Yale With 44-25 Rebounding Advantage In Win

HANOVER, N.H. – After Saturday's game at Dartmouth, it was as if the Yale women's basketball had one collective sigh of relief – and plenty of screams for joy on the bus ride home. The streak has ended.

With Nyasha Sarju's (Seattle, Wash.) brilliance leading the way, the Bulldogs (12-17, 3-9 Ivy) held-off a late comeback by the Big Green for a 65-62 win in the Leede Arena – ending the recent nine-game losing streak.

Sarju recorded her first-career double-double with 30 points and 12 rebounds, which was her second time netting 30 this season (season-opener at Dayton). Her 12 boards is a career-high, capping-off a stellar weekend for the Yale senior.

"I just posted up inside and got some good passes. I was trying to be aggressive in making moves to the basket," said Sarju. Saturday was the eighth time this season that Yale's leading scorer has recorded 20 or more points.

The Elis held an impressive 44-25 rebounding advantage over the Big Green, which included Yale's 15 offensive boards. Junior forward Katie Werner (Phoenix, Ariz.) grabbed nine rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench.

"Rebounding is a focus of ours every day. There was an intensity and grit tonight," said Joel E. Smilow '54 head coach Allison Guth. "It was a courageous win after a heartbreaking loss. Our players playing for each other – to me, that's the stamp of what this program is about."

Senior guard Whitney Wyckoff (West Chester, Ohio) and junior guard Meghan McIntyre (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) each scored nine points in the win. Each hit a three-pointer in Yale's dominant 21-9 scoring advantage in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs had a lead as big as 21 points in the fourth quarter before Dartmouth attempted to mount a comeback, much like it did two weeks ago in New Haven. The Big Green outscored the Elis in the final period, 29-17, cutting the lead to one with seven seconds left.

Sarju hit two clutch free throws with five seconds remaining, as part of Yale's 12-of-15 effort from the charity stripe. Dartmouth's last effort fell short, preserving the win for Guth's squad.

"To have everyone bought in after the tough stretch we have had is really special," said Guth. Yale earned its first win since a 48-39 victory over Brown in Providence, R.I. on Jan. 22.

The second quarter proved key on Saturday night, as the Elis' defense held Dartmouth to nine points and 1-of-11 shooting from the field. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Yale shot 57.1-percent (8-of-14) and scored 21 in the quarter.

Whereas forcing turnovers has been a strength for Yale's defense this season, it caused just six turnovers by Dartmouth. The defense found other ways to get it done against the Big Green.

"Holding Lakin Roland to nine points was a huge victory for us because she is an extremely talented player," said Guth. "Allowing nine points in the second quarter was phenomenal…we went back to our pressure defense and despite a letdown in the fourth, I was really pleased with the effort."

Kate Letkewicz scored a team-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting for the Big Green, netting 18 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the fourth quarter alone. She hit a three with seven seconds remaining, cutting Yale's lead to 63-62 at the time.

"We wanted to be resilient, since we had lost nine straight. But in any of those games, we never thought once to just lay down," said Sarju. "We have a 40-minute mentality and today we went out and did that…we did a good job with positive communication tonight, like Coach Guth encourages."

Though Guth recognized there are things to work on going forward, it was difficult to find an unhappy person on the bus heading home. After all, Yale is back in the win column.

The Bulldogs finish the season with a pair of home games next weekend against Cornell on Friday and Columbia on Saturday. Both games tip-off at 7 p.m. and are available on the Ivy League Digital Network. Saturday will be Senior Night for the four senior players.

Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity