Tag Archive: W. Basketball

  1. W. BASKETBALL | Elis prep for Crimson

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    The Bulldogs travel to Cambridge tonight for what might be the most important game of their season thus far.

    A week after earning a decisive 10-point victory at Brown in their first Ivy League game of the season, the Elis (9–7, 1–1 Ivy) fell to the Bears in their second conference game, a tightly contested match that ended in a heartbreaking 60–55 loss. Even this one loss, especially so early in the season, puts Yale’s title hopes in jeopardy and raises the stakes in tonight’s game against Harvard (8–7, 1–0 Ivy).

    “We need to win to stay in the running for the Ivy League title,” captain Michelle Cashen ’12 said. “One loss doesn’t put us out of the running, but every game counts now.”

    The Crimson, who finished tied for second with the Bulldogs in the Ivy League last season, also aspire to take the league title.

    The preseason Ivy League poll picked Harvard to finish second and Yale third, but both teams will be chasing two-time defending champion Princeton. The Tigers (13–4, 3–0 Ivy) have only one conference loss in the past two seasons and are the clear frontrunners once again this year. Because the Ivy League is the only remaining Division I conference that does not have a playoff system, the league championship and the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament bid go to the team with the most league wins. The Bulldogs need every win they can get if they hope to catch Princeton.

    Last season the Elis completed the season sweep of Harvard for the first time since 1994, with convincing wins of 11 and 12 points against the Cantabs. These wins gave Yale the tiebreaker over Harvard that sent the Bulldogs to their first ever National Invitational Tournament. If the two teams finished tied for second again, the outcome of tonight’s contest could determine which team is awarded the postseason bid.

    To ensure that this game does go their way, the Elis will look to guard Sarah Halejian ’15 to continue the high level of play she has exhibited over the past few weeks. Halejian has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for three straight weeks and is averaging 14.5 points and 2.5 assists per game over that stretch. The freshman stepped into a starting role when the team faced the University of Houston in November. She has continued to excel over the past few weeks, as evidenced by the Rookie of the Week honors. Most recently she had 13 points, three rebounds and two steals in last week’s loss to Brown.

    That loss was particularly disappointing, not only because of the blow it dealt to Yale’s title hopes, but also because the Elis had defeated the Bears so handily the week before. The team was done in by a poor shooting night and a failure to control the possession game, but Halejian said they are determined to look past it.

    “We’re looking forward and are going to try to just put Friday behind us,” Halejian said earlier this week. “We need to have a good week of practice and make sure that we are ready for Harvard on Friday.”

    The Crimson are led by its backcourt duo of Brogan Berry and Christine Clark. The alliterative pair is averaging 28 points and seven assists per game together.

    Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Lavietes Pavilion.

  2. W. BASKETBALL | Elis fall to Bears

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    Poor shooting doomed the Bulldogs Friday night as they tried to complete a season sweep of Brown for only the third time since 2003.

    The team shot only 36.5 percent from the floor in its 60–55 loss to the Bears after beating the Bears 75–65 the week before. For each of the past 10 seasons the Elis and the Bears have met on the first two weekends of Ivy League play, and Brown currently holds a 13–9 advantage in the series. But Yale had won seven of the last nine going into this weekend and hoped for a repeat of last season’s sweep. It was not to be, however, as a cold shooting night and Brown’s strong defense produced the Bulldogs’ third-lowest scoring output this season.

    “We didn’t shoot the ball well,” forward and captain Michelle Cashen ’12 said. “The numbers don’t lie. We had about the same number of rebounds and turnovers, the possession battle was pretty even and we just didn’t make enough shots.”

    The teams’ stat lines were nearly identical, with the two sides separated by two or less in rebounds, assists, turnovers and free throws made. With such parity everywhere else, the Bears 41.5-36.5 percent shooting advantage accounted for the slim margin of victory. Yet the week before at Brown, the Bulldogs actually shot a worse percentage while still securing a 10-point victory. That game, however, Yale dominated the offensive and defensive glass and committed far fewer turnovers than the Bears did. This time Brown closed the gaps in possession between the teams, and Yale was unable to make up the difference in shooting. With every game of critical importance for the Ivy League title, the team must learn how to weather off nights, Cashen said.

    “We can’t rely on shooting all the time, and when we have [a poor shooting performance] as a team we have to figure out ways to compensate,
Cashen said. “If we’re not shooting well we need to win with defense, for example.”

    Some credit for Yale’s poor shooting must be given to the Brown defense, which made significant adjustments since the teams’ meeting last week. The Bears played zone for much of the game, slowing the pace of the game and forcing the Elis to shoot from the outside. Guard Sarah Halejian ’15 said the zone stifled the Bulldogs and prevented them from playing their favored up-tempo style of basketball.

    “We struggled against the zone,” Halejian said. “They covered us well, and we ended up taking a lot of shots with the shot clock winding down.”

    The two teams traded blows the entire game, with neither ever able to gain a clear advantage. The Bears held a 26–24 lead at halftime, but Yale came back to take a 45–44 lead with four minutes remaining in the game on Megan Vasquez’s ’13 free throws. Vasquez led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points while Cashen and Halejian added 13 each. From this point on Brown took over the game, and made six free throws in a row in the final 30 seconds to close out the game.

    The team travels to Harvard this weekend for its third Ivy League game. The Crimson, at 1–0 in the conference, are currently second in the Ivy League behind Princeton. The Bulldogs’ chances for the conference title would be seriously hurt by a loss this week.

    “Every game is important from here on,” said guard Aarica West ’13. “But this one especially both because its Harvard and because they’re always one of the better teams in the league. They are a tough team to guard and we have to be really on our game on Friday.”

    Tip-off Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

  3. W. BASKETBALL | Elis and Bears carry tradition

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    The Bulldogs will be hoping that history repeats itself tonight when they face off against Brown for the second time in eight days.

    The Elis (9–6, 1–0 Ivy) kicked off their conference schedule with consecutive games against Brown (9–5, 0–1 Ivy) last season as well and notched two 12-point victories in a week. This strong beginning helped set the tone for the team’s second-place Ivy League finish and first-ever bid to the National Invitational Tournament. The tradition of back-to-back league games against Brown to open the conference schedule dates back to the 2002-’03 season, and Yale is 8–11 overall in these contests. The Bulldogs lost the first eight of these contests, all of their games against Brown from 2003-’06, but the team has fared much better in recent years. They are 7–2 over the last five years and will be trying to keep this trend going tonight.

    “Coach said that we can beat this team with transition and by pushing the ball,” guard Aarica West ’13 said.

    The Elis beat the Bears 75–65 at Brown last Friday with the help of guard Megan Vasquez ’13, who scored 23 points, and guard Amanda Tyson ’14, who made a career-high 12 points and eight rebounds. They will try to match this result tonight, West said, but they know that a repeat performance will not be easy, as Brown led for long stretches in the last matchup. The Bulldogs blew an 11-point first-half lead and trailed Brown for much of the second half before finally pulling away in the closing minutes.

    “We looked at film [after the game],” West said, “and it was apparent that despite our effort, our defense was lax at times. We need to focus better and talk more next game.”

    In the previous contest the Bulldogs outrebounded the Bears and forced more turnovers, but Brown was able to stay in the game by outshooting Yale 44.7 percent to 34.2 percent even though it attempted far fewer shots. The team needs to execute better on defense, West said, adding that if the Yale continues to dominate possession, the team has a strong chance of replicating last Friday’s victory.

    There is some evidence that this year’s series will mirror last year’s games against Brown. The first meeting between the teams last season also featured a career-high performance, that time by forward Janna Graf ’14, as well as a comeback victory. Graf scored 14 of her 26 points in the second half as the Bulldogs erased a halftime deficit to pick up a double-digit win. Yale even scored 44 points — the same number as last year — in the second half of both games.

    Such back-to-back series are rare in the Ivy League. One other pair of teams, Cornell and Columbia had a similar tradition. The Big Red and the Lions met in consecutive games from the 2005-’06 season until last year, although they did not to do so this season.

    Tipoff tonight is scheduled for 7 p.m.

  4. W. BASKETBALL | Bulldogs look to new season with high hopes

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    The women’s basketball team returns to the court this Friday against Holy Cross with high expectations after one of its finest campaigns in recent memory.

    A second-place Ivy League finish, a first-ever trip to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament and a season sweep of Harvard set the stage for this year’s team, which returns four starters and adds a trio of freshmen to replace the two graduated seniors. To take the Ivy title this year, the team will have to get past defending champions the Tigers and six other strong teams that make up what head coach Chris Gobrecht said “is likely the to be the strongest Ivy League ever.”

