Munzer Leads With 15 Points; Sarju With 14

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Friday night's game with Cornell required physicality, grit and focus – and the Yale women's basketball team brought all of the above in a 56-38 win over Cornell in the Lee Amphitheater.

Almost one month after losing to the Big Red by double-digits in Ithaca, N.Y., the Bulldogs (13-17, 4-9 Ivy) this time did not let up once they grabbed the lead. The Elis outscored Cornell in the second half, 30-20, cruising to the 18-point win.

In what became a very physical game with high emotions, Yale managed to stay poised, never surrendering its second-half lead. The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter.

"It's about getting your team to stay focused on the things they can control," said Joel E. Smilow '54 head coach Allison Guth after the game. "At the end of the day, all you can control is your effort, your execution and how smart you are playing."

It was a 28-7 bench scoring edge that helped Yale in the win, proving there to be multiple scoring avenues, especially with junior guard Lena Munzer (Highland Park, Ill.). Munzer scored a game-high 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting in 31 minutes off the bench.

"Lena does everything on the floor. It's not just from a scoring perspective," said Guth. "She rebounds, she plays defense, she plays tough; you have to have her on the floor to win a basketball game. I'm learning that."

Yale's ability to slow down Cornell's Nia Marshall, the Ivy League's leading scorer, proved to be crucial on Friday. Marshall scored just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, while being defended mostly by senior forward Nyasha Sarju (Seattle, Wash.) and junior forward Katie Werner (Phoenix, Ariz.).

"I thought the post did a really good job of communicating on defense, while the guards did a good job of doubling-down," said Werner. In 19 minutes off the bench, Werner scored six points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Sophomore forward Jen Berkowitz (Wayland, Mass.) had a career-high four blocks on the night, one of which was on Marshall. The defense forced 15 Cornell turnovers, scoring 17 points off those miscues.

Sarju added 14 points in the scoring effort, one of eight Bulldogs to score, while also grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. She was one rebound shy of her second-consecutive double-double, but helped Yale to a 45-32 rebounding advantage over the Big Red.

"I was really proud of our effort defensively, especially with rebounding. Everyone really stepped up," said Guth. The Bulldogs allowed Cornell to shoot just 27.8-percent (15-of-54) from the field.

Yale was also strong in an area that Guth has stressed repeatedly, and that is the free throw line. The Elis were 13-of-16 from the charity stripe, while Cornell was just 7-of-17. Munzer led the way, going 5-for-5.

In a low-scoring affair that had Yale ahead at halftime, 26-18, the Bulldogs came out cold in the second half – and then heated up pretty quickly. They finished the third period on a 12-0 run, building a 40-24 lead heading to the fourth.

With Cornell's continued struggles from the field, and Yale's defense unwilling to budge an inch, the Elis held-off the Big Red for their second-straight win. The Bulldogs are on their first two-game winning streak since sweeping Brown in consecutive weekends back on Jan. 16 and 22.

"For us, this game was important because we had a lead that we never gave up. We focused on defense all the way through," said Werner. "We buckled down and made things hard for them offensively."

Yale returns to action on Saturday night in the season finale against Columbia, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. It is also Senior Night, where the four members of the senior class will be honored in a pregame ceremony. The game can be seen on the Ivy League Digital Network.

Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity