NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team has excelled defensively against the three-point shot for most of this season. The Bulldogs had held their opponents to .211 or worse shooting from three 10 times in the first 19 games. But on Saturday at Lee Amphitheater, Penn put on a three-point shooting display that saw the Quakers hit eight of 11 shots from deep (.727). Those 24 points proved decisive in Penn's 80-60 win.
Yale (2-18, 1-6 Ivy League) fell behind by as many as 12 in the first quarter, and went into the break down 26-16 after a last-second three pointer by Penn guard Saniah Caldwell.
The deficit increased to 15 at one point in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run that included baskets from senior forward
Grace Thybulle, first-year guard
Marisa Chapman and senior guard/forward
Mackenzie Egger (who also had a block). Yale went into halftime down 41-30.
Penn (11-9, 2-5 Ivy League) extended the lead to 17 with 1:35 left in the third, prompting a Yale timeout. The Quakers wound up ending the quarter on a 10-2 run and led 62-42 heading into the fourth. The final quarter was evenly played, 18-18, but that was not enough for the Bulldogs to overcome the deficit.
The win moves Penn into a tie for fifth in the Ivy League standings with Dartmouth, two games behind fourth-place Brown.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
KEY STAT
- Penn had 12-0 advantage in fast break points.
NOTES
- Senior forward Grace Thybulle was 4-for-5 (.800) from the field.
- All nine of Egger's rebounds were defensive.
- Egger's 24 points were four shy of her career high.
- Four Penn players scored 17 or more points, led by 18 from guard Stina Almqvist.
- This was the third time this season the Bulldogs were perfect from the free throw line. They made all six of their shots.
- Foul trouble hindered the Bulldogs, with Egger, Thybulle and first-year guard Marisa Chapman all collecting three or more fouls before the end of the third quarter. Thybulle and first-year guard Ciniya Moore eventually fouled out.
- Yale wore special pink uniforms as part of "Play4Kay" weekend, raising awareness of the fight against cancer in memory of former NC State head coach Kay Yow.
QUOTING DALILA ESHE, YALE'S JOEL E. SMILOW, CLASS OF 1954 HEAD COACH
- On Saturday's loss: "It started with us not being able to handle the press and not being dialed-in defensively. We actually hit our goal today in terms of three-point attempts allowed. They had 35 yesterday at Brown. The goal was to hold them under 15, which we did [Penn had 11 attempts]. But we needed them to be contested attempts, not wide-open because we over-helped."
- On losing despite some bright spots: "It's frustrating because in some areas we played well. We shot 45 percent from the field. We were 100 percent from the free throw line. We were decent – 33 percent – from three. Those numbers were solid."
AROUND THE IVY LEAGUE
- Columbia 71, Dartmouth 48
- Harvard 72, Cornell 60
- Princeton 60, Brown 47
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale hosts Cornell next Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