    “The tough thing is that everybody in the bottom half of the league improved because they didn’t lose anyone and everybody in the top half added very good new players,” Gobrecht said.

    The Tigers are favored as champions this year, according to a preseason poll in which Princeton was ranked first in 14 of 17 votes by a panel of Ivy League media directors and women’s basketball sports information directors. The panel predicted Yale would finish third while Harvard came in second.

    Gobrecht, who is entering her seventh season as head coach at Yale, begins the year only 13 wins shy of 500 career victories. Gobrecht said she is confident in her team’s ability to win the title.

    “Our depth is much better this year.” she said. “We are faster, more aggressive and more versatile, and our guard play is stronger.”

    She added that the returning players have all improved as well.

    The Bulldogs offense will rely this year on guard Megan Vasquez ’13, who was named first-team All-Ivy last season after averaging 13.6 points and 3.5 rebounds a game for the year.

    Other returning starters,forwards Janna Graf ’14 and Michelle Cashen ’12, the team’s captain, will help lead the team through a tough nonconference and Ivy League schedule this year, Gobrecht said.

    Graf was one of three unanimous choices among the Ivy League to the 2010-’11 rookie team last year after she averaged 9.3 points per game, and Cashen was named All-Ivy Honorable Mention and led the Bulldogs in rebounding with 6.6 rebounds per game.

    Last spring, the team graduated its second leading rebounder and scorer Mady Gobrecht ’11, the coach’s daughter, as well as captain Yoyo Greenfield ’11. Gobrecht said the Bulldogs will try to make up for these losses with a talented cast of freshmen who she said will all see court time at the beginning of the season.

    “[The freshmen] are adapting to our style of play very well,” Cashen said. “We play a fast-paced style of basketball and the coach subs us in and out of games very quickly, so they will definitely play a big role this year.”

    The nonconference schedule highlights include a rematch with No. 14 Florida State on Dec. 28. The Bulldogs defeated the Seminoles last year, the first victory over a ranked opponent in the team’s history. On Nov. 22, the team will travel to Baylor to face the No. 1 Bears.

    Graf said playing difficult teams helps the players improve individually and as a team.

    “These games are very important because they help us establish an identity as a team,” she said. “We’re not necessarily looking to make every shot, but to get better every game that we play.”

    Gobrecht added that the game against Baylor poses a unique opportunity to test themselves against the highest level of women’s college basketball.

    “We’ve never played a team at the level of Baylor, but our players choose Yale for a variety of reasons which are not always limited to basketball,” she said. “This game will give them an opportunity to see ‘What if?’ and see the level of competition they might have faced elsewhere.”

    But Cashen said the team is going to approach this game as it does every other match despite the challenge.

    She added that for now the Elis are thinking about Holy Cross.

    “In the meantime, we’re focusing on our first game and are going to take this season one game at a time.”

    Tip-off is slated for this Friday at 7 p.m.

  5. W. BASKETBALL | Bulldogs end best season in decades with WNIT loss

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    The women’s basketball team experienced an early exit from the Women’s National Invitational Tournament with an 85–61 first round-loss to Boston College on March 17 at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

    It was the first time the Bulldogs had played in a postseason tournament since 1979 and their first-ever appearance in the tournament.

    Yale (14–15, 10–4 Ivy) stayed competitive with BC for the beginning of the first half, but the Eagles (19–12, 5–9 ACC) used an 11–0 run to seize control of the game and build a 19-point lead at halftime. It was too big of a deficit to overcome in the second half, and BC left New Haven with a victory.

    “I don’t think we knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into,” guard Allie Messimer ’13 said. “I don’t think we were ready to go out there with the same level of competitiveness that we needed to. That’s just what it came down to, we just weren’t ready to compete at the level that they were.”

    Boston College guard Jaclyn Thoman led all scorers with 23 points. Forward Stefanie Murphy added 18 points and seven rebounds, while center Carolyn Swords finished with nine points and a game-high 11 boards.

    Forward Janna Graf ’14 paced the Bulldogs with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals. Forwards Mady Gobrecht ’11 and Michelle Cashen ’12 tallied 10 and 11 points, respectively. Gobrecht also added five boards and four steals for Yale.

