Tag Archive: Basketball

  1. W. BASKETBALL | Women host Crimson, Big Green

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    After a weekend split on the road, the women’s basketball team returns home to host Harvard and Dartmouth in another pair of key conference matchups.

    The Bulldogs (8–12, 4–2 Ivy) will host the Crimson (13–6, 5–0) tonight and the Big Green (5–14, 1–4) tomorrow night. The Elis enter the two matchups looking to rebound from a 67–57 loss at Columbia last Saturday. Yale is currently tied with Columbia for third place in the Ivy League.

    The weekend begins with a meeting against archrival Harvard. The Crimson is the only remaining team in the Ancient Eight with an undefeated league record and currently sits atop the Ivy League standings. Harvard is coming off a sweep of Princeton and Penn over the weekend and is currently riding a seven-game winning streak.

    Harvard boasts the highest-scoring offense in the Ancient Eight, averaging 74.2 points per game. Guards Brogan Berry and Victoria Lippert are the Crimson’s top scorers, averaging 14.1 and 13.6 points per game, respectively, and are ranked as the second- and third-leading scorers in the Ivy League. Berry also leads the league in assists per game, dishing out 4.58 assists a night.

    “Harvard has a great transition game, probably the best in the league at that, so you definitely have to stop that,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “I think they have a lot of weapons, they’re deep [and] they play a lot of people, so they just keep coming at you. But I think if we play our game and do the things that we’re capable of doing, it’s going to be an excellent game.”

    The Crimson swept the season series against the Bulldogs last season and has won the last four meetings between the two teams. Harvard leads the all-time series against Yale 41–27.

    The Elis will end the weekend with a game against Dartmouth on Saturday night. The Big Green is coming off a weekend split, earning its first league win against Penn, 68–65, last Friday, but suffering a defeat to Princeton, 75–50, the following day.

    Sophomore guard Faziah Steen leads the Big Green with 12.6 points per game, while freshman forward Janelle Ross averages a team-best 6.5 rebounds per game.

    “They’re just a solid team that’s not going to beat themselves,” Gobrecht said. “You’ve got to beat Dartmouth. They take care of the important things, they rebound great and they work really hard on not turning the ball over. I think it’ll be important that we pressure them and try to keep the game fast-paced, and that’s a little harder usually on a Saturday night than it is on a Friday night.”

    Though the Bulldogs swept the season series against Dartmouth last season, the Big Green still holds a significant edge in the all-time series, leading 50–16.

    This Saturday the Bulldogs will also participate in the Women’s College Basketball Association’s Pink Zone Day, an annual event to raise breast cancer awareness. The fundraiser will feature a silent auction. Raffle tickets and T-shirts will also be sold to raise money for the Smilow Cancer Center. All the funds collected from ticket sales will also be donated to the cause.

    Tip-off for both games is slated for 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

  2. W. BASKETBALL | Another weekend, another split

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    The women’s basketball team’s New York road trip ended with another weekend split for the Elis.

    The Bulldogs (8–12, 4–2 Ivy) defeated Cornell (5–15, 2–4) 57–49 in Ithaca on Friday night before falling at Columbia (5–15, 4–2) 67–57 the next day.

    “This is probably the toughest road trip because Cornell is so far away, and Columbia had a bunch of fans, so it was a really tough environment,” captain Yoyo Greenfield ’11 said. “I feel like we didn’t really step up to play the second night out.”

    After splitting the weekend games, the Bulldogs are now tied with Columbia for third place in the Ancient Eight standings, behind Harvard and Princeton.

    The road trip began when the Elis traveled to upstate New York face the Big Red. Despite a slow offensive start to the game, the Bulldogs rallied in the second half to power past Cornell.

    “I think it’s a good sign when you can not play your best and get it done on the road,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “I thought we really struggled, and it had all the signs of one of those nightmarish games on the road. We had people in foul trouble, and we couldn’t get anything, and we had a really hard time getting on track offensively.”

    Three Elis ended the night with double-digit point totals. Forward Mady Gobrecht ’11 scored a game-high 18 points and pulled down six rebounds, while guard Megan Vasquez ’13 and forward Janna Graf ’14 totaled 14 points each.

    The Bulldogs also saw the return of Greenfield, who had missed the last 13 games with lingering concussion symptoms from a collision she suffered in November. Greenfield was limited to five minutes off the bench and had one rebound and one steal.

