NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team is headed into its second-longest break of the season with some momentum. The Bulldogs put on a defensive display Tuesday afternoon against BU, holding the Terriers to their lowest point total of the season (tie) in a 58-46 win. The 12 point margin of victory was Yale's largest of the season, and it gives the Bulldogs a pair of wins in the last three days as they enter a period of seven days before they play again.
Yale (6-6, 0-0 Ivy League) was coming off an emotional
60-58 overtime win on Sunday that wasn't decided until sophomore guard
Nyla McGill hit a buzzer-beater. Tuesday's game played out much differently. The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the first five minutes. BU would eventually rally to tie the game in the second, but after a three-pointer by junior guard
Jenna Clark at the halftime buzzer gave Yale a 25-22 edge the Bulldogs spent much of the third quarter building the lead – and most of the fourth quarter maintaining it.
Junior guard
Haley Sabol, who earned her first career start, had six of her career-high 14 points in the third quarter as the Bulldogs built their lead up to 12 by the end of the frame. Sophomore guard
Avery Lee's and-one at the end was part of a five-point quarter for her.
Yale never let BU get any closer than eight within the fourth, closing things out with a 6-2 run over the final 90 seconds.
"We finally felt what it feels like to keep piling it on," said
Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "This was the first game where we took control and settled in."
Defense was a key part of Yale's effort, as the Bulldogs held BU (5-5, 0-0 Patriot League) to a .327 shooting percentage. Among the Terriers' opponents this year, only Miami held them to a lower mark (.304). The Hurricanes were also the only other team to hold BU under 61 points, beating them 81-46 Nov. 13.
"We locked in on what we are trying to accomplish, which is to keep our opponent under 55," said Eshe. "We also kept them at 12 or under in each quarter. We did not have many errors defensively, and we also boxed out really well – BU only had seven offensive rebounds, and three of those were dead-ball rebounds."
Yale' 43-34 advantage on the boards was led by a season-high eight from first-year guard
Kiley Capstraw, fresh off being
named Ivy League Rookie of the Week primarily for her offensive efforts (she averaged 14 points per game last week and had 12 Tuesday).
"Kiley is such a competitor," said Eshe. "She's always trying to add things to her game. She's a big guard, and it's great to see her show her capability there [getting rebounds]."
Clark led Yale with 15 points and her second-highest assist total of the season (seven). McGill, playing with a protective facemask, had a relatively quiet night in every stat except one – a team-best +17 in 21 minutes of work. Clark was +16 and Sabol was +15.
Yale plays again on Dec. 21 vs. Lehigh, then has a nine-day break before Ivy League play starts Dec. 31 vs. Columbia.
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