The three-day weekend was not a kind one for the women’s basketball team.
In a defensive battle on the road, the women’s basketball team narrowly lost its first game of the Ivy League season Friday night, following the loss with another defeat Monday afternoon. On Friday, the Bulldogs (5–10, 0–1 Ivy) fell to an overwhelming Brown Bears team (4–11, 1–0) 60–56 in Providence.
“We got outtoughed a little bit,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said.
Despite outrebounding the Bears 52–42, the Elis found it difficult to withstand the Brown defense, noted Gobrecht, as the Bears held Yale to 29.5 percent shooting and forced 27 Yale turnovers, including 17 in the second half.
The game started promisingly for the Bulldogs, who held Brown to two points over the first 7:19 of the first half in building a 7–2 lead. The game would remain close for the rest of the evening, as Yale entered halftime with a slim 27–25 lead.
The Elis started the second half strong as well, building a 34-27 lead. However, Brown battled and came back to take a 56–50 lead with a few minutes to go and icing the game with free throws down the stretch.
“We didn’t keep our intensity up in that game,” guard Megan Vasquez ’13 said. “It was a game that we thought we should have won.”
Vasquez scored 12 points in the contest while guard Yoyo Greenfield ’11 contributed 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Forward Mady Gobrecht ’11 once again led the way for the Bulldogs in posting a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Forward Haywood Wright ’10 anchored the defense with five blocks.
Monday the Elis took the court against the Bryant Bulldogs without one of their key starters. Forward Michelle Cashen ’12 broke her nose in practice Sunday and was unable to play, Coach Gobrecht said.
The Bulldogs started slowly, falling behind as many as 19 points in the second half, before mounting a late furious comeback. But it wasn’t enough as the Elis came up short and lost 69–62.
“We just got outworked and didn’t play to our potential,” Greenfield said.
Bryant got off to a fast start, forcing 18 Yale turnovers in the first half en route to a 47–36 halftime lead. After Bryant led by as many as 19, Yale battled back in the second half, cutting the lead to 61–59 with 7:39 remaining. However, Yale would manage just one field goal the rest of the way and Bryant pulled out the victory.
Vasquez started as point guard for the first time this season, and rose to the occasion. The freshman scored a career-high 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds in 28 minutes of play.
Guard Allie Messimer ’13 had a career-high in points as well, scoring 12 points.
Despite the loss, the Elis took solace in the fact that their seven-game road trip was over, said coach Gobrecht.
“We’ve been on the road for months straight,” she said. “We’re tired. We’re injured. We just want to come home and start anew.”
Yale will play its first home game in over a month this Friday, as they seek revenge against Brown.
“We’re going to come back focused on Friday, and win,” Vasquez said.