Bulldogs Are Now 4-0 In January

Providence, R.I. – Junior center Emmy Allen scored a team and career-high 17 points and the Yale women's basketball team shot a season-best 54.3-percent from the field on its way to a 79-69 victory over Brown on Friday, the second win over the Bears in as many weeks and the fourth-straight for the Bulldogs.  

The Bulldogs (8-8, 2-0 Ivy) provided their most balanced attack of the season, seeing each of their nine players in the game score five or more points. Junior guards Whitney Wyckoff (West Chester, Ohio) and Nyasha Sarju (Seattle, Wash.) scored 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Only one week following a 66-49 victory over Brown in the Lee Amphitheater, the Bulldogs once again frustrated Bears' senior captain Sophie Bikofsky, holding her to only four points on 1-of-6 shooting. In last week's win, Yale held Bikofsky (13.5 ppg) to only one point (0-3 FG).

Yale's bench outscored Brown's reserves, 32-9, throughout Friday's game. Sophomore guard Meghan McIntyre (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) scored a season-high nine points (3-5 FG, 2-3 3FG) off the bench, while fellow guard Lena Munzer (Highland Park, Ill.) rattled in two three-pointers as well.

Allen, who broke her previous career-high of 14 points, was 5-of-7 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line to lead the Bulldogs in scoring. The 6-3 junior added five rebounds to her stat line for the night.

Yale shot a lights-out 66.7-percent (14-of-21) from the field in the second half, overwhelming the Bears with an explosive 46-point half. After trailing by three at the half, the Bulldogs used a 46-33 scoring advantage to pull away from Brown (6-10, 0-2 Ivy) for the double-digit victory.  

In a game where there were more combined fouls (47) than total rebounds for either team (Yale with 30, Brown with 28), free-throw shooting proved to be pivotal in the Bulldogs' ability to lock down the lead. Yale was 24-of-32 from the line, nearly offsetting Brown's 29-of-35.

Allen was 7-of-10 from the charity stripe, while Wyckoff was 6-of-6 and Sarju was 5-of-6 to keep the Elis with a comfortable lead in the final minutes of regulation.

Whereas last week's game against the Bears saw the Bulldogs jump out to a 23-6 lead in the first 12 minutes, it was Brown who seemed to come out with more energy on Friday. The Bears led 11-5 nearly six minutes into the game and would later use a 6-0 run to gain a 22-16 edge at the 9:20 mark of the first half.

The Bulldogs would regain momentum over the next three minutes, going on a 9-2 run due in large part to three-pointers by McIntyre and freshman guard Mary Ann Santucci (Seattle, Wash.) and taking a 25-24 lead.

After a Brown basket tied the game at 28 with 5:52 left in the half, the Bears would not score another field goal until the 16:18 mark of the second half, making 12 free throws in that time.

Facing a 42-39 hole with 15:56 left in the game, the Bulldogs exploded on a 13-4 run to take a 52-46 lead at 11:59. Munzer hit a three and freshman forward Jen Berkowitz (Wayland, Mass.) scored four points to lead the charge.

Yale would not surrender its lead for the remainder of the game. Allen scored nine of her 17 in the second half, while Wyckoff scored 10 of her 12 in the final 20 minutes.

The Bears narrowed the deficit to three with 7:45 remaining, but the Elis kept pushing forward, getting help from a Wyckoff jumper and a steal and layup by freshman guard Tamara Simpson (North Babylon, N.Y.) on consecutive possessions to regain a seven-point advantage.

Brown would not close the gap to less than five points in the final seven minutes of regulation. The Bulldogs shot 85-percent (17-of-20) from the free throw line in the second half to clinch the victory.

Santucci tied her career-high with six assists and set a new career-best with seven rebounds, which was a team-high. The Bulldogs held a 30-28 rebounding advantage in the game, improving to 7-0 this season when outrebounding their opponent.

Yale also continued to use pressure defense to help its offense, causing 17 Brown turnovers that resulted in 26 points.

Brown had two scorers, Jordin Alexander (21 points) and Natalie Ball (20 points), score 20 or more points in the loss. The Bears had only seven assists as a team, but recorded 10 steals and caused 17 turnovers on the defensive end.

Yale, currently enjoying a season-high four-game winning streak, looks to continue its winning ways when it hosts Columbia on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Lee Amphitheater.

Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity