NEW YORK – A veteran Fordham team with 466 games of experience in its starting lineup – believed to be the most among Division I schools – provided a tough test for the Yale women's basketball team Monday night in the season opener at Rose Hall Gymnasium. The Bulldogs, playing their first game with
Dalila Eshe as the team's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach, countered with a 29-5 edge in bench scoring. They hung with the Rams for most of the game after allowing a 10-0 run early, but in the end Fordham held on for an 80-67 win.
Sophomore guard/forward
Mackenzie Egger, the second player off the bench for the Bulldogs, provided an early spark by driving for a jump shot from the elbow that tied the game 14-14 in the first. But Fordham answered with that 10-0 run, taking a 24-14 lead early in the second.
The Bulldogs whittled that lead down to six twice in the second quarter. The second time came when junior forward
Elles van der Maas hit a pair of threes in a span of 26 seconds; she and Egger would finish tied for the team lead in points with 15. But Fordham once again answered, this time with a 7-0 run before junior guard
Jenna Clark's layup in the final seconds cut the deficit to 39-28 at halftime.
Fordham (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) built the lead up to 15 by the end of the third quarter, then got it to a high of 19 with 7:58 to play. But the Bulldogs continued to battle. Clark's three-pointer with 4:48 to play got Yale within 69-59. After a 7-2 Fordham run, three points from junior guard
Klara Astrom and a three-pointer from Egger cut the lead to nine with 80 seconds left. Yale's next two possessions ended with a missed jump shot and a turnover, though, enabling Fordham to close out the win.
Clark, named to the watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award in the preseason, finished with 12 points along with three steals and a game-high 10 assists. In addition to Egger's 15 points, the Yale bench provided 10 points from guard
Avery Lee, who drew eight fouls and was 3-for-4 from the field.
First-year guard
Kiley Capstraw earned her first career start, finishing with four points.
Fordham was led by 22 points from guard Anna DeWolfe and 17 points from guard Asiah Dingle.
Yale (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) plays at Saint Joseph's Friday night.
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