PHILADELPHIA – In the first two games of the 2022-23 season, the Yale women's basketball team has seen signs of the building blocks for success. The latest example came Friday night at Saint Joseph's, as two of the Bulldogs' talented sophomores registered their first career double-doubles on the same night. Guard
Nyla McGill finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and forward
Grace Thybulle had 16 points and 13 rebounds. They were part of a dominant 47-29 rebounding advantage for Yale, and McGill's 19 points were a huge reason why the Bulldogs had a 27-7 advantage in bench scoring – the second straight game in which Yale's bench outscored its opponent's bench by 20. But the Bulldogs were vexed early on Friday by poor shooting, and trailed by as many as 12 in the first quarter. A late rally to tie the score heading into the fourth was ultimately in vain, as Saint Joe's pulled away for a 59-54 win.
Yale (0-2, 0-0 Ivy League) shot just .211 in the first quarter, falling behind 8-0 before forward
Haley Sabol got the Bulldogs on the board at the 6:18 mark. The Hawks led 20-10 after one.
The second quarter was a different story, as a 10-0 run to start the quarter (12-0 including the final basket of the first) pulled Yale even. Thybulle capped the rally by pulling down a rebound and scoring to tie the game 20-20. But Saint Joe's answered with a 9-0 run to lead 29-20 at halftime.
Yale put together another run in the third, outscoring the Hawks 19-10. A pair of free throws by first-year guard
Kiley Capstraw in the final 30 seconds sent the game into the fourth tied 39-39.
Amidst all their rallies, the Bulldogs never managed to take the lead. Saint Joe's (2-0, 0-0 A-10) scored the first six points of the fourth as the Bulldogs missed their first three shots and did not get any rebounds.
A steal by sophomore guard/forward
Mackenzie Egger set McGill up for a layup that cut the SJU lead to 45-43 with 4:52 to play, but the Hawks answered with an 8-2 run to expand the margin to eight. Yale got no closer than four the rest of the way.
McGill led all scorers in scoring a career-high 19 points, and Thybulle's 16 were also a career high. Capstraw finished with eight, and in total 45 of Yale's 54 points (83 percent) came from first years or sophomores. Thybulle added a game-high four steals.
Yale hosts Fairfield Monday night at 7:00 in the home opener.
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