back
Yale's last visit to Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion was a memorable one. The Bulldogs trailed by eight, 57-49, with 3:45 to play. They rallied to force overtime after a steal by junior guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) enabled senior guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) to set up senior guard
Klara Astrom (Menlo Park, Calif.) for a game-tying three-pointer with 16 seconds left. Yale went on to
win in overtime, 71-70, for the Bulldogs' first victory at Lavietes since Jan. 27, 2012.
Scouting Harvard
Harvard (7-6, 0-0 Ivy League), is playing without leading scorer Harmoni Turner, a first team All-Ivy selection last year. Turner, a guard, is out indefinitely with an injury. Prior to the injury, which occurred in the game against Michigan Dec. 2, Turner was one of just four players in the country averaging at least 22 points, five rebounds and five assists per game. In five games without her Harvard has gone 2-3, with the bulk of the scoring load taken up by guard Elena Rodriguez (averaging 16.6 points per game in the last five games) and guard Lola Mullaney (averaging 16.0 points per game in the last five games). Mullaney is the lone senior in Harvard's starting lineup; the rest of it consists of a junior, two sophomores and a first year.
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