NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team opens the 2023-24 season this week, traveling to Pitt Tuesday (7:00 p.m.,
ACCNX,
Panthers All-Access Audio,
Live Stats,
Tickets) and hosting Saint Joseph's Saturday (12:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets).
Last Season
Yale ended last season with a 13-14 overall record, 7-7 in the Ivy League (fifth). The Bulldogs were ranked No. 204 nationally in the NCAA Net Rankings. They ranked second in the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (.298), holding their final three opponents to a combined 10 for 49 (.204) performance.
Captain Clark Comes Home
Tuesday's game at Pitt will be a homecoming for senior point guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Yale's captain. Clark was a two-time captain at Thomas Jefferson High, where she set the school record for career assists and earned first team all-state honors in 2018-19. She led the Jaguars to the 2019 WPIAL 5A championship playoff game for the first time in 39 years. At Yale Clark has also made her mark, leading the Ivy League in assists for two years – including a school-record 160 in 2021-22. She led Yale in scoring last year (10.9 points per game). Her 318 career assists rank her seventh in Yale history, 20 away from sixth (338,
Mady Gobrecht '11). She holds two of the top seven single-season assist totals in Yale history (160 in 2021-22 is first, 145 last year is fourth). Last year she was selected as one of the top 10 candidates for the 2023 Nancy Lieberman Award, which recognizes the best point guard in women's college basketball. She was recently
featured on The Next.
PA Connections for Tuesday's Game at Pitt
In addition to senior point guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.), senior forward
Haley Sabol (Pittsburgh, Pa.) is also from Pittsburgh. Sabol played two seasons at Mt. Lebanon High, where she was a WPIAL All-Section Team honoree as a sophomore, before transferring to Episcopal High School in Virginia for her final two years.
McGill Ivy League Co-Defensive Player of the Year
Junior guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) returns after earning Ivy League Co-Defensive Player of the Year last year. She had eight double-doubles, including a 17 point, 20 rebound game in the win at Harvard Feb. 3. She was second in the Ivy League in rebounding (8.9 per game) and steals per game (2.6) and fourth in field goal percentage (.497). She was third on the team in points per game (7.9). McGill was eighth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.4). Her 241 rebounds ranked her eighth in the Yale record book for a single season.
McDonald a League Leader in Blocks
Senior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) led the Ivy League in blocks per game last year (1.1). She started the final seven games and totaled 18 blocks in that span, an average of 2.6 per game.
Capstraw Looks to Build on Solid First Season
Sophomore guard
Kiley Capstraw (West Orange, N.J.) was a five-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week selection last year – two more than any other player. She finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.2 points per game. The Yale record for Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors in a season is six, held by four players. Capstraw scored 249 points last year. Of the 23 1,000 point scorers in Yale women's basketball history, only nine scored that many points or more in their first season.
Road Warriors
Yale opens the season playing five out of its first six games on the road. After this Saturday's home opener, the Bulldogs do not return to John J. Lee Amphitheater until Nov. 28.
Scouting Pitt
Pitt is coming off a 2022-23 season in which the Panthers went 10-20 and 3-15 in the ACC, losing to Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The Panthers ended the season ranked No. 105 in the NCAA Net Rankings. They are in their first season under head coach Tory Verdi, who spent the past seven seasons at UMass.
Scouting Saint Joseph's
Saint Joseph's, which opens its season Tuesday night against Rider, was picked second in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll. The Hawks return eight letterwinners and three starters from last year's team, which earned a spot in the WNIT after going 20-11 overall (including a 59-54 win vs. Yale in Philadelphia) and 9-7 in conference play. SJU was ranked No. 97 in the final 2022-23 NCAA Net Rankings.
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