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    “It was great to have her out there,” coach Gobrecht said. “She’s got to get some rust out and whatnot, but she’s going to be important to us. I think that every game she’s going to keep getting better and better.”

    Guards Allyson DiMagno and Taylor Flynn led Cornell with 10 points each in the effort. DiMagno also grabbed nine boards, while guard Stephanie Long tallied a game-high five assists.

    The Big Red opened the game by outscoring the Bulldogs 12–3 over the first eight minutes to take an early lead. But the Elis responded with 12 unanswered points, seven of which were from Gobrecht, to go up 15–12 at the 9:47 mark.

    Still, the Bulldogs’ edge did not last long, as Cornell used two consecutive layups to take a slim 16–15 lead.

    The two teams traded buckets for the remainder of the half, but Flynn knocked down two free throws with 48 seconds left to give the Big Red a 24–21 advantage at halftime.

    Cornell started the second half by expanding its lead to eight after Kristina Danielak hit a pair of jumpers and Clare Fitzpatrick added a free throw. But the Bulldogs used three shots from beyond the arc from Vasquez, forward Ericka von Kaeppler ’13 and Gobrecht to get back in the game and trim Cornell’s lead to 31–30 at the 12:28 mark.

    One minute later, a pair of shots from the charity stripe from forward Michelle Cashen ’12 gave the Bulldogs a one-point lead. Cornell’s Maka Anyanwu countered with a layup that gave the Big Red a 33–32 lead with 11:16 to play, but that would be the last time Cornell would lead. The Bulldogs shutdown Cornell’s offense over the next 4:32 while scoring 10 consecutive points to go up 42–33 with 7:14 left on the clock.

    “We had trouble scoring in the first half, so in the second half we really worked on executing our offense,” Vasquez said. “Also, we switched up our defenses during the second half and Cornell had a hard time scoring on us.”

    Still, the Big Red battled back to cut the deficit. A layup from Spencer Lane brought Cornell within four points with 3:15 to play, but that would be as close as Cornell would get. The Elis hit key free throws down the stretch to secure their fourth league win.

    “They were very physical and played hard,” coach Gobrecht said. “It wasn’t that pretty, but we got it done. But I do think we need to play better tomorrow night.”

    The Elis continued their New York swing the next day when they visited the Big Apple to take on Columbia at Levien Gymnasium. Though the two teams battled back and forth for most of the first half, the Lions used a second-half offensive surge to outpace the Bulldogs.

    “I feel like we did not play as smart as we could have played, and we did not play up to our potential,” Greenfield said.

    Vasquez scored a game-high 17 points and added four steals in the effort. Guard Allie Messimer ’13 also chipped in with 12 points off the bench, while Cashen totaled 10 points and five boards.

    Columbia guard Melissa Shafter came in off the bench to lead the Lions with 14 points and six assists. Kathleen Barry and Brianna Olrich also contributed with 12 and 13 points, respectively. Barry also added eight boards for Columbia.

    The game began with both teams trading baskets over the first five minutes of play. The Bulldogs briefly took the lead after a layup from Gobrecht put them up 8–7 at the 16:42 mark, but the Lions responded with a 10–2 run that gave them a 17–10 advantage with 12:38 left in the half.

    Still, Yale’s defense got the Bulldogs back in the game, holding Columbia scoreless over six minutes while scoring 12 unanswered points to take a 29–22 edge with 4:28 left in the half.

    But the Lions erased the deficit by outscoring the Elis 13–3 over the final minutes of the half to take a 35–32 lead into the locker room.

    Columbia stayed in control of the game in the second half, using an 11–3 run to take a 46–35 lead with 13:56 left on the clock.

    “We just didn’t get it done on the defensive end like we usually do,” Greenfield said. “They just got a lot of open shots, and they were hitting them, and we weren’t hitting our shots in the paint.”

    The Bulldogs pulled within four points six minutes later after scoring six consecutive points, capped by a three-pointer from Messimer, but the Lions crushed the Elis’ hopes of a comeback with an 11–2 run to go up 63–50 with 1:46 remaining. After that, Yale could not overcome the deficit, and Columbia was able to pull away with its third straight victory.

    The Bulldogs return home this weekend to host first-place Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday. Tip-off for both games is slated for 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

  3. LIVE BLOG | M. BASKETBALL | Yale vs. Columbia

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    The News live blogs men’s basketball versus Columbia.

