In unprecedented times, Yale University Athletics is rallying together as One Bulldog Nation. While the health and safety of everyone must be at the forefront of every decision, Yale Athletics celebrates the outstanding accomplishments that our winter postseason-qualifying teams and spring programs have made this season. Today we begin honoring the outstanding senior classes of our teams that had their seasons cut short. Next up is women's basketball.
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NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Last Monday, the Yale women's basketball team was preparing for a trip to the Ivy League Tournament. The Bulldogs were coming off an emotional weekend in which they swept Dartmouth and archrival Harvard at Lee Amphitheater, clinching the No. 3 seed in the tournament. They were scheduled to face No. 2 seed Penn -- a team they had beaten 71-54 two weeks earlier -- in the semifinals Mar. 13. Like all the teams with a spot in the Ivy Tournament, they were looking forward to a chance to claim the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Then, within a span of days, it was all gone. By Thursday afternoon, not only had the Ivy League Tournament been cancelled, but so had the NCAA Tournament. Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which was emerging as more and more of a worldwide threat with each passing day, the Bulldogs faced an abrupt end to their season -- and, for the team's three seniors, an end to their Yale women's basketball careers.
The sudden and unexpected way in which their careers ended does not diminish what Roxy Barahman, Megan Gorman and Jessica Lezon helped the Bulldogs accomplish during the last four years.Â
In their first year at Yale the Class of 2020 immediately helped the team improve its winning percentage, from .452 in 2015-16 to .556 in 2016-17. That set the stage for a breakthrough campaign in their sophomore season. The 2017-18 team won a school-record 19 games, earned a spot in the Ivy League Tournament and took home the WBI Championship -- becoming the first Ivy League women's basketball team to win a national postseason tournament.
The noteworthy accomplishments continued in the Class of 2020's final two seasons. Last year the Bulldogs won at Princeton for the first time since 2009, and this year they won at Penn for the first time since 2013. Their win vs. Harvard in the regular season finale -- their third win in three seasons vs. their archrival -- gave them 19 wins, tying the school record. It was also the team's ninth Ivy win, the most since the 2010-11 squad won 10. The Bulldogs ended the season with an RPI of 52, their highest ever at that point of the season.
The seniors lifted the team to those heights through a series of individual contributions both large and small over the past four seasons.Â
Barahman, a guard from Calabasas, Calif., rewrote the Yale record book as one of the top playmakers ever to wear the Y. A two-time first team All-Ivy League selection -- including a unanimous selection this year -- she finished fourth on Yale's career points list with 1,513 points and fifth on Yale's career assists list with 360 assists.
After missing part of her first year to injury Barahman emerged as a starter her sophomore season, earning honorable mention All-Ivy honors and Yale's Most Improved Player Award. She was fourth in the Ivy League in assists (4.1 per game). As a junior she led the league in scoring (18.6 points per game) and placed 47th nationally. She was second in the league in steals (2.0 per game) and sixth in assists (3.9 per game). She also delivered one of that season's signature moments, hitting a buzzer beater to defeat Harvard at Lee Amphitheater. On March 1, 2019 at Cornell she became the 22nd player in Yale women's basketball history to score 1,000 or more points.Â
Always looking to improve her game, this past season Barahman emerged as one of the best defenders in the Ivy League. She led the Ancient Eight in steals (2.5 per game) while remaining an offensive threat; she was third in points (17.1 per game) and assists (3.5 per game). She scored a season-high 29 points in the win at Penn.Â
An ecology and evolutionary biology major in Davenport College, Barahman plans to go to medical school.
Gorman, a forward/guard out of Vero Beach, Fla., came to Yale as a highly touted recruit after leading Vero Beach High to a Florida 8A state championship. She leaves as one of the best rebounders in school history (fifth all-time with 719 boards), and as someone who set the tone for the entire program with her leadership style.
Gorman immediately took on a starting role, finishing third on the team in rebounding in her first year (5.1 rebounds per game). She followed that up by finishing second on the team in rebounding as a sophomore (6.1 rebounds per game).Â
Gorman took another step forward in her junior year, finishing fifth in the Ivy League in rebounding (7.4 rebounds per game) and third on the team in assists (50). Playing in her home state of Florida in December 2018, she was named MVP of Florida Atlantic's Holiday Classic. She had a career-high 17 rebounds in the semifinals and 12 points in the championship as the Bulldogs won the tournament.Â
This season Gorman was elected captain by her teammates, a reflection of her ability to lead. She continued to contribute in ways both measurable (eighth in the Ivy League in rebounding, averaging 6.4 rebounds per game) and immeasurable. For all the rebounds she got herself, there were countless other times that her boxing out set up one of her teammates for a rebound. She also finished third on the team in assists and had three double-doubles -- all in Ivy League games.
Gorman also has excelled academically. She earned Academic All-Ivy League honors last year and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa this year. She is an economics major in Trumbull College and spent last summer working in investment banking in New York City. She will return there after graduation.
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Lezon, a native of North Reading, Mass., has been a portrait of perseverance. The six-foot-six center arrived at Yale having averaged 17.7 points per game and 15.9 rebounds per game at North Reading High. But her career with the Bulldogs was soon derailed by injury. After appearing in 11 games her first year, she missed all of her sophomore season. She made a comeback as a junior, appearing in the final game of the year after missing more than two years.Â
This season Lezon was sidelined once again but remained an integral part of the team at practices and at games. That culminated with her making one final appearance -- as a starter on Senior Night at Lee Amphitheater against Harvard. As arranged, she won the opening tipoff before committing a violation that stopped the clock, enabling her to come off the court to a loud ovation and hugs from everyone on the Yale bench. It was a fitting way to recognize a player who gave so much to the team behind the scenes.
Off the court, Lezon has been president of Special Olympics Unified Yale and helped organize a halftime game for Special Olympics athletes during a Yale game last season. She also has interned at Chapel Haven, a local organization that provides individualized services for people with developmental and social disabilities. She is a psychology major in Berkeley College.
Facing the near-term uncertainty of a world disrupted by the coronavirus, the Yale women's basketball Class of 2020 nonetheless prepares to graduate with a slew of accomplishments -- and many more to come in their years after Yale.
