NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team (4-9, 0-0 Ivy League) opens Ivy League play on Monday at home against Brown (5:00 p.m.,
ESPN+,
International Stream,
Live Stats,
Tickets).
Last Game
After battling back from a deficit that was 14 at one point in regulation, the Yale women's basketball team was a split-second away from miraculously forcing a third overtime Dec. 20 against High Point at the Qubein Center. The Bulldogs trailed by two with 0.5 seconds left in the second overtime and inbounded the ball from the sideline near their bench. Senior forward
Kiley Capstraw (West Orange, N.J.) lobbed a pass across the court to sophomore guard
Marisa Chapman (Middletown, N.Y.), who was wide open at the baseline. Chapman's reverse layup from underneath the basket went in and sparked a huge celebration from the Bulldogs – but was ruled to have come after time expired. After an official review found no conclusive evidence that the ball had left Chapman's hand before the final buzzer, the Panthers came away with an 85-83 win.
Moore Named Ivy League Player of the Week After 33 Point Performance
Sophomore guard
Ciniya Moore (Bradenton, Fla.) was named Ivy League Player of the Week on Dec. 22. Moore opened some eyes with a career-high 33 point performance at High Point on Dec. 20. That was the most points in a game for a Yale player since
Roxy Barahman '20 scored 33 in a 96-86 win at Princeton in overtime Feb. 8, 2019. It was also the fourth time in the last seven games that Moore has set or tied her career high in scoring.
Career Year Loading for Capstraw
Forward
Kiley Capstraw (West Orange, N.J.), Yale's captain and the only senior on the roster, is on pace for career highs in multiple categories:
- Minutes per game 36.5 (previous high 32.5, 2023-24)
- Field goal percentage .388 (previous high .369, 2022-23)
- Rebounds per game 6.2 (previous high 3.4, 2024-25)
- Assists per game 4.3 (second in Ivy League) (previous high 2.6, 2024-25)
- Steals 21 (previous high 25, 2023-24)
Additionally, Capstraw is averaging 10.0 points per game, which would be second only to her 2023-24 average (11.2 points per game).
Meng Controls the Boards
Junior forward
Mary Meng (Grafton, Ohio) has 29 rebounds in the last two games. At 6-foot-5, Meng is the tallest player in the Ivy League.
Sensational Sophomores
Yale's sophomore class – guards
Marisa Chapman (Middletown, N.Y.),
Ciniya Moore (Bradenton, Fla.),
Ke'iara Odume (Syracuse, N.Y.) and
Magdalena Schmidt (Gmunden, Austria) – has combined for 31 starts and 47 games played and accounts for:
- 73 percent of Yale's three-pointers (37 of 51 three-pointers)
- 56 percent of Yale's scoring (435 of 781 points)
- 46 percent of Yale's minutes played (1233 of 2675 minutes)
- 39 percent of Yale's steals (45 of 114 steals)
- 35 percent of Yale's rebounds (146 of 416 rebounds)
- 29 percent of Yale's assists (51 of 174 assists)
What it Takes
Saturday marks the start of Ivy League play, with a 14 game Ivy season that will determine the league's champion. Four of the eight teams make the Ivy League Tournament, which takes place at Cornell's Newman Arena on Mar. 13-14 this year. The winner of the Ivy League Tournament earns the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament; last season two Ivy teams earned at-large berths in the NCAA Tournament. Here are the average number of league wins, out of 14 games, for each seed in the eight seasons of Ivy play since the Ivy League Tournament started in 2016-17 (there was no tournament in 2020, and no regular season/tournament in 2020-21):
- No. 1 seed: 12.875 average league wins
- No. 2 seed: 11.375 average league wins
- No. 3 seed: 9.25 average league wins
- No. 4 seed: 7.25 average league wins
Size Advantage
Yale has three players who are taller than Brown's tallest player (6-foot-1-inch Aima Ofunrein):
- 6-foot-5 inch junior forward Mary Meng (Grafton, Ohio)
- 6-foot-4 inch first-year forward Sophia Gibson (Taylor Mill, Ky.)
- 6-foot-2 inch first-year forward Dorka Kastl (Budapest, Hungary)
Scouting Brown
Brown (8-4, 0-0 Ivy League) has had five games decided by five or fewer points. The Bears are 2-3 in those games. Forward Alyssa Moreland – one of six seniors on the roster, including three who have started nine or more games – leads the Ivy League in rebounding (10.7 per game) and is second in steals (2.9 per game).
Social Media