    The Bulldogs took an early 3–2 advantage after guard Aarica West ’13 sank a three-pointer, but it would turn out to be Yale’s only lead of the game. Though the Elis were able to keep pace with the Eagles over the next eight minutes, BC used an 11–0 run to go up 30–15 at the 5:56 mark. The Eagles maintained control of the game for the remainder of the half and took a 47–28 edge into the locker room.

    Boston College shot a scorching 70 percent (19 of 27) from the field in the first half and also outrebounded the Elis, 21–6.

    “I think we allowed ourselves to be too intimidated by them at the beginning of the game,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said in a press release. “We didn’t attack them. If we had attacked them from the get-go, we might have been in the game, but we got too far behind.”

    The Eagles only added to their lead after halftime and opened the second half by scoring six unanswered points to put the Bulldogs in a 25-point hole that they could not dig themselves out of. Though the Elis were able to trim the deficit to 58–40 after Mady Gobrecht knocked down two shots from the charity stripe with 9:35 left, that would be as close as they would get, as BC was able to maintain its offensive tempo and come away with the win.

    The loss brought an end to one of the program’s most successful campaigns in years. Along with reaching the postseason for the first time in 32 years, the Elis also finished Ivy League play tied for second place with Harvard — their best final standing since the 1988-’89 season. The Bulldogs also completed a sweep of Harvard this season, a feat they had not achieved since the 1993-94 season.

    “Coach G. said it best at the end of the game: you can’t let your last game define your season,” Messimer said. “We’re very happy with what we accomplished this year.”

  6. W. BASKETBALL | Chance for the top spot

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    The women’s basketball team has not earned a postseason berth in 32 years. This weekend, the Elis have a chance to end that drought.

    The Bulldogs (13–13, 9–3 Ivy) will take on Columbia (6–20, 5–7) tonight and Cornell (6–20, 3–9) tomorrow in their last weekend of the season.

    The Elis currently sit in second place in the Ivy League standings after sweeping Harvard and Dartmouth last week and the team still has a shot to claim the Ivy League title. Yale would need to win both of its games this weekend, and first-place Princeton (21–4, 10–1) would have to drop two of its last three games to force a playoff match between the two teams for the Ancient Eight crown.

    Still, the Bulldogs can secure second-place in the conference and the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) with a sweep this weekend. The last time Yale competed in a postseason tournament was in the 1978-’79 season.

    “We have something to play for,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said in a press release last Saturday. “We have the possibility of postseason play. We have to take care of business [this] weekend.”

    The Elis’ playoff push begins tonight with a matchup against Columbia. The Lions enter the contest coming off a weekend split, defeating Penn 61–54 on Friday night, before falling 65–52 to Princeton on Saturday.

    The Bulldogs will be looking to avenge the 67–57 road loss they suffered at the hands of the Lions earlier this season. Though the Elis were able to keep pace with Columbia throughout the first half, the Lions used a second half offensive surge to take control of the game and come away with the win.

    Yale leads the all-time series against the Lions, 34–15.

    The next day, the Elis will host Cornell on Senior Night. The Bulldogs will honor their two seniors, captain Yoyo Greenfield ’11 and forward Mady Gobrecht ’11, prior to tip-off.

    The Big Red has struggled this season and had lost eight consecutive games before snapping that streak with a 57–51 win over Penn last Saturday. The Elis took the first game of the season series against Cornell on Feb. 4, as Mady Gobrecht scored 18 points and Megan Vasquez ’13 added 14 to lead Yale to a 57–49 win in Ithaca, N.Y.

    Yale holds a 42–22 edge in the all-time series against Cornell.

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

  7. W. BASKETBALL | Sweep puts Elis in second

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    The women’s basketball team achieved a trio of sweeps this weekend: a weekend sweep, a Dartmouth sweep and a Harvard sweep.

    The Bulldogs (13–13, 9–3 Ivy) defeated Dartmouth (7–18, 3–8) on Friday night and Harvard (16–9, 8–3) the next day, repeating the sweep that they completed on Feb. 11 and 12 at home.

    The two wins lifted the Elis up to second place in the Ivy League standings with just two games left in the season. Yale currently trails first-place Princeton (21–4, 10–1) by one-and-a-half games.

