Werner Adds 14 Points And Nine Rebounds Off The Bench

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In her first start of the season, Lena Munzer shined for the Yale women's basketball team with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, as the Bulldogs were bested by the Ivy League's first-place team in Penn on Saturday night, 77-59.

The Bulldogs (11-16, 2-8 Ivy) relied heavily on Munzer early on, who filled in for sophomore guard Tamara Simpson (North Babylon, N.Y.) due to her injury. Munzer was the only Bulldog in double-figures at halftime, scoring 12 of her 20 in the first half.

"I just wanted to win and I knew we were down Tamara, who is one of our leading scorers," said Munzer. "Our offense was slow at the start and we needed a spark, especially since Penn shot so well from the beginning…my teammates did a great job finding me."

The Quakers shot 71-percent (20-of-28) from the field in the first half, with only Munzer seeming to be the temporary offset. Simpson had just scored a career-high 28 points against Princeton on Friday before being held out of the lineup on Saturday.

"Tamara is one of our best players and we didn't come out with the energy we needed," said Munzer. "There are no excuses in the Ivy League, because you know you always play back-to-back games."

Junior forward Katie Werner (Phoenix, Ariz.) also provided a spark, recording 14 points and nine rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench. Sophomore guard Mary Ann Santucci (Seattle, Wash.) had a game-high five assists in the loss.

"I was so proud of Lena. She was ready when her named was called and gave us a ton offensively. Santucci also gave us big minutes down the stretch," said Joel E. Smilow '54 head coach Allison Guth.

Facing two of the league's most dominant post players in Sydney Stipanovich and Michelle Nwokedi, the Elis had their hands full. However, Yale received solid efforts from both Werner and sophomore forward Jen Berkowitz (Wayland, Mass.).

"We had good post presence tonight with Katie and Jen. They were both really aggressive underneath the hoop," said Guth. "We've been missing that reliable post presence for four weeks now, and against Penn's post, that was a huge bright spot for us."

Berkowitz had seven points and six rebounds to go with Werner's production. Junior guard Meghan McIntyre (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) chipped in six points and five rebounds in the loss.

Penn's biggest lead was 34 points in the third quarter, due in large part to the impressive aerial display of shooting that the Quakers enjoyed in the first half. A 54-26 halftime lead proved to be enough, despite Yale's 33-23 scoring advantage in the second half.

"We had focused so much on Stipanovich and Nwokedi and we wanted to double-down on them," said Guth. "Chambers was hitting – everyone was hitting for them. Our defense wasn't effective early on."

Werner, Munzer and Berkowitz combined for 24 points in the second half, leading the way for the Bulldogs. For much of the half, a lineup made of completely sophomores and juniors was on the floor.

"We always talk about building our future and you can do that in a lot of ways," said Guth. "The fight those players showed was great and they committed themselves to competing on the offensive and defensive ends."

Penn was led by Kasey Chambers with 25 points, including 5-of-6 from three-point range. Beth Brzozowski added 15 points in the win for the Quakers. It turned out that it was Penn's guards that hurt Yale the most.

Yale shot 42-percent from the field, including a 51-percent mark in the second half. The Elis also outrebounded the Quakers, 32-29, despite being undersized.

The Bulldogs will travel next weekend to Harvard and Dartmouth, looking for an end to the current losing streak. Yale plays Harvard on Friday at 7 p.m., a game that can be watched on ESPN3 and the Ivy League Digital Network.

Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity