The Bulldogs End A Three-Game Losing Skid.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Up by only two with 1:22 remaining in the game, it was freshman guard Tamara Simpson who put the Yale women's basketball team on her back, scoring two clutch baskets in the final 82 seconds to help the Bulldogs pull away from Monmouth, 62-58.

In the team's first home game since a winless three-game road trip to Seattle and Anchorage, a game in the Lee Amphitheater proved to be just what the Bulldogs (2-4, 0-0 Ivy) needed on Tuesday night. A home game, along with some big-time hoops by a first-year guard.

The visiting Hawks (3-2) entered the game riding a three-game winning streak, but were unable to overcome the offensive brilliance of Simpson (North Babylon, N.Y.) down the stretch, who scored a season-high 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

For the third straight game, the Bulldogs came out of the gate a little slow, facing deficits of 11-6 and 20-12 in the first 11 minutes of game time. The Elis made six of their first 17 attempts from the third, hovering around the 33.3-percent shooting mark they experienced in Alaska.

Yale would charge back though, narrowing the margin before halftime with help from six points by senior guard Sarah Halejian (Wyckoff, N.J.) to go on a 13-7 run before intermission and cutting the lead to 27-25.

The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game on a free throw from junior guard Whitney Wyckoff (West Chester, Ohio), making it 30-29 at the 17:04 mark in the second half.

The two squads would exchange leads for the next 15 minutes of regulation, resulting in a total of nine lead changes for the game.

For the Hawks, they used their size to gain an upper-hand on the Elis for most of the night. Sophie Beaudry (6-foot-5) and Sara English (6-foot-4) caused problems for Yale under the basket, but foul trouble caught up with Monmouth's post players.

Beaudry (four points and five rebounds) picked up three fouls in 39 seconds (17:43-17:04), leaving English to carry much of the load the rest of the way. Two Monmouth players fouled out of the game, while three others played with four.

Though undersized, the Bulldogs remained scrappy, using a defensive combination of junior forward Meredith Boardman (Oak Park, Ill.) and freshman forward Jen Berkowitz (Wayland, Mass.) to frustrate the Monmouth forwards. For the game, Yale held a 41-38 rebounding advantage.

Trailing 49-46 with 5:30 remaining, Simpson started the late-game charge with a jumper along the right side.

Minutes later, the Bulldogs started running and received two fast-break layups by Lena Munzer (Highland Park, Ill.) and Halejian, both of which were assisted by Simpson. The pair of buckets, part of an 11-2 fast-break scoring advantage in the game for Yale, put the Elis up by four with 3:16 remaining.

That is when the spotlight turned to Simpson. The Hawks trailed by two after consecutive free throws by Jasmine Walker with 1:38 left, but the Bulldog freshman stepped up to the challenge.

On the next Yale possession, Simpson drove to the hoop and put up a runner with her left hand, banking it home to stretch the lead to two possessions once again. Following a Monmouth free throw, Simpson again came down the lane and scooped the ball in, giving her team a five-point lead.

The Bulldogs and Hawks would exchange free throws for the last 47 seconds until the final buzzer sounded and Yale came away with the four-point victory.

Halejian was the game's high-scorer with 17 points, which included shooting a lights-out 11-of-14 from the charity stripe. However, Simpson's 15 proved to be the difference in an offense that struggled to find a second scorer to complement the senior captain while in Washington and Alaska.

Berkowitz, Munzer, Wyckoff, and Werner all produced seven points each, providing a balanced scoring attack against the Hawks.

Yale once again shined the offensive glass, grabbing 16 rebounds to Monmouth's eight, resulting in 11 second-chance points. Sophomore forward Katie Werner (Phoenix, Ariz.), who entered the game second in the Ivy League with 3.8 offensive boards per game, snagged five more on Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs also took care of the ball against their MAAC opponent, turning the ball over a season-low nine times, compared to 17 for the Hawks.

Sara English went for a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks in the losing effort.

Yale is back in action on Saturday afternoon in the John J. Lee Amphitheater when it faces Boston University at 2 p.m.

Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity Assistant