MIAMI, Fla. – First-year guard
Ciniya Moore of the Yale women's basketball team made the most of the chance to play in her home state Saturday afternoon at Ocean Bank Convocation Center, scoring a career-best 21 points. And while other Bulldogs chipped in as well – Moore's classmate, guard
Marisa Chapman, had her second-best scoring output of the season (11 points) – FIU ultimately had more scoring punch. Four Panthers scored in double digits to help FIU break the 80 point barrier for the second time in three games, beating the Bulldogs 82-60.
Yale (1-10, 0-0 Ivy League) led early – 8-4 on six points from Moore – but FIU (3-5, 0-0 Conference USA) answered with a 6-0 run and went on to lead 22-18 after the first quarter. The Bulldogs then went back ahead by as many as five in the second quarter, thanks to back-to-back threes from Chapman. FIU responded with a 14-2 run that was ended by a buzzer-beater from Chapman that sent Yale into halftime within five, 38-33.
Yale got within two twice in the third quarter, but a 14-0 run by the Panthers proved decisive. The Bulldogs got no closer than 13 the rest of the way.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- First-year guard Ciniya Moore led Yale with 21 points, more than doubling her previous career high (10 points).
- Senior guard/forward Mackenzie Egger led Yale with seven rebounds.
- Moore and senior guard Avery Lee had a team-best two assists.
- Egger had a team-best six steals, the most in a game for a Yale player since Feb. 10, 2024.
KEY STAT
- FIU limited Yale to 3-for-15 shooting, including 1-for-7 on three pointers, in the third.
NOTES
- Yale was a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line. Junior guard Kiley Capstraw was 6-for-6.
- Yale had a season-high 11 steals.
- The game marked the first career start for sophomore guard Lucy Lynn and first-year guard Magdalena Schmidt.
- Chapman hit three three-pointers. Prior to Saturday's game, she had totaled one three pointer in her first 10 games.
- A native of Bradenton, Fla., Moore played for IMG Academy, where she was Defensive Player of the Year on the IMG National Team in 2023.
- Dalila Eshe, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Basketball, is a native of Tallahassee, Fla., and starred for the University of Florida. She was first team All-SEC as a senior, leading the Gators with 14.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale plays at Quinnipiac Monday at 6:00 p.m.