    The Elis kicked off the weekend in Hanover, N.H., where they used a strong defensive and shooting performance to power past Dartmouth and earn a 70–45 victory.

    “When we’re hitting on all cylinders like that, we’re really tough to beat,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “We were really committed to getting the job done defensively, and we also knocked some shots down, so that’s a tough combination.”

    Forwards Mady Gobrecht ’11 and Ericka von Kaeppler ’13 each scored 13 points to lead the Bulldogs. Gobrecht also added six rebounds and six assists. Forward Michelle Cashen ’12 grabbed a game-high 10 boards and scored eight points, while guard Allie Messimer ’13 finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

    The Elis shot 42.2 percent from the field in the contest and also won the battle of the boards by a 49–32 margin.

    Guard Faziah Steen paced the Big Green with 12 points and three assists, but the Dartmouth squad shot just 27.8 percent from the floor in the effort. The Bulldogs opened the game by sinking three consecutive three-point shots to jump out to an early 9–0 lead at the 14:37 mark.

    Four minutes later, Cooper hit a jumper that narrowed the deficit to 15–7, but the Elis responded by scoring nine unanswered points to go up 24–7 with 5:40 left in the half.

    Still, the Big Green battled back and went on a 9–4 run to cut Yale’s lead to 28–16. But captain Yoyo Greenfield ’11 drained back-to-back three-pointers to give the Bulldogs an 18-point advantage at the 1:29 mark — a margin it brought into the locker room at halftime.

    “I think we played really good defense, and we forced a lot of turnovers, which turned into fast breaks,” Greenfield said. “We really pushed the ball tonight, and everyone also shot well, so that helped a lot.”

    The Bulldogs continued to be the dominant team throughout the second half and pushed their lead to as high as 30 points after guard Aarica West ’13 sank a shot from beyond the arc at the 5:16 mark.

    Though the Big Green closed out the game with a 6–1 run over the final 4:30, it could not overcome the deficit, and the Elis were able to come out with their second win over Dartmouth this season.

    “I think it’s a great time to be reaching our peak and playing as well as we can be, especially going into [Saturday]’s game and our last two games,” Greenfield said. “It gives us confidence, and we’re all really pumped about tomorrow night.”

    The next day the Bulldogs traveled to Cambridge for a showdown with archrival Harvard. The Bulldogs used a strong first half to build a 10-point lead at halftime and made clutch plays in the second half to stay in control of the game and come away with a 78–64 win.

    It was the first time the Elis had won at Cambridge since 2001 and the first time they had swept the season series since 1994.

    “This win is awesome,” Vasquez said. “It means so many things. It was an emotional win that put us at .500 for the season, and we’ve swept Harvard. It’s been a long time since our program could say that.”

    Vasquez recorded 23 points to lead all scorers and also added seven rebounds in the effort. Cashen totaled 17 points and eight boards, while forward Janna Graf ’14 tallied 13 points. West chipped in with seven points, nine rebounds, six assists and six steals.

    The Bulldogs also won the battle of the boards for the second night in a row, outrebounding the Crimson 40–33.

    Harvard was led by forward Emma Markley, who finished with 17 points. Guards Victoria Lippert and Brogan Berry added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

    The game started off with both teams trading baskets for the first four minutes of the contest. But the Elis took control of the game after a layup from Gobrecht gave the them their first lead of the game and sparked a 19–4 run that gave Yale a 27–10 edge with 8:47 left in the half.

    The Crimson countered with six unanswered points to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 27–16, but Messimer sank a shot from downtown to end the run and push Yale’s advantage up to 14 at the 3:15 mark. Still, Harvard closed out the first half with back-to-back layups from Elise Gordon that pulled the Crimson within 10 points at halftime.

    Harvard continued to battle in the second half and went on an 11–3 run to reduce the deficit to four points with 8:28 left on the clock. But Vasquez came through for the Elis and drained a three-point shot and converted a three-point play to give Yale a 53–43 edge.

    “I wasn’t really paying attention to the score,” Vasquez said. “I was just trying my hardest to attack the Harvard defense. I knew that they were vulnerable on transition defense, so I took advantage of the opportunity.”

    The Crimson pulled within six points after Lippert hit a shot from beyond the arc with 1:14 left on the clock, but they would get no closer, as the Elis knocked down the shots they needed from the charity stripe to maintain their lead and emerge with the 78–64 victory.

