NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team plays a pair of Ivy League games on MLK weekend, hosting Cornell Saturday (3:00 p.m.,
NESN,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets) and traveling to Brown Monday (3:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets).
Last Game
Yale (8-8, 2-1 Ivy League) rallied from an eight-point deficit with 3:45 remaining in regulation Saturday to
beat Harvard 71-70 in overtime at Lavietes Pavilion. Sophomore guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) led Yale with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She also had a game-high five steals, including a critical one with 24 seconds left in regulation that set up a game-tying three-pointer by junior guard
Klara Astrom (Menlo Park, Calif.). It was the Bulldogs' first road win against their archrivals since Jan. 27, 2012.
Spreading the Wealth
Saturday marked the third game this season in which sophomore guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) has led Yale in scoring, tying her for the second-most on the team. Eight different Bulldogs have led the team in scoring at least once.
Including ties, here is the list of how many times each player has led the team in scoring:
Capstraw Earns Fourth Ivy League Rookie of the Week Honor
First-year guard
Kiley Capstraw (West Orange, N.J.), who shot .500 while totaling 20 points and nine rebounds last weekend, has been
named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. This is the fourth time this season Capstraw has earned the award; all of those selections have come in the last five weeks. In Yale's 57-47 win at Dartmouth Friday Capstraw scored 11 points, second on the team, while hitting five of her 10 shots. In the Bulldogs' 71-70 overtime win at Harvard Saturday she had nine points, including a critical three-pointer in overtime. She finished the Harvard game with zero turnovers, the second time this season she has played 29 or more turnover-free minutes in a game. Capstraw is Yale's leading scorer and is 12th in the league, averaging 11.6 points per game. She leads all Ivy League first years in scoring, and is the only first year in the league who is leading her team in scoring. She and Brown's Grace Arnolie are the only players who have earned more than one Ivy League Rookie of the Week honor this season. Arnolie has won the award twice.
McGill Keeps Doubling Up
Sophomore guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) got her fourth double-double of the season Saturday, scoring 18 points and adding 11 rebounds. Her season high in points is 19 (Nov. 11 at Saint Joseph's) and her season high in rebounds is 13 (Nov. 11 at Saint Joseph's and Dec. 7 at Quinnipiac). She is second in the Ivy League in rebounding (8.7 per game) and third in steals (39). She is 14th in the nation in offensive rebounding (4.1 per game).
A Big Part of the Offense
With 65 field goals and 82 assists, junior guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has had a hand in 40.9% of Yale's field goals. The only player in the Ivy League who has had a hand in a greater percentage of her team's field goals is Princeton guard Kaitlyn Chen (46.0%). Clark leads the Ivy League in assists per game and is 33rd nationally (5.1). She is second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg). She is on the
Watch List for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the country.
Here are the top 10 players in the Ivy League in terms of percentage of their team's field goals they have had a hand in:
| Rank |
First Name |
Last Name |
Team |
FG |
Assists |
Team FG |
Her % of Team's FG |
| 1 |
Kaitlyn |
Chen |
Princeton |
88 |
60 |
322 |
46.0% |
| 2 |
Jenna |
Clark |
Yale |
65 |
82 |
359 |
40.9% |
| 3 |
Harmoni |
Turner |
Harvard |
105 |
57 |
408 |
39.7% |
| 4 |
Kayla |
Padilla |
Penn |
89 |
60 |
397 |
37.5% |
| 5 |
Shannon |
Mulroy |
Cornell |
57 |
60 |
359 |
32.6% |
| 6 |
Kyla |
Jones |
Brown |
93 |
26 |
366 |
32.5% |
| 7 |
Kitty |
Henderson |
Columbia |
59 |
74 |
465 |
28.6% |
| 8 |
Abbey |
Hsu |
Columbia |
91 |
42 |
465 |
28.6% |
| 9 |
Julia |
Cunningham |
Princeton |
53 |
38 |
322 |
28.3% |
| 10 |
Kaya |
Ingram |
Cornell |
47 |
52 |
359 |
27.6% |
Astrom Heats Up
Junior guard
Klara Astrom (Menlo Park, Calif.) is coming off back-to-back double-digit point games, as she scored 12 in the win at Dartmouth Friday and 11 in the win at Harvard Saturday. None were bigger than the three she sank with 16 seconds left in regulation at Harvard to tie the game. Astrom totaled 10 rebounds and four assists for the weekend. She has now reached double digits in points in a game five times this season, with four of those coming in the last seven games.
Sabol and Thybulle Come Up Big
Two of Yale's tallest players came up huge this past weekend. Junior forward
Haley Sabol (Pittsburgh, Pa.) scored 11 points in the win at Harvard Saturday, three shy of her season high (14 vs. BU Dec. 13). She is now 6-for-9 (.667) from three-point territory in the last five games. She totaled 17 points, six rebounds and three steals for the weekend. Sophomore forward
Grace Thybulle (Irvington, N.Y.) had eight points and six rebounds in the win at Dartmouth Friday. That was the second game in a row with six boards for her, while the eight points were her most in a game since scoring 16 at UMass Nov. 30. At six-foot-three, Thybulle is Yale's tallest active player (six-foot-five senior forward
Camilla Emsbo (Lakewood, Colo.) is out for the season). Sabol is one of three Bulldogs who check in at six-foot-two.
Home Sweet Home
Saturday marks Yale's only home game in a span of 33 days. The Bulldogs last played at Lee Amphitheater on Dec. 31 and after Saturday they will not play there again until Feb. 3 vs. Harvard. The Bulldogs are 26-13 (.667) at Lee Amphitheater since the start of the 2018-19 season.
Rally Towel Giveaway
Saturday's game features a rally towel giveaway for the first 150 fans.
Scouting Cornell
Cornell (8-8, 1-2 Ivy League) has lost two in a row since beating Dartmouth 61-48 in the Ivy League opener. Yale has won four in a row against the Big Red, including a
56-40 win in the most recent meeting. Senior guard Ania McNicholas leads the Ivy League and is fourth in the nation in steals with 57. She is a big reason why Cornell leads the Ivy League and is 15th nationally in turnovers forced per game (21.75). Head coach Dayna Smith is the longest-tenured coach in the league (she is in her 21st season).
Scouting Brown
Brown (8-7, 1-2 Ivy League) has lost three of four entering Saturday's game at Princeton. The Bears rank second in the Ivy League in field goal percentage defense (.386) and feature two of the top three players in the league in blocks per game: six-foot-two forward Mya Murray is first at 1.27 and six-foot-three center Gianna Aiello is third at 1.07. The Bulldogs have won five straight in the series vs. Brown, with the most recent win coming
Mar. 5, 2022 in Providence (64-49).
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