Senior Night Festivities Begin Prior To Tip-Off On Saturday
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Just two games remain this season for the Yale women's basketball team, which is preparing to host Cornell on Friday and Columbia on Saturday to complete the 2015-16 schedule. Both games take place in the Lee Amphitheater at 7 p.m.
Friday's game will be Girl Scout Night, where several troops in the area will be in attendance – and will also be selling cookies. Saturday is Senior Night for Yale's Class of 2016, which includes Whitney Wyckoff, Nyasha Sarju, Emmy Allen and Meredith Boardman.
The Bulldogs (12-17, 3-9 Ivy) meet the Big Red and Lions for the second time this season, rounding-out the Ivy League schedule. Both games will be live on the Ivy League Digital Network, including Saturday's pregame ceremony for the seniors.
In most recent action, the Elis snapped their nine-game losing streak with a 65-62 win at Dartmouth on Saturday night. Sarju (Seattle, Wash.) was stellar with 30 points and 12 rebounds against the Big Green, her first-career double-double.
The night before Dartmouth, Sarju netted 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting in a last-second loss to Harvard. After averaging 25 points this past weekend, the senior forward was named Ivy League Co-Player of the Week with Princeton's Alex Wheatley.
Sophomore guard Tamara Simpson (North Babylon, N.Y.) continues to lead the league with 3.1 steals per game. When it comes to forcing turnovers, the Bulldogs rank second with 16.8 per game and are third with a +1.3 turnover margin.
Yale currently sits in sixth place in the Ivy League, three games behind Cornell for the fifth spot. Ending the season with two wins, however insignificant in the standings, would give Joel E. Smilow '54 head coach Allison Guth's squad plenty of momentum heading into the offseason.
In the first meetings with Columbia and Cornell, the Elis dropped both games on the road after leading for parts of each contest. Yale's current senior class, however, is 4-3 against Cornell and 6-1 against Columbia in its four seasons.
Scouting the Cornell Big Red
Cornell (14-12, 6-6 Ivy) pulled-off one of the biggest upsets in the Ivy League this past weekend, beating Penn, who was previously unbeaten in league play. Penn and Princeton are now tied with one loss each at the top of the standings.
Forward Nia Marshall leads the league with 17 points per game, serving as the Big Red's biggest scoring option. Cornell is second in the Ivy in field goal percentage, shooting 40.9-percent as a team.
Guard Megan LeDuc tallied a game-high 20 points against the Bulldogs in the first meeting, while Simpson and junior guard Meghan McIntyre (Santa Rosa Valley, Calif.) each scored 19 for the Bulldogs in the loss at the Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
Report on the Columbia Lions
Columbia (12-15, 1-11 Ivy) is coming off two home losses to Princeton and Penn, while still seeking its first road win in the Ivy League this season. The Lions defeated the Elis, 77-71, in New York City on Feb. 5.
Forward Camille Zimmerman is leading the Lions with 15 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Columbia's offense has struggled at times, leading all Ancient Eight teams in turnovers per game (17.5).
Yale has won seven of the last nine meetings against Columbia, dating back to the 2011-12 season. Simpson scored 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the loss to Lions last month, while Sarju added 15.
Bulldog News and Numbers
Going to Indianapolis: Whitney Wyckoff has been selected to participate in the WBCA's "So You Want To Be A Coach" program at the Women's Final Four this year from April 1-3. It allows networking opportunities with some of the best coaches in the country.
Player of the Week: Nyasha Sarju earned Yale's first Ivy League Player of the Week award since now-graduated Sarah Halejian did on Feb. 24, 2014. The Elis have racked up 24 mentions on the Ivy League Honor Roll this season (Simpson leads with 10).
Starting with Promise: Under Guth, the Bulldogs have won at least 12 games, with the possibility of having 14 after this weekend. In her first season as a head coach, Guth led Yale to more victories than Cecilia DeMarco (8 – 1990-91) or Chris Gobrecht (3 – 2005-06) did in their first seasons in New Haven (Gobrecht is the winningest coach in program history and DeMarco is second).
Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity
