NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team hosts Brown Saturday (2:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets). A win in the final game of the season would get Yale to seven Ivy League wins, marking the fourth time in the last five seasons the Bulldogs have reached or exceeded that total. Prior to the game the Bulldogs will honor their lone senior, forward
Camilla Emsbo (Lakewood, Colo.).
Last Game
Yale (12-14, 6-7 Ivy League)
won 63-42 at Cornell last Saturday, the Bulldogs' largest margin of victory of the season. Junior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) led the Bulldogs with a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Bulldogs enjoyed one of their finest defensive games of the year, limiting Cornell to a .276 shooting percentage (second-lowest of the season for a Yale opponent) and one made three-pointer.
Emsbo to be Honored on Senior Day
Prior to Saturday's game the Bulldogs will pay tribute to their lone senior, forward
Camilla Emsbo (Lakewood, Colo.). Elected captain by her teammates, she has missed this season due to injury but still
provides valuable leadership. Emsbo was a unanimous first team All-Ivy League selection last year, when she led the league in blocks per game (2.2, 26th nationally), double doubles (13) and field goal percentage (.514). She was second in rebounds per game (10.2), third in free throw percentage (.704) and seventh in points per game (14.1). She has firmly established her place in the Yale record books. She is second on Yale's career blocks list with 172. She is seventh on Yale's career rebounds list with 715. She joined the 1,000 point club last season and is 18th on Yale's career scoring list with 1,092 points. Emsbo was a five-star ESPN recruit out of Lakewood High, where she was Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Colorado. She was team captain as a junior and senior, leading the team to the Class 5A Final Four both times. She played alongside her identical twin sister, Kira, who now plays at Princeton.
Capstraw Named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for Fifth Time
First-year guard
Kiley Capstraw (West Orange, N.J.), who scored nine points in the 63-42 win at Cornell last Saturday, has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. The league announced the award on Monday. This is the fifth time this season Capstraw has earned the award. For the season Capstraw is second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.3 points per game. She is fourth among all Ivy League first years in scoring and has earned more Ivy League Rookie of the Week Awards than anyone. Brown's Grace Arnolie and Princeton's Madison St. Rose have won the award three times to tie for second. The Yale record for Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors in a season is six, held by four players.
Off to a Good Start
First-year guard
Kiley Capstraw (West Orange, N.J.) has scored 241 points so far this year. Of the 23 1,000 point scorers in Yale women's basketball history, only 11 scored that many points or more in their first season.
Clark Looks to Lead League Again
Junior point guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) leads the Ivy League in assists (138, 37th nationally), assists per game (5.3, 22nd nationally) and minutes per game (35.47, 58th nationally). Clark also led the league in assists per game last year (5.8), and is seeking to become the first player to lead the league in that category in back-to-back years since Harvard's Brogan Berry led the league for three straight years, from 2009-10 through 2011-12. Clark is third in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.53) and tied for ninth in steals per game (1.8). She leads Yale in scoring (11.0 points per game). By assisting or scoring, she has had a hand in 42.4 percent of Yale's field goals this season – more than any other player in the Ivy League. Her 311 career assists rank her seventh in Yale history, 27 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, 138 this year is seventh). Earlier this 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 NBC Connecticut.
McGill Among League Leaders in Rebounds, Steals
Sophomore guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) has eight double-doubles this season. She is second in the Ivy League in rebounding (9.0 per game) and third in the league in steals per game (2.5). She is third on the team in points per game (7.9). McGill is eighth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.4). Her 234 rebounds this season rank her eighth in the Yale record book, 14 away from seventh (248 by
Meg Simpson '02 in 2001-02).
McDonald Second in League in Blocks
Junior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) is second in the Ivy League in blocks per game (1.2). She has totaled 17 blocks in the last six games, an average of 2.8 per game.
Spreading the Wealth
Saturday marked the first game this season in which junior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick Mass.) has led Yale in scoring. Nine different Bulldogs have now 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:
Pride Day
Saturday's game is Yale's Pride Day. Yale's Office of LGBTQ+ Resources will have an informational table at the game.
Around the Ivy League
With one game left in the regular season, Columbia and Princeton are tied atop the
Ivy League standings with 11-2 league records. Penn (9-4) is third and Harvard (8-5) is fourth. Yale is fifth at 6-7. The top four teams in the Ivy standings make the Ivy League Tournament, which takes place at Princeton's Jadwin Gym Mar. 10-11 and determines the recipient of the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Columbia, Harvard, Penn and Princeton have clinched spots in the tournament. The Lions would earn at least a share of their first Ivy League title with a win on Saturday vs. Cornell; the Tigers would earn at least a share of their 17th Ivy League title with a win on Friday at Penn.
Friday's Ivy League games include:
- 7:00 p.m. Princeton at Penn
Saturday's Ivy League games include:
- 2:00 p.m. Brown at Yale
- 2:00 p.m. Cornell at Columbia
- 4:00 p.m. Dartmouth at Harvard
Scouting Brown
Brown (11-14, 4-9 Ivy League) has made strides in its third year under head coach Monique LeBlanc, and a win on Saturday would give the Bears their most Ivy League wins in a season since 2011-12 (when they went 7-7 in league games). Brown leads the league in blocks per game (4.2) and steals per game (10.5).
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