  4. M. BASKETBALL | P’s power past the Bulldogs

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    An up and down men’s basketball season just hit another low.

    The Bulldogs (9–9, 2–2 Ivy) could not handle the Killer P’s as they fell 66–58 at Penn (8–8, 2–0) on Friday and lost 67–63 at Princeton (14–4, 2–0) on Saturday. First half deficits in both games hurt the Elis who dropped to fifth in the Ivy League standings.

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    Looking to start 3–0 in Ivy League play for the first time in over ten years, the Bulldogs began the trip Friday night with a visit to the “Cathedral of College Basketball,” Penn’s Palestra. With over 3,000 fans on hand for Penn’s Ivy League opener, the Bulldogs started slow in the visiting environment, missing 14 of their first 16 shots. The struggles from the field for the Elis coupled with a strong Penn start got the Quakers out to a 24–6 advantage. Although Yale made a run toward the end of the half, Penn’s 50 percent field goal shooting put the Bulldogs at a 35–24 deficit.

    “Penn’s a tough place to play on the road,” point guard Porter Braswell ’11 said. “It was their season opener for the Ivy League. They came out with a tremendous amount of energy, and we didn’t match their energy level which is something that you can’t do on the road.”

    Yale made the game more competitive in the second half. The defense shut down the Quaker offense and held Penn to 31.6 percent shooting. A Mangano jump shot with under eight to go pulled Yale within four.

    “We weren’t tough enough in the first half,” head coach James Jones said in a press release. “We tried to flip it in the second half. We tried to push instead of being pushed.”

    But a 7–3 Penn run gave the Quakers a comfortable advantage with 3:39 to play. Although guard Sam Martin ’13 nailed a jumper to get the lead down to five with under a minute to play, Penn proved too good at the charity stripe as they converted nine of 10 free throws in the final 1:38.

    Mangano gave the Bulldogs another strong performance with team-highs 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Point guard Porter Braswell ’11 had 19 points on seven of 11 shooting, six rebounds and two steals. After starting the game two of 16 from the field, the team shot 50 percent for the remainder of the game.

    “We tried to played the ball inside-out,” Austin Morgan ’13 said. “Our post game is the strength of our team, so we looked for them and then worked from there.”

    Guard Miles Cartwright led the Quakers with 18 points while fellow guard Zack Rosen added 16 points and five assists. Forward Ian Eggleston chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds.

    Things would not get easier as preseason Ivy League favorite Princeton awaited the Bulldogs Saturday night. The game got off to a fast start, as the Bulldogs and Tigers traded blows early. Morgan assisted a Mangano jumper before the Bulldogs scored eight straight points in the paint to take a 10–7 lead two and a half minutes into the game. Five minutes and five lead changes later, the score stood tied 20–20. But a three-pointer from Princeton’s Douglas Davis sparked a 16–5 Tiger run that led the Tigers to a comfortable 40–30 halftime lead.

    “They are a very good defensive team,” Morgan said. “They got some stops and strung some baskets together, and that kind of hurt us.”

    Despite good offensive play from the Elis early in the second half, the Bulldogs could not bite into the Princeton lead. For the first 14 minutes of the half, the Bulldogs could not pull any closer than nine. A Michael Grace ’13 jump shot brought the score to 50–41 seven minutes into the half, but Davis countered with a jumper. And although two Rhett Anderson ’12 free throws and a Reggie Willhite ’12 fastbreak jam each brought Yale’s deficit to nine, the Tigers responded each time.

    “Princeton has a great shooting team. They execute their plays really well, and they finish everything at the basket,” Braswell said. “They’re just a good team. In order to come back from ten points down at Princeton, you have to play a flawless game.”

    The back and forth pattern lasted until 5:21 remaining in the contest, when Morgan assisted a Mangano layup to make the score 63–55 Princeton. Martin then sank a free throw, and Morgan drilled a three-pointer and assisted a Willhite layup to make it 63–61. Following a Davis free throw, Morgan made two more from the charity stripe to make it a one point game with 1:30 to go. But the Bulldogs came no closer, as a Morgan turnover, a blocked Braswell shot, and three Tiger free throws iced the game for Princeton.

    “We were just trying to take it play-by-play,” Morgan said. “There’s no such thing as a ten point play or anything. Everyone was contributing and we were fortunate enough to be able to have a chance at the end of the game.”

