NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The night that the Yale women's basketball team got its first win under
Dalila Eshe, the team's new Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball, was bound to be memorable. Thanks to a breakout performance, it will now also be known as the night that first-year guard
Kiley Capstraw announced her presence on the Yale basketball scene. Capstraw's 24 point night, including a 6-for-13 shooting performance, highlighted a 68-61 win over Fairfield in the home opener Monday at Lee Amphitheater.
Yale (1-2, 0-0 Ivy League) came out firing on all cylinders in front of the home fans, grabbing a 13-6 lead after one quarter and building that lead to as many as 13 in the second quarter. But Fairfield (1-2, 0-0 MAAC) rallied to get within six by halftime, then chipped away in the third to come out trailing only 43-39.
The Stags got within three with 8:38 to play, but the Bulldogs would allow them to get no closer. Sophomores continued to play a huge role for Yale, as guard
Nyla McGill's layup and guard/forward
Mackenzie Egger's layup off a turnover pushed the lead back to seven with just over seven minutes to play.
From that point on, the Bulldogs got the big plays they needed at key moments.
Junior guard
Jenna Clark provided a huge boost at the five-minute mark with Yale leading by seven, blocking a layup attempt by guard Mimi Rubino and getting the ball to go off Fairfield out of bounds. That came amidst a run of five straight points from Capstraw as the Bulldogs expanded their lead to 10.
"That was probably my favorite defensive play of my entire life," said Clark. "It gave our team a lot of energy, and got people excited."
The Yale lead was down to six with 3:30 left when Egger stepped up to draw a charge, another play that energized the Bulldogs and the crowd. It was the type of contribution that did not go unnoticed by her teammates.
"Those are the most important parts of the game," Capstraw said. "That changes the game right there."
Capstraw then provided the back-breakers at the line after Fairfield got within four with just over a minute to play. She sank four free throws to get the lead to eight, and the Stags would get no closer than five the rest of the way.
For Eshe, it was no surprise that Capstraw came through with the game on the line.
"She is an incredibly talented young player," said Eshe. "The sky is the limit for her … She stepped up as a freshman, took a deep breath and sank those free throws. That's a lot of pressure, but she's got ice water in her veins."
Capstraw's big night off the bench gave Yale a 28-10 advantage in bench scoring, the third straight game in which the Bulldogs' bench has outscored their opponent's by at least 18.
"They're doing a really good job of watching and learning," Eshe said of the bench. "They're also keeping up the energy."
Clark and junior guard
Elles van der Maas contributed 13 points each, and McGill led Yale with eight rebounds. Clark had a team-best five assists, while she and Egger added four steals each.
Still, Capstraw was the breakout star of the night – though she was quick to deflect the attention back to her coach.
"I've known Coach for a while now, and we really wanted to win this game – this game was really for her," said Capstraw, who had been recruited by Eshe when Eshe was an assistant at Princeton. "She's such a great coach and an awesome person."
Yale visits Army on Wednesday.
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