Sports | 3:12 pm | January 4, 2011 | By

BOOLA BOOLA | Following upset win, women’s basketball team goes 2-2 over break

It has been an up-and-down past couple of weeks for the women’s basketball team. The Bulldogs have split their last four games, scoring wins over Quinnipiac and Bucknell, while dropping games against Fordham and Villanova.

The Bulldogs experienced their first win streak of the season after they followed up their upset of Florida State with a 74-68 victory over cross-town rival Quinnipiac (3-6) on Dec. 20 at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Though the Bobcats controlled the beginning of the first half and built a 32-22 lead with 5:56 left on the clock, the Elis countered with an 11-3 run that cut Quinnipiac’s lead to 35-33 at halftime. Yale then started the second half with a 20-8 run that put the game out of reach for the Bobcats.

Forward Michelle Cashen ’12 and guard Megan Vasquez ’13 both scored 20 points in the effort to lead the Bulldogs.

The team then took a nine-day break before travelling to the Bronx, N.Y. to participate in the Fordham Holiday Classic on Dec. 29 and 30. Perhaps rusty from the break, the Elis went winless in the tournament.

The Bulldogs opened the Classic with a 62-44 loss to Fordham. Despite having a slight 24-23 edge at halftime, the Elis saw it disappear over the course of the first 5:20 minutes of the second half, as Fordham (7-7) went on an 18-0 run to seize control of the game. Yale could not recover after that, and Fordham was able to pull away with the victory.

The Elis succumbed to a similar second-half breakdown the next day when they were handed a 57-44 defeat at the hands of Villanova (7-6) in their second game of the Classic. Though the Bulldogs had a six-point advantage at halftime, Villanova opened up the second-half with a 16-2 run that put the game out of reach for Yale.

Following the Classic, the team returned home to host Bucknell (3-9) on Jan. 2 in its first game of 2011. The Bulldogs started off the year on a high note, knocking off the Bison 69-58.

Yale and Bucknell battled for control of the game for most of the contest. At the end of the first half, the Bison had a slim 31-30 edge over the Bulldogs.

The game stayed close in the second half. The two teams went back-and-forth until the Elis took the lead for good with 6:49 left on the clock. Then the Yale defense took over and held the Bison to just three points over the final 7:28 minutes of the game to secure the victory.

Vasquez scored a team-high 16 points in the game. Forward Mady Gobrecht ’11 added 15 points and seven assists. The Bulldogs also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Bucknell 37-25.

The team wraps up non-conference play at Army on Sunday. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.

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