    Willhite led the charge with 13 points and four steals. Morgan finished with 11 points and six assists. Mangano also had 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Anderson provided some energy off the bench and added eight points and five boards.

    Princeton’s interior combo of forwards Kareem Maddox and Ian Hummer proved too much for the Bulldogs, though, as the two combined for 29 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks on 12 of 21 shooting. Individually, Davis led Princeton with 18 points.

    The losses relegate the Bulldogs to fifth place in the Ivy League and will make the team’s goal of an Ivy League championship much more difficult. But Morgan knows that they cannot worry too much about the big picture.

    “We have to keep progressing and taking it week by week and game by game, and get better each day,” Morgan said. “That’s all you can hope for.”

    Next weekend, the Bulldogs will host Cornell (4–14, 0–4) on Friday night at 7 p.m. They will follow that with a match up Saturday night at 6 p.m. against Columbia (12–6, 3–1).

  5. M. BASKETBALL | Elis complete Bears sweep

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    Despite having three scorers averaging in double digits, the defense, and not the offense, led the men’s basketball team to victory on Saturday.

    The Bulldogs (9–7, 2–0 Ivy) held the Brown Bears (7–9, 0–2 Ivy) to 26.1 percent shooting as they topped the Bears 59–51 Saturday afternoon. Center Greg Mangano ’12 put together another stellar performance, tallying his seventh double-double of the season, scoring 17 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and swatting seven blocks. Guard Sam Martin ’13 contributed eight important second half points to aid the Bulldogs.

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    Men's Basketball: Yale v. Brown, Jan. 22, 2011

    A week after a 69–64 win in Providence, R.I., the Bulldogs were looking for their second Ivy League win Saturday afternoon against the same opponent. They started fast as two Mangano shots from the low post gave the Bulldogs an early 4–0 lead. Brown responded with a 14–6 run that forced Yale head coach James Jones to call a timeout to make adjustments. The Bulldogs came out of the break and used five more Mangano points to tie the game at 15. At this point, forward Jeremiah Kreisberg ’14 hit a free-throw line jump shot that began a 13–0 Yale run. The Bulldogs would enter the half with a 30–20 lead.

    The Bears came out tough to start the second half. Brown’s Dockery Walker threw down a dunk, closing the Bears’ gap to seven at 36–29. However, Martin, who was averaging less than three points per game, hit a pull-up jumper as the shot clock was expiring to spark the Bulldog offense. A minute later, Martin hit a shot from the top of the key and then drew a charge on the other end. Kreisberg then hit a 15-footer to give the Bulldogs a 44–31 lead with nine minutes to go.

    “I think a lot of our bench guys are playing really well,” Martin said. “We’re playing really confident. Every night, it seems like it’s a different guy which is really good for us. And tonight, it felt good that it was me.”

    The Bulldogs would keep control from that point forward. With just over two minutes to go, Reggie Willhite ’12 closed out on a long Bears jump shot and spiked the ball into the fifth row of the stands, putting the crowd on its feet. Brown, down 54-44, committed to fouling Yale for the final minutes. The Elis made just five of 12 shots from the charity stripe, but even that meager performance proved enough for Yale to emerge with a 59–51 win.

    Mangano scored his 17 points on seven of 13 shooting. Willhite filled the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, five steals, three assists and his ferocious block late in the half. Kreisberg added a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds.

    “Jeremiah does a great job, and he was a little bit more patient this week than he was the first time we played them,” Jones said. “They keyed on him and we had a good rhythm of getting Jeremiah in the paint and also Greg.”

    Brown guard Sean McGonagill scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and had five assists. The Bears’ Tucker Halpern, who went off for 26 points and 12 rebounds against Quinnipiac on Monday, was held to 11 points on four of 17 shooting.

    “[Halpern] went on a big run in the first game,” Willhite said. “We understood what he could do. I’m not going to say that we keyed on him but we definitely had to mark shooters … he can shoot the ball from out there.”

    The Bulldogs held the Bears to 18 of 69 shooting and forced seven steals and eight blocks. The stellar defense made up for Yale’s one of 14 shooting from three-point range.

    “At the beginning of the year, the guards were carrying us,” Kreisberg said. “When our three pointers come around and combine with our inside game, I think we’ll be a really tough team to beat.”

