NEW HAVEN, Conn. – After opening Ivy League play with a close 79-72 win vs. Brown at Lee Amphitheater last week, the Yale women's basketball team left much less room for doubt in the rematch Saturday afternoon at Pizzitola Sports Center. Five Bulldogs scored in double digits -- led by a double-double from senior forward
Megan Gorman -- and the Yale defense limited the Bears to 26 percent shooting en route to a decisive 73-40 win. This marked the second time in the last six games (all wins) that Yale has held an opponent to 40 points.
Saturday's win also reversed a troublesome trend in recent years for Yale (12-3); the Bulldogs had dropped three straight games at Brown. They now have a 2-0 Ivy League start for the first time since 2016.
"Each season has a life of its own," said
Allison Guth, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "Our players were very hungry. Our seniors had not won here, and their focus really set the tone this week in practice."
Yale took control early, outscoring Brown (6-9, 0-2 Ivy League) 19-5 in the first quarter. And after the Bears got within eight in the second, the Bulldogs ended the quarter with a 10-0 run. That included six points off the bench from junior forward
Alex Cade, who went on to finish with 11 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes.
"I was really impressed with
Alex Cade's minutes," said Guth. "The way she settled in was a big reason why we were able to clean up our misses."
An 8-0 run to start the third helped keep the game firmly in Yale's control. The lead grew as large as 32 in that quarter, and the Bulldogs got it as large as 35 in the fourth.
The two points that got Yale's lead to 35 with 3:02 to play wound up being some of the biggest of the night, symbolically. They were the first two career points for first-year forward
Ayla Elam -- and they elicited a huge celebration from her teammates on the bench.
"That's what it's all about," said Guth. "This family that we have is a really tight-knit unit. The fact that whoever is on the bench is being so supportive of whoever is in the game represents our values. Our kids were really excited for Ayla to hit that layup. And our reserves as a group did a great job defensively, holding Brown to 10 points in the fourth quarter."
Gorman, a starter throughout her career, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead the way.
"
Megan Gorman had a fantastic game," said Guth. "She was really steady in what we needed her to do both on the defensive end and the offensive end."
Fellow senior
Roxy Barahman led the Bulldogs in scoring with 16 points and added three assists. Sophomore forward
Camilla Emsbo had 10 points, a pair of steals and a pair of blocks -- moving her past
Jen Berkowitz '18 into fifth place on Yale's career blocks list (87).
This is the first time Yale has won six in a row since Nov. 20 to Dec. 3, 2016. The Bulldogs next head to New York, where they will continue Ivy League play at Columbia and at Cornell next weekend.
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