Finale of Three-Game Home Stand
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Following two physical games against Manhattan and Army this week, the three-game home stand continues for the Yale women's basketball team on Sunday afternoon when it hosts Wagner at 2 p.m. in the Lee Amphitheater.
The Bulldogs (5-4) will play their third home game in six days, the busiest home stretch of the season, when the Seahawks come to town. Joel E. Smilow '54 head coach Allison Guth's squad is currently 1-1 this week, with a big win over the Jaspers and a narrow loss to Army.
The Yale-Wagner matchup can be seen on the Ivy League Digital Network, followed on Yale live stats, or monitored via @YaleWBB on Twitter.
Thursday's game with the Black Knights went down to the wire, with the Elis trying to mount a last-minute comeback from an eight-point deficit, but ultimately falling short. Senior forward Nyasha Sarju (Seattle, Wash.) had a team-high 23 points on 10-of-21 shooting in the loss.
A dominant defensive performance by the Elis on Tuesday night helped them cruise to a 62-36 win over Manhattan, in a game where Yale forced 33 turnovers by the visitor. The Bulldogs scored 26 points off those turnovers – including three players scoring in double-figures.
Entering Sunday's game with the Seahawks, Sarju leads the team and is fourth in the Ivy League with 16.7 points and 51.8-percent shooting from the field. She also leads the team with 6.1 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Whitney Wyckoff (West Chester, Ohio) and sophomore guard Tamara Simpson (North Babylon, N.Y.) have been the other main contributors. Wyckoff is averaging 9.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and three assists per game.
Simpson's defense has been game-changing, as the second-year guard already has 27 steals this season. Her average of three thefts per game is a league-best. She is the team's third-leading scorer with 8.4 points per contest.
Yale's defense is causing an Ivy-best 19.1 turnovers per game – proving its fast and aggressive style to be pivotal in stopping opposing offenses. The Bulldogs have caused a double-digit amount of turnovers in every game this season.
Sunday's game against Wagner will be the only time this season that Yale faces a Northeast Conference opponent. The Bulldogs easily handled the Seahawks last season, winning 90-65 on Dec. 17 in Staten Island, N.Y.
Scouting Wagner
The Seahawks will come to New Haven with a 1-4 record, most recently beating the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Wednesday for their first win of the season.
Wagner has played a difficult schedule to date, losing to Pittsburgh, Old Dominion, No. 7/14 Ohio State and Ole Miss. Sunday's contest is one of three games it has against Ivy League opponents this season – Penn and Columbia coming up this month.
Guard Jasmine Nwajei leads the Seahawks with 16.2 points per game, while also ranking second with 6.4 rebounds. Nwajei had her second-career triple-double on Wednesday, going for 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the win over NJIT.
Wagner is averaging 54 points per game and is shooting 32.2-percent from the field as a team. The Seahawks went 7-22 (5-13 NEC) and tied for ninth place in the Northeast Conference in 2014-15.
Yale leads the all-time series with Wagner, 3-0. Before last season's game, the two programs hadn't played since 1993.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
Dishing It Out: Sophomore guard Mary Ann Santucci (Seattle, Wash.) continues to lead Yale with 3.3 assists per game, including four games this season with at least five. Wyckoff is second with three assists and junior guard Meghan McIntyre (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) is third with 2.7.
Offensive Production: The Bulldogs have scored 60 or more points in all nine games this season. In 28 games during the 2014-15 season, Yale scored 60 or more on just 13 occasions.
Boxing Out Wins From Losses: Rebounding has been the (perhaps coincidental) deciding factor in every game for the Bulldogs. When outrebounding their opponent, the Elis are unbeaten at 5-0. When being outrebounded, they are 0-4 – including a 44-35 deficit to Army on Thursday.
Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity
