NEW HAVEN, Conn. – After trailing Lehigh by as many as 13 points early in the fourth quarter Wednesday night at Lee Amphitheater, the Yale women's basketball team put together a 16-4 run that trimmed the deficit to one with 3:55 to play. But the Bulldogs could not get completely over the hump, missing two chances to take the lead after forcing a pair of Mountain Hawk misses. Lehigh got back on track with back-to-back baskets to get the lead back to five, then finished off a 70-63 win.
Yale (6-7, 0-0 Ivy League) never fully recovered from a slow start, including a scoreless drought of 2:41 to start the game. The Bulldogs led 11-10 after one, but Lehigh (4-7, 0-0 Patriot League) heated up in the second quarter. The Mountain Hawks shot .538 for the frame, outscoring Yale 21-14. That continued into the third quarter, with Lehigh shooting a blistering .667 and outscoring Yale 22-18.
"We started out locked in and intense on defense, then had mental letdowns in the second and third where we did not follow the game plan," said
Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball.
After a Lehigh three-pointer to start the fourth capped a 9-0 run, the Bulldogs answered – and as usual junior guard
Jenna Clark was in the middle of it. She hit three three-pointers in a span of less than two minutes to jump-start the offense. First-year guard
Kiley Capstraw followed up with Yale's next four points, the last two coming after a steal by sophomore guard
Nyla McGill. McGill finished with a career-high six steals, adding 10 rebounds.
"We told the team from day one that we're going to be a defensive team, and Nyla embodies that," said Eshe. "She sets the tone and is always reliable."
A pair of three-pointers from junior forward
Elles van der Maas then got Yale within one at 63-62, but the comeback ended there. Lehigh forward Frannie Hottinger – on her way to a 21 point night – turned a Yale turnover into a layup and drew a foul, hitting the free throw to get the lead to four. The Bulldogs would get no closer than that the rest of the way.
Capstraw, who has won two straight Ivy League Rookie of the Week Awards, led the Bulldogs in scoring with 22 points, while Clark added 17 and had six assists.
One silver lining for the Bulldogs was the return of sophomore guard
Christen McCann, who had been sidelined for the first 12 games of the season. McCann was fourth on the team in points per game last year, starting 24 games. She saw just over five minutes of action Wednesday.
"It was awesome to get her back on the court," said Eshe.
McCann's absence, along with that of unanimous first team All-Ivy selection
Camilla Emsbo (out for the season), had been a major part of the challenge of the first half of the season for the Bulldogs.
"We are just now starting to settle into what we're trying to be," said Eshe. "Losing Camilla had a big impact, as did not having Chris. We have been trying to find a new identity. Hopefully we will hit our stride going into Ivy League play."
Yale now has nine days without a game, resuming play Dec. 31 with the Ivy League opener against Columbia at Lee.
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