Yale Athletics

On Saturday evening, the Yale women’s basketball team (1–1, 0–0 Ivy) ran out onto the court in East Lansing, Michigan, to an applauding group of friends and family welcoming Mackenzie Egger ’25 and her team to her home state. The fans, whooping and hollering, hoped to see the Bulldogs take down a powerful Michigan State team (2–0, 0–0 B10), which had already made a name for itself after walloping Oakland (1–1, 0–0 Horizon) by 65 points.

This was the first-ever matchup between Yale and Michigan State, and with both teams coming in hot off their first win of the season, both competed to leave the Breslin Center undefeated.

The first period began immediately with a Spartan jumper, and from there, the Bulldogs fought to climb back from an ever-growing deficit. Michigan State’s Grace VanSlooten proved a tough challenge to surmount for Yale’s defense, putting up ten points within the first ten minutes and consistently converting on mistakes by the Bulldogs. Early on, the Spartans’ lead soared, 9–25.

The second period mirrored the first, with each team doubling their points. A different Bulldog scored every shot during the second — Avery Lee, Magdalena Schmidt, Grace Thybulle and Ana Guillen — but the lack of consistency helped Michigan State pour points on. At halftime, the Spartans led 18–50.

Head Coach Dalila Eshe’s team looked to turn things around in the second half, and for a moment, it looked as if it was going to.

The third period, which began with a layup by Lee, showed the Bulldogs could hang with a Power-5 team like Michigan State. A rally that started late in the period saw new faces Marisa Chapman ’28 and Ke’iara Odume ’28 get in the action and contribute to the team’s comeback, and Egger’s leadership and skill work reduced the deficit. Odume had seven unanswered points in a row to finish the third, a period that Michigan State outscored Yale by just 16–17. 

Going into the fourth period, the score looked grim for Dan fans: 34–67.

Any momentum Yale had built in the third was quickly squandered when the Spartans broke out of the fourth and rampaged with 13 consecutive points, broken only by a free throw by Chapman. Despite help from an Abigail Long ’28 three-pointer and a Lucy Lynn ’27 free throw, both of who made their first appearances of the season with this game, Yale could not compete against an ultimately better Michigan State team. 

The final score read in red on the scoreboard: 44–100.

The Bulldogs travel to Hempstead, New York, to face the Hofstra University Pride (1–1, 0–0 CAA) on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m.