NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A veteran Columbia women's basketball squad picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason poll got off to a good start in league play Saturday afternoon at Yale's expense, downing the Bulldogs 97-53 at Lee Amphitheater.
Columbia (12-2, 1-0 Ivy League), coming off a second-place finish in the Ivy League last year, featured three seniors, one junior and one sophomore in its starting lineup. That quintet had combined for 215 career starts entering the day, and they provided the veteran leadership behind the eight-game winning streak Columbia brought into the game. The Lions have been among the teams receiving votes in each of the last three Associated Press national polls.
The Lions led by 15 early in the second quarter before Yale (6-8, 0-1 Ivy League) went on a 10-0 run that included three pointers from junior guard
Klara Astrom and first-year guard
Kiley Capstraw. But that five-point deficit was as close as the Bulldogs would get the rest of the way. A 9-3 Columbia run got the Lion lead back to double digits, and it grew to 22 by halftime (45-23).
Back-to-back three-pointers by junior guard
Jenna Clark and sophomore guard
Christen McCann early in the third got Yale within 47-29, but Columbia answered with an 8-0 run. The Lions never let the lead get lower than 19 the rest of the way.
McCann led Yale with 12 points, while Clark added 10 and five assists. Sophomore guard
Nyla McGill had a team-best nine rebounds, and sophomore forward
Grace Thybulle chipped in six.
Yale wound up with 10 more shot attempts than Columbia, but the Lions' .593 shooting percentage proved to be too much to overcome.
"We are supposed to be a defensive team, but today we had three quarters where we allowed 20 or more points," said
Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "We have to make a commitment to our defense, and we need to find the basket. Time and time again we have more possessions than our opponent, but we don't take advantage of it."
The Bulldogs – whose starting lineup featured two juniors, two sophomores and a first year who had combined for 75 career starts – now turn their attention to their first Ivy road trip, at Dartmouth and at Harvard next weekend. The Crimson opened league play with a 67-59 win vs. defending Ivy Champion Princeton Saturday, snapping the Tigers' 42 game winning streak in conference play.
Yale plays at Dartmouth Friday at 6:00 p.m.
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