NEW HAVEN, Conn. – A back-and-forth battle between the Yale women's basketball team and Brown on Monday evening at Lee Amphitheater saw the teams knotted at 41 at halftime after the Bulldogs led for the majority of the first half. But Brown gradually pulled away in the second half, including outscoring the Bulldogs 27-17 in the fourth. The Bears went on to finish with an 88-72 win to open Ivy League play.
An early lead for Brown, 3-2, quickly dissipated as the Bulldogs shot .550 in the first quarter and at one point led by as many as seven (23-16). They went into the second quarter up 25-19.
Brown rallied and tied the game 31-31 at 6:41 of the second, and after four lead changes in the quarter the teams eventually went into halftime tied 41-41.
The Bears heated up in the third quarter, shooting .563. A buzzer-beating layup by Isabella Wesley at the end of the third sent Brown into the final frame with its biggest lead of the game to that point, 61-55.
Yale got within four on a layup by senior forward
Kiley Capstraw with 8:06 left in the game, but Brown answered with a 9-0 that gave the Bears a 73-60 lead with 4:52 left. That deficit that proved too much for the Bulldogs to overcome.
Yale drops to 4-10 (0-1 Ivy League) while Brown improves to 9-4 (0-0 Ivy League).
STATISTICAL LEADERS
KEY STAT
- Brown had a 52-26 advantage in points in the paint.
NOTES
- This was Yale's second-highest point total of the season, trailing only the 83 points the Bulldogs scored in their last game – a double-overtime game at High Point on Dec. 20.
- Four Bulldogs scored in double digits — Moore (25), Capstraw (15), Vydrova (13) and sophomore forward Marisa Chapman (13).
- Yale shot .459, the Bulldogs' second-best shooting percentage of the season.
- Yale shot .833 (10-for-12) from the free throw line, the sixth time this season the Bulldogs have shot .800 or better from the free throw line in a game.
- Capstraw's nine assists were the most in a game by a Yale player since Jenna Clark '24 had nine Mar. 1, 2024 in a 79-72 win vs. Cornell.
- Moore made five three-pointers, the most in a game by a Yale player since Capstraw made five Dec. 1, 2023 vs. UMass.
- Meng made her first start of the season.
QUOTING DALILA ESHE, YALE'S JOEL E. SMILOW, CLASS OF 1954 HEAD COACH OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
- On Brown's second-half surge: "They did a great job of exposing us in the post. You can win a lot of games with 72 points, but you can't win a lot of games giving up almost 90. We let our guard down defensively, and that hurt us."
- On playing for the first time since Dec. 20: "The long break was still good for us. We still got better. I don't think tonight was indicative of the growth that we've had. It always takes a little time to shake off the rust. Brown was obviously very motivated tonight."
UP NEXT
- Ivy League play continues Saturday at 2:00 p.m. vs. Princeton.
