NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The famous quote attributed to Vince Lombardi – "We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time." – rings unfortunately true for the Yale women's basketball team after Saturday's game vs. Brown at Lee Amphitheater. Trailing by as many as 21 points in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs mounted a furious comeback to get within four. But the Bears had the final say, sinking multiple critical free throws to stave off the Yale rally. Brown came away with a 76-71 win.
Yale (3-12, 0-2 Ivy League) had fallen behind 24-9 the previous week against Harvard, and fell behind 22-9 this time. But whereas last week's game ended as a 19 point loss, this one wound up going down to the wire. Yale outscored Brown 48-38 in the second half, including a remarkable 17-0 run that started with a jumper from senior guard
Jenna Clark with 3:38 left and culminated with a free throw from senior forward
Brenna McDonald with 34 seconds left that pulled Yale within four, 71-67.
The Bulldogs would get no closer, however, as Brown (11-4, 2-0 Ivy League) went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 21 seconds to seal the win.
Still, the late rally showed what the Bulldogs are capable of.
"Our no-quit attitude has been fantastic throughout the season," said
Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "Just being able to have that fight in us is huge."
Notes
- Yale shot a blistering .556 from the floor in the fourth quarter, hitting 10 of 18 shots. That included a 2-for-3 performance on three pointers.
- Clark finished with a team-high 17 points, while sophomore guard Kiley Capstraw added 16. McDonald had 12 and junior guard Nyla McGill had 10.
- Yale enjoyed a 38-24 rebounding advantage.
- Yale tied its season high with 13 steals.
Quotes from Coach Eshe
- On junior guard/forward Mackenzie Egger, who had a season-high 10 rebounds and five steals: "The biggest thing was she did an incredible job on No. 2 (guard Kyla Jones). She kept her in front and frustrated her. That was an excellent adjustment we made earlier in the game. Mackenzie is a tough kid and a hard worker, so it was good for us to get her going."
- On playing well after a tough first quarter for the second straight game: "We started out the game with a large deficit, but then we lost the second quarter by only four and we won the next two quarters. It was a totally different ballgame. Early foul trouble is the adversity that we don't respond well to."
Other Ivy League Scores
- Columbia 82, Cornell 53
- Penn 53, Dartmouth 39
- Princeton 72, Harvard 49
Up Next
- Yale plays at Columbia Monday at 2:00 p.m.
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