    The Bulldogs will be back in action next weekend as they travel to Princeton and Penn. Tip-off for the Penn game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday. The Princeton match up will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

  6. LIVE BLOG | M. BASKETBALL | Yale vs. Brown

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    The News live blogs men’s basketball versus Brown.

  7. W. BASKETBALL | Elis look for Brown sweep

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    Last Friday, the women’s basketball team rode guard Janna Graf’s ’14 career-high 26 points to its first Ivy League victory, over Brown. This Friday, the two teams will meet again on the Bears’ court, as the Bulldogs will look to sweep the season series against their Ancient Eight rival.

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    “They’re a very unique team, and so to have played them once is an advantage because I think we understand them a little bit better now,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “I think they definitely caught us off guard somewhat, but it’s their home court, they’re a good team [and] they’re motivated by being the ones that lost. We’ve been in their shoes, so we know how fired up you get when you get beat the first time.”

    Though the Bears (4–11, 0–1 Ivy) held a three-point lead at halftime in last week’s game, the Bulldogs (5–10, 1–0) rallied in the second half and used an 18-3 run to permanently seize the lead and control of the game. As a result, the Elis emerged with a 66–54 victory, their first league win of the season.

    Along with Graf’s career night, forward Mady Gobrecht ’11 also had a strong performance, scoring 11 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds to earn her second double-double of the season for the Bulldogs.

    Still, if the Elis are to come out on top for the second week in a row, they will have to defeat the Bears on the road.

    “We know how hard they’re going to play. My bigger worry, being in their gym, is that they’ll feel more comfortable and they’ll shoot the ball a little more confidently,” Gobrecht said. “It’ll be interesting to see how much everyone’s game raises up another level. We just have to be sure our game does raise up another level, because it will need to.”

    This is the first time in two years that Yale has been poised to sweep Brown. The Bulldogs have lost their first game against Brown in the past two seasons while winning their second meeting. Still, Gobrecht acknowledged that winning back-to-back games against the Bears will not be easy.

    “I think it’s a huge challenge to sweep a team of their quality,” Gobrecht said. “I think the team really understands that this is going to be a big test for us, and we’re going to have to really go up there and be ready to play.”

    Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, R.I.

  8. M. BASKETBALL | Bulldogs, Bears play round two

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    The men’s basketball team returns home this weekend for another matchup with its travel partner.

    The Bulldogs (8–7, 1–0 Ivy) will host the Brown Bears (7–7, 0–1) at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon in the John J. Lee Amphitheater after beating Brown 69–64 last week. The Elis are looking for their second straight Ivy League win and second consecutive win against the Bears.

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    Last Saturday, Yale proved the better team as they left the Pizzitola Sports Center with a win. Behind 23 points and 17 rebounds from center Greg Mangano ’12 and 19 points from forward Reggie Willhite ’12, the Bulldogs began their Ivy League season with a win. Mangano scored six straight points to help the Elis edge ahead in the closing minutes. Point guard Porter Braswell ’11 secured the game by hitting two free throws with four seconds to go in the game.

    Brown is coming off an 87–78 home win over Quinnipiac. Quinnipiac bested Yale in both teams’ season opener at Mohegan Sun in the Connecticut 6 Classic. Sophomore forward Tucker Halpern scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the win. Senior forward Peter Sullivan added 22 points.

    Although Brown has had success this year, they are a very different team on the road. Away from Providence, R.I., they have a 2–6 record and are averaging 61.5 points per game, 8.4 fewer than their overall average.

    The win last weekend shows that Yale can handle Brown. However, the Bulldogs know that Saturday’s match up is a new game, and the Bears will be ready to play.

    “It’s hard to beat a team twice, but we’re excited for the challenge,” Braswell said. “We feel that as long as we do what we should do, we don’t expect a different outcome. We just need to go out and execute.”

    On Saturday, the Bulldogs will need another good performance from Mangano if they want to take the second match with Brown. The junior center won his second consecutive Ivy League Player of the Week honor last weekend; with 14.6 points per game, 10.2 rebounds per game and 2.4 blocks per game, Mangano is quickly putting together an impressive case for a Ivy League Men’s Basketball Player of the Year selection. The senior leads the Ivy League in blocks per game and rebounds per game and is fourth in points per game.

    Saturday’s match up is also Youth Day at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Children under 14 have free admittance, and there will be an autograph session after the game.

  9. M. BASKETBALL | Bears await men’s basketball team

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    After a roller coaster non-conference season, the Bulldogs will begin the quest for an Ivy League championship this weekend.

    On Saturday, the Bulldogs (7–7) will travel east to Providence, R.I. for a 2 p.m. game against the Brown Bears (6–7).

    There, Yale will look to build on last Saturday’s 85–57 win over Baruch.

    In the Baruch game, center Greg Mangano ’12 recorded another double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Guard Brian Katz ’12 added a career-high 16 points.

    Brown also cruised in their last game to an 88–55 obliteration of Lyndon State. Senior forward Peter Sullivan scored a game-high 14 points in the victory; Sullivan is the Bears’ leading scorer at 13.8 points per game and leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game. Fellow senior Garrett Leffelman is averaging 10.8 points per game.

    The matchup against Brown is the first step on the Elis run toward an Ivy League title. Mangano, the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, is averaging nearly a double-double per game at 14.0 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. The center has shown the ability to dominate the paint but is prone to getting in foul trouble and is averaging 3.4 fouls per game. Guard Austin Morgan ’13 leads the Bulldogs with 14.6 points per game and is shooting an Ivy League best 48.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Point guard Porter Braswell ’11 is also averaging double figures at 10.6 points per game and shooting 40.4 percent from three-point land.

    The Bulldogs will need a balanced offense in order to make a run at the Ivy League championship, head coach James Jones said.

    “When you have several guys who can lead you in scoring, it makes it difficult for the opposing team to shut anybody down,” Jones said. “We have somebody stepping up every game, which is important for us.”

    Despite a sub-.500 overall record, Brown has a 4–1 record on its home court, and the Bulldogs know that they will need to bring energy into Saturday’s matchup.

    “We’re going to be on the road at the start so we’re certainly going to have to try to exceed their intensity especially on their home court,” head coach James Jones said. “We’re going to have to play well to win it.”

    The Bulldogs won last year’s game at Brown 71–63.

  10. W. BASKETBALL | Bulldogs to host Bears in Ivy opener

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    The women’s basketball team started playing games two months ago, but this weekend will be the start of an entirely new part of the year.

    The Bulldogs (4–10) will begin Ivy League play tonight when it hosts Brown (4–10) at John J. Lee Ampitheater.

    “The really fun thing about Ivy play is that you throw it all out the window,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “There have been teams that have won the Ivy League and hardly won at all during their preseason. We go from seeing teams as numbers to seeing teams as names, so it definitely changes your sense of urgency.”

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    Since the Bulldogs (4–10) played a tough preseason schedule, Gobrecht believes it helped prepare the team for games against the Ancient Eight.

    “I think we saw just about everything possible in our preseason,” Gobrecht said. “We played against great teams, we played against great players, we played shorthanded a lot, we faced about every style of play there is known in the game, so I definitely think we have a pretty good idea of where we are and what are strengths and weaknesses are.”

    The Elis also battled through injuries to key players. Captain and guard Yoyo Greenfield ’11, who has been kept out of the lineup for the last nine games due to a concussion she suffered during a collision in practice, will be unavailable against Brown. Forward Michelle Cashen ’12, however, is expected to play. Cashen missed the team’s last game, a 63–56 loss to Army last Sunday, with a sprained ankle.

    Brown (4–10) enters the game having dropped three games in a row. The Bears last played on Jan. 6, when they were defeated 63–61 by NJIT.

    “Brown is a very unorthodox team,” Gobrecht said. “They work hard to make you play their style of game, and they don’t really have any true post players. They’re very interchangeable, so it’s a real challenge for you defensively to have to defend all over the floor. They play hard, they play well together, [and] they’re excellent shooters, so they have a style that works and they’ve been doing a good job.”

    Yale split its two matchups against Brown last season. Though the Bulldogs lost 60–56 on the road to the Bears in their league opener, they avenged the loss a week later by defeating Brown 67–43 at home. The Bears lead the all-time series against the Bulldogs by a 42–28 margin.

    Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater. The game will also be broadcast live on YES Network.

  11. M. BASKETBALL | Jones set for 12th year of Ivy play

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    James Jones is the 22nd coach of Yale men’s basketball and is in his 12th year at the helm of the team. In that time, he has compiled a 149–175 overall record and a 83–71 record in Ivy League conference play. In 2001-’02, Jones led the Bulldogs to their first Ivy League title since 1962-’63 and led Yale to the second round of the National Invitational Tournament. This season, Jones has coached the team to a 7–7 record that includes a 75–67 win at Boston College. Jones talked to the News about Saturday’s start to the Ivy League season at Brown and the advantages of not having one specific “go-to” scorer.

    Q Your team is halfway done. You’re halfway to the finish line. How does it feel?

    A Well I hope that we’re not halfway done. I hope that there will be more playing out there than the next 14 games that we have. I like a lot of the things that we’ve done so far. I felt that some games have gotten away from us, and we could have been a little bit more successful in them. But hopefully, we learn from those, and they won’t happen over the next fourteen and that we win those that we should win.

    Q You hit a rough patch during the break and lost three straight to Sacred Heart, Stanford and Lehigh. Why was that and what do you think your team learned from those losses?

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    A Well, they’re three different games so there wasn’t one reason why we lost all three. There were probably several reasons why we lost all three. I think what we learned from the games was just an understanding of having to play our best in every game. I think that’s going to be something that is very important. Our post play wasn’t great in those games. Greg Mangano ’12 struggled a little bit, and we’re not going to be very good if he’s going struggle. We have to make sure that he’s able to play to his capacity and the level that he should be playing at, and the other players on the team have to complement him. But certainly he’s a big part of what we do.

    Q Greg Mangano ’12, Reggie Willhite ’12, Austin Morgan ’13, Porter Braswell ’11 … It seems like all of the guys can be the MVP of your team on any given night. What does that flexibility bring to you?

    A It just makes us hard to guard. When you have several guys who can lead you in scoring, it makes it difficult for the opposing team to shut anybody down. From that standpoint, it’s good. We have somebody stepping up every game which is important for us. Greg doesn’t have to lead us in scoring. His post play is very important to us, but that doesn’t mean that he has to lead us in scoring. He just has to make good decisions when he gets the ball because he’s the focal point of our offense.

    Q Your team lost its captain, Michael Sands ’11, before the season. Who has stepped up to fill that leadership void?

    A Everybody has jumped in from the seniors to the freshmen to add a little bit more leadership, and that’s been really helpful because I think that guys saw the opportunity and the necessity for us to be better at our leadership, and the guys have responded really well.

    Q Several of your players have talked about how close-knit this year’s team is on and off the court. How does that translate during practice and during the game?

    A I just think that when you have a group of guys who enjoy being around each other and genuinely enjoy being around each other, it’s easier to play for each other. I think that makes it great when you’re playing for the guy next to you in the locker room, the guy next to you on the bench, the guy next to you in the game. When that matters to you, that helps you to be successful.

    Q Before the season, your team was picked to finish fifth in the Ivy League. Where do you think your team can finish and what will it take to make a run at the Ivy League title?

    A Well, we can almost finish anywhere, I think. A lot of it is going to be up to us and how consistently we play. As for where we’re going to finish, that’s kind of hard to say. We’ll get a good look this weekend and see how we play against Brown, and then we’ll ratchet up and do it again next weekend. I think that we have as good a shot as any to win it. We may not be as talented as some other teams in the league, but on any given day, I think we can beat anybody. But on any given day, other teams can beat us too. Playing consistently and playing together is going to be really important.

    Q The conference season starts this weekend against Brown. What are your thoughts about Brown?

    A They’ve played some teams pretty well. They had a good win up against Maine. They beat Fordham to start the year. They certainly have the capability of playing at a high level. We’re going to be on the road at the start so we’re certainly going to have to try to exceed their intensity especially on their home court. They’re a good basketball team and coach Agel does a great job at coaching, and we’re going to have to play well to win it.

    Q On a personal note, you’re in the midst of your 12th season as the head coach of Yale men’s basketball. What have you thought of your tenure to this point and what are your goals for the future?

    A I don’t think much about stuff like that. I think about what I’m doing right now with this team. After I leave here, I guess that I can think about my tenure, but when you’re in it, it’s kind of hard to think about what you’ve done. In terms of what my goals are, our goal every year is to try to win a championship. We’ve done that and we’ve tried to every year. We’ve had a nice run in the sense that we’ve been in the top half of the league for the last eleven seasons in a row. We just need to continue to try to get a little better every year to push forward and be one of the best two teams every year.