    “Beating Harvard anytime is a pretty cool thing, and to be able to do it twice in one year is pretty special,” coach Gobrecht said “It’s a compliment to them that it’s a big deal, that’s how much success their program has had. That’s kind of where the bar is, so you feel really good when you’re able to measure up.”

    The Elis close out the season this weekend when they host Columbia and Cornell. Both games are scheduled for tip-off at 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

  8. W. BASKETBALL | Elis travel to Dartmouth, Harvard

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    The women’s basketball team embarks on its final road trip of the season this weekend with a chance to gain some ground in the race for the Ivy League crown.

    The Bulldogs (11–13, 7–3 Ivy) travel to Dartmouth (7–16, 3–6) tonight and Harvard (15–8, 7–2) on Saturday for key conference matchups. With only two weeks remaining in the season, the Elis would have to earn the sweep to keep their hopes for an Ivy League title alive. Yale, which is currently in third place, has a chance to overtake Harvard for second place this weekend and is just one and a half games behind first-place Princeton.

    “We are fighting with Harvard right now for second place, so winning both of these games is extremely important,” guard Megan Vasquez ’13 said.

    The Elis are coming off a weekend split against Princeton and Penn last week. Though the Bulldogs missed an opportunity to take over first place with a 73–57 loss to the Tigers on Friday night, they rebounded the following day with a 66–53 win over the Quakers.

    Dartmouth enters the weekend fresh off a sweep of Cornell and Columbia last week and has won four of its last five games at home. In the first meeting between the Big Green and the Bulldogs this season, Vasquez scored 21 points and forward Janna Graf ’14 added 15 points to lift the Elis to a 66–53 victory.

    Dartmouth leads the all-time series against Yale, 50-17.

    After the matchup with Dartmouth, the Bulldogs will head to Cambridge to face archrival Harvard on Saturday. The Crimson is coming off a sweep of Cornell and Columbia and currently sits in second place in the Ancient Eight standings. Yale handed Harvard its first Ivy League loss this season on Feb. 11, as Graf scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs to an 82–71 victory.

    Harvard has the highest-scoring offense in the league, averaging 73.3 points per game. Junior guard Brogan Berry is the Crimson’s leading scorer with 14.2 points a night, which also ranks second in the conference. Harvard holds a 41-28 advantage in the all-time series against Yale.

    “We know we have to come to play because we are playing on their home courts,” Vasquez said. “We have to be ready for them to be fired up. These are two important games that we have to win on the road.”

    Tip-off against Dartmouth is slated for Friday at 7 p.m. in Hanover, N.H. The game against Harvard is set to begin at 6 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass.

  9. W. BASKETBALL | After weekend split, Bulldogs fall to third

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    On Friday night, the women’s basketball team did not play up to its potential. On Saturday night, it did, and it showed.

    After suffering a tough 73–57 loss at the hands of first-place Princeton (19–4, 8–1 Ivy) on Friday night, the Elis (11–13, 7–3) rebounded with a 66–53 win over Penn (10–13, 4–5) the next day.

    The weekend split dropped the Bulldogs to third place in the Ivy League standings. The Elis currently trail Princeton and Harvard, who both swept their games this weekend.

    The Bulldogs had a chance to take over the top spot in the Ancient Eight on Friday night when they traveled down to New Jersey for their meeting with Princeton. Yale had entered the matchup only a half game behind the Tigers and would have taken over first place with a win.

    But the Bulldogs underperformed in the first half, and the Tigers used a series of runs to build a 24-point lead at halftime. Though the Bulldogs battled back in the second half, they could not overcome the deficit, allowing Princeton to retain its hold on first place in the Ivy League.

    “I think we came out a little bit flat,” guard Allie Messimer ’13 said. “When they jumped out and got a 15-point lead, we all kind of freaked out. We just weren’t competing on the same level that they were, and things only got worse from there.”

    Forward Mady Gobrecht ’11 led the Bulldogs with 15 points and nine rebounds, while guard Megan Vasquez ’13 added 12 points.

    Five Tigers ended the night in double-digits, including center Megan Bowen, who scored 15 points off the bench to lead Princeton. Center Devona Allgood also totaled 14 points, five boards and three steals in the contest.

    Both teams traded buckets for the first four minutes of play. