NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team opens up Ivy League play Sunday at Columbia (1:00 p.m.,
SNY,
ESPN+,
Live Stats). Even though it is the season opener, the game figures to have big implications for the final Ivy standings – these two teams finished within a game of each other in the last Ivy season, with Yale going 9-5 and Columbia going 8-6.
Last Game
Yale (7-5, 0-0 Ivy League) closed out 2021 with a win in its final non-league game, besting Army West Point 68-50 on Tuesday. The Bulldogs limited the Golden Knights to a .290 shooting percentage, blocking a season-high eight shots (including a career-high six by junior forward
Camilla Emsbo (Lakewood, Colo.)). Sophomore guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led Yale with 20 points, eight assists and three steals. Sophomore guard
Klara Astrom (Menlo Park, Calif.) tied her career high with 19 points.
Best Defense in the Ivy League
After allowing only 50 points Tuesday – the second-lowest total for any Yale opponent this year – the Bulldogs lead the Ivy League in scoring defense (56.4 points allowed per game). That is a 9% improvement from the previous season, 2019-20, when they allowed 62.1 points per game.
Bulldog Duo Among Best in NCAA
Two Bulldogs rank among the national top 25 in various statistical categories:
- Sophomore guard Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- 12th in assists (71)
- 14th in assists per game (5.9)
- 20th in minutes played (436:25)
- 22nd in minutes played per game (36.37)
- Junior forward Camilla Emsbo (Lakewood, Colo.)
- 4th in double doubles (8)
- 10th in blocked shots (32)
- 13th in blocked shots per game (2.67)
- 19th in rebounds (124)
- 21st in rebounds per game (10.3)
No Sophomore Slump Here
The sophomore class has accounted for 299 of Yale's 719 points this year (42%). Two of the team's top three scorers come from that class: guards
Klara Astrom (Menlo Park, Calif.) (third, 10.0 points per game) and
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) (second, 12.7 points per game).
Another New Starter
First-year forward
Grace Thybulle (Irvington, N.Y.) made her first career start Tuesday, becoming the seventh different Bulldog to start a game this season. She joins her classmate, guard
Christen McCann (Port St. Lucie, Fla.), and sophomore guard
Klara Astrom (Menlo Park, Calif.) as the three Bulldogs who have made their first career starts this season.
New-Look Ivy Schedule
Sunday's game marks the first for Yale under the new Ivy League schedule format. The conference season has moved from an eight-week to a 10-week schedule. It will consist of six one-opponent weekends and three of the league's signature Friday and Saturday back-to-back weekends. Each team will also have a contest on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Scouting Columbia
Columbia (9-3, 0-0 Ivy League) has won four of its last five games, but has not played since Dec. 13. The Lions are ranked No. 118 in the NCAA's NET Ratings, second only to Princeton (No. 42) among Ivy League teams. They lead the league in scoring, averaging 75.1 points per game.
Per Columbia's policy announced on Dec. 29, Sunday's game will be closed to spectators and the general public. It will be broadcast on SNY and streamed
on ESPN+ and
internationally.
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