Zoe Berg, Photo Editor

The Yale women’s basketball team (12–7, 5–2 Ivy) is now halfway into the season, having faced every Ancient Eight team at least once. The Elis currently sit in third in the Ivy League standings, but will look to climb up the ranks ahead of this weekend’s matchups against Dartmouth (1–17, 0–6) and Harvard (10–9, 4–3).

After playing four home matches in the past two weeks, the Bulldogs will travel to New Hampshire to face off against the Big Green on Friday at 6 p.m. The following day, the squad will venture to Massachusetts for a 5 p.m. matchup against the Crimson. Yale’s two conference losses this season so far are against first-place Columbia (15–3, 6–0) and second-place Princeton (12–7, 6–0) both of which are still currently undefeated in the Ivy League. 

“We’re in a good position,” forward Alex Cade ’22 said. “Obviously, we would have wanted to be a tad bit higher. … The two games that we lost we could have definitely won. I think that’s really fueling us and making us excited for the next seven games … to kind of demonstrate to the Ivy League that we are top of the top, that we’re excited to get to the Ivy Tournament, hopefully win and go to the NCAA.”

This weekend, the Bulldogs will look to assert their dominance against a Dartmouth team that has had a tough season. The Big Green have only managed one victory this year — a 62–39 win against Texas State in December. Dartmouth will head into the matchup with Yale on a seven-game losing streak. On the other hand, this Saturday, the Elis will aim to shut down the red-hot Crimson, currently riding a three-game winning streak.

This season, the Bulldogs have already notched up big wins against both Dartmouth and Harvard. Yale defeated Dartmouth 57–43 and was outstanding offensively against the Crimson in a 80–73 game. However, the team is not complacent, heading into the second half of the conference season at full throttle and focusing on its growth.

“There were some deficiencies the last time we played both those teams, so [we’ve been working on] getting rid of those,” guard Avery Lee ’25 said. “I would say we definitely improved a lot since then and we’ve had good practices these past few days.”

The Big Green are led by new head coach Adrienne Shibles, who was hired last May. The team is in the midst of rebuilding its program, with a young roster composed mainly of freshmen and sophomores. However, the team has leaders in starters Mia Curtis, Mekkena Boyd, Carrington Washburn, Doreen Ariik and Jimena Abejon. Curtis is the team’s top scorer, while Ariik is the team’s main defensive pillar, leading the squad in rebounds and blocked shots. 

“We want to sell to the league that we’re not a team to mess with,” Cade said. “Against Dartmouth, we have to … come up with a win and use the game as a way to demonstrate that we can grow leads once we have them, make sure our defense is on point and not allow [Dartmouth] to get any momentum.”

The Crimson pride themselves in their depth and scoring prowess, ranking first in the league in three-point field goal percentage and scoring offense. Co-captains Tess Sussman and Annie Stritzel have been consistent high scorers in games. Most recently, the duo scored 21 points against Penn. Maggie McCarthy leads the team in minutes played and the league in shooting percentage beyond the arc. Above all, the Bulldogs will need to keep their eyes on first-year star Harmoni Turner, who currently leads the Crimson in points, field goals, rebounds, assists and steals. 

“We’re looking forward to [proving] our defense on [Harvard] shooters,” Cade added. “We’re excited to have Camilla [Emsbo ’23], Grace [Thybulle ’25], Brenna [McDonald ’24] and myself take advantage [of Harvard’s lack of taller players] and be strong in the post. We’re confident in our shooters … and I’m excited for our bench to be used in depth during that game.”

Cade, Emsbo, Thybulle and McDonald have been titans at the rim, each averaging more than 10 rebounds per 40 minutes. Emsbo and guard Jenna Clark ’24 have also been remarkable offensively, averaging 14.3 and 12.2 points per game respectively. Besides its strong starters, Yale also possesses significant depth in its bench. 

“[We look forward to] showing our dominance over Dartmouth and Harvard by beating both of them twice,” Klara Astrom ’24 said about the weekend matchups. “That’s the goal … building on what we did [earlier in the season] and perfecting our performance. They should be really fun matchups.”

Yale outscored its opponents by more than 100 points in the third quarter of this season.