WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Yale women's basketball team got contributions from multiple players in multiple ways Wednesday morning against American at Bender Arena. Four Bulldogs scored nine or more points (including a career-high 22 from sophomore guard
Ciniya Moore), three had eight or more rebounds and three had four or more assists. That all added up to a 63-54 win.
Yale led by as many as nine in the first quarter, jumping out to a 17-8 lead before American ended the quarter with a 9-2 run. The Bulldogs started the second quarter with a 6-0 run that included three layups and prompted an AU timeout. The lead eventually grew as large as 12 points later in the quarter. After American cut it to six, a three-pointer by Moore and a steal and layup by sophomore guard
Marisa Chapman sent Yale into halftime up 40-29.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 13 in the third quarter, and went ahead by 17 on a Moore three-pointer with 7:19 left in the fourth. American cut the advantage to seven with 3:08 remaining, but Yale held firm after that. After the Eagles missed a three-pointer, the Bulldogs got an and-one from Moore to go back up by double digits and help seal the win.
Yale improves to 1-6 (0-0 Ivy League) while American drops to 1-5 (0-0 Patriot League).
STATISTICAL LEADERS
KEY STAT
- Yale shot .583 (7-for-12) from three-point territory. American shot .167 (4-for-24).
NOTES
- Yale committed a season-low 11 turnovers.
- The Bulldogs' 19 assists were their most in a game since also getting 19 Nov. 12, 2024 at Hofstra.
- This was the third straight game in which Yale led at halftime.
- Chapman finished one point shy of a double-double (11 rebounds, nine points).
- Vydrova finished one rebound shy of a double-double (11 points, nine rebounds).
- This was the second straight game in which Kastl, the Ivy League Rookie of the Week last week, had four blocks.
QUOTING DALILA ESHE, YALE'S JOEL E. SMILOW, CLASS OF 1954 HEAD COACH OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
- "I'm really happy for the girls [to get the first win of the season]. Now we get a little break for Thanksgiving."
- "We have been stressing our offensive execution. The main area of focus was making the extra pass. We shared the ball really well. Eighteen assists is huge."
QUOTING KILEY CAPSTRAW, YALE'S CAPTAIN
- "It feels really good to break the seal [and get the first win of the season]. This was the epitome of a team win. Everybody played their roles so well."
- "We started [the season] 0-6, but that's not the trajectory this team is on, and this is the beginning."
UP NEXT
- Yale visits Penn State Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
