NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team had been posting impressive defensive numbers heading into Friday's game vs. Cornell, holding three straight opponents to 55 points or fewer. Yet the Bulldogs had dropped two of those games, a trend they needed to reverse against a Big Red squad looking to climb back into the Ivy League Tournament picture. Yale did so in decisive fashion, holding Cornell to 34 percent shooting en route to a 65-51 win that propelled the Bulldogs into sole possession of third place in the Ivy standings.
Yale (16-6, 6-3 Ivy League) had seemingly been put into a slump by the two teams atop the Ivy standings, No. 25 Princeton and Penn, with losses at home last weekend. But
Allison Guth, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball, saw signs of progress based on the team's defensive effort. That carried over into Friday's game, as the Bulldogs limited Big Red forward Laura Bagwell-Katalinich -- who had entered the night ninth in the Ivy League in scoring, averaging nearly 14 points per game -- to five points.
"We knew who we were locking in to," said Guth. "I am happy with our defense. We're getting better there."
The Bulldogs have allowed just 56.8 points per game in Ivy games, a dramatic improvement over last season (65.5 points per game). And on Friday night the offense got back on track, cracking the 65 point mark for the first time since a 67-47 win at Dartmouth Feb. 8. Junior guard
Ellen Margaret Andrews led the way with 18 points, adding seven rebounds, though senior guard
Roxy Barahman may have had the most significant points of the night from a historical point of view. By scoring 15, she moved into a tie with
Melissa Colborne '10 for fifth on Yale's all-time scoring list (1,418 points).
After the game, Guth praised her point guard's career accomplishments but was quick to focus on another specific detail from Friday's game.
"I'm most proud of Roxy's four assists tonight, and the way she's committed to our offense," said Guth. "The commitment she's made has been to get better every year. That's hard to do. Kudos to her, she deserves to be on that leaderboard."
Yale led throughout the game, though Cornell crept within one at 24-23 late in the second quarter. Andrews answered with a three-pointer -- one of four on the night for her -- and the Bulldogs eventually went into halftime up by five.
Limiting Cornell (9-12, 2-7 Ivy League) to just 11 points in the third quarter, Yale began pulling away. The Bulldogs got the lead to double digits by the end of the quarter and led by 12 or more the rest of the way. Barahman provided an exclamation mark for the evening by scoring off a behind-the-back dribble with less than two minutes remaining.
Yale now hosts Columbia Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Lions sit one game behind the Bulldogs in the Ivy standings, tied with Harvard for fourth place at 5-4 in Ivy play.
Play4Kay Pink Game
Saturday is Yale's "Play4Kay" Pink Game. The Bulldogs are raising money for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund's mission is to extend and improve the lives of those who are battling cancer, on our way to finding a cure, by raising money for research and assisting the underserved.
Fans can support the cause by pledging donations for each free throw the Bulldogs make during the month of February, or by making a flat donation. Pledges can be made at
https://pledgeit.org/yale-play4kay.
The Bulldogs' efforts are part of a national program in memory of Kay Yow, former head coach of the North Carolina State women's basketball team and past president and founding member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Coach Yow was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. She passed away in 2009 after an on-again, off-again battle with the disease.
At Saturday's game the Bulldogs will also host dozens of Girl Scout troops.
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