The Elis had their best shooting performance of the season on Tuesday night, propelling them to a dominant win over Boston University 78–68.
Yale (3–1, 0–0 Ivy) traveled to Boston to face the Terriers (1–3, 0–0 Patriot League), a squad that defeated the Bulldogs 59–54 in New Haven last year. The Elis overcame an 80 percent shooting performance by BU from behind the three-point arc, holding them to only 38.6 percent from the field overall.
“I think the biggest key to bouncing back from our loss Saturday was the commitment the team made to playing pressure defense today,” Captain and guard Janna Graf ’14 said. ”Everyone worked together and our defensive spark helped fuel us on the offensive end.”
The Bulldogs shot 50 percent from long range, 44.6 percent from the field and 76.7 percent from the line. Each of these marks are season-highs for the Bulldogs.
The Elis started off strong, scoring the first eight points of the game. BU then rallied off 11 straight points to take the lead. The two teams continued to trade the lead until eight minutes remained in the first half with Yale leading 22–21. From then on, the Bulldogs would never look back, pulling away to head into the locker room up 35–27.
Yale maintained a single digit lead through to the 12:28 mark before going on a 20–7 run to extend the margin to 67–47 with under six and a half minutes remaining. The Terriers responded by pulling within six points; however, the run came too late, as only 47 seconds remained in the game. Although BU began intentionally fouling the Bulldogs, Yale players knocked down six straight free throws to close out the game, bringing the final score to 78–68.
“We started to pull away at the start of the second half because we came out with more energy than BU,” guard Sarah Halejian ’15 said in an email. “Our defense created a bunch of turnovers and helped us go on a run. Our bench players were key to us pulling away as well because they kept the pressure on and shot the ball extremely well.”
The Bulldogs were able to dominate the game inside the paint, outscoring the Terriers 32–22.
Yale also took advantage of BU’s miscues, scoring 22 points off the Terriers’ 19 turnovers.
“We remained poised throughout the game and we were able to make a run on BU by wearing them out on both the offensive and defensive end,” Graf said.
For the fourth straight game, 12 or more players stepped on the court for the Bulldogs showcasing their depth. The Bulldogs continued their balanced attack with three players scoring in double figures. Forward Meredith Boardman ’16 led Yale with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Halejian and Graf each added 12 points and two steals.
Yale faces Fordham University on the road Friday night as part of its four-game road trip.
“We need to use this momentum going into Fordham and continue our intensity on defense and our fast paced transition game,” Boardman said. “As with every game we hope to improve on the little things.”
The Elis defeated the Rams last year 67–53 and look to continue their early season success.