NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team concludes the 2023-24 season Saturday at Brown (3:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets). With a win, the Bulldogs would end the season with three wins in their final four games.
Last Game
Yale (8-18, 5-8 Ivy League) fell to Columbia 76-50 last Saturday, finishing the final weekend of home games with a split. Senior guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led Yale with 16 points. Senior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) had 13 points and six rebounds. Junior guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.) had a double-double, including a team-best 11 rebounds along with 12 points.
Seniors Lead the Way in Scoring
Here is a breakdown of the scoring by class, with the percentage of the team's total points (1,581):
- Seniors (3 players who have scored) 566 points (44%)
- Juniors (4 players who have scored) 556 points (35%)
- Sophomores (2 players who have scored) 329 points (21%)
- First year (1 player who has scored) 2 points (.001%)
Improved Accuracy
Yale has improved its shooting percentage by 22 percentage points from last year to this year (.369 to .391). The Bulldogs have improved their free throw shooting by 19 percentage points (.660 to .679).
Close But Not Enough
In nine of Yale's 18 losses this season the Bulldogs have been within five points of their opponent, or had a lead, in the fourth quarter. Here is a breakdown of how close the Bulldogs have been in each of those nine games:
| Game |
Lowest Deficit/Largest Lead in 4th |
Final |
| Nov. 7 at Pitt |
Trailed by 2 with 1:14 left |
Lost 79-74 |
| Nov. 14 at BU |
Trailed by 4 with 6:24 left |
Lost 60-53 |
| Nov. 17 at Lehigh |
Trailed by 2 with 7:49 left |
Lost 90-75 |
| Nov. 20 at Pacific |
Led by 8 with 8:45 left |
Lost 66-59 |
| Dec. 3 at Merrimack |
Trailed by 5 with 1:38 left |
Lost 84-73 |
| Dec. 6 at Stony Brook |
Trailed by 3 with 8:12 left |
Lost 81-66 |
| Dec. 9 vs. Providence |
Trailed by 2 with :23 left |
Lost 63-58 |
| Jan. 13 vs. Brown |
Trailed by 4 with :21 left |
Lost 76-71 |
| Jan. 27 vs. Harvard |
Trailed by 4 with :45 left |
Lost 61-52 |
Clark Nears Marks
Senior guard
Jenna Clark (Pittsburgh, Pa.) enters the game with 986 career points. If she scores 14 or more points Saturday, she will become the 24th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Clark has 157 assists this season, three away from tying her own school record (set in 2021-22). She leads the league by 32 in that category, putting her on pace to lead the league in assists for the third straight season – a feat that has not been accomplished since Harvard's Brogan Berry did so from the 2009-10 season through the 2011-12 season. Clark is 12th in the nation in assists per game (6.0).
Clark had 17 points and nine assists against the Bears the last time these two teams met.
McDonald Enjoys Career-Best Year
Senior forward
Brenna McDonald (Natick, Mass.) leads the Ivy League in field goal percentage (.550) and blocks (1.5 per game) and is sixth in rebounding (6.6 per game). She is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.9 points per game – 7.8 more points per game than her previous season's best, set last year. She led the league in blocks last year with 1.1 per game. McDonald has started 33 straight games.
McGill Among Ivy Leaders
Junior guard
Nyla McGill (Charlotte, N.C.), last year's Ivy League Co-Defensive Player of the year, is tied for fourth in the league in steals per game (1.8) and is third in the league in rebounds per game (7.3). Last year she was second in the league in steals per game (2.6) and second in rebounds per game (8.9).
Ivy League Action this Saturday
- 2:00 p.m. Penn at Princeton
- 2:00 p.m. Columbia at Cornell
- 3:00 p.m. Yale at Brown
Scouting Brown
Brown (15-11, 6-7 Ivy League) is one game ahead of Yale in the Ivy League standings, sitting in fifth place. The Bears have lost two of their last three games to fall out of contention for the fourth and final Ivy League Tournament spot. They lead the league in field goal percentage defense (.394) and topped Yale 76-71 the last time these two teams met – despite a 17-0 run by the Bulldogs late in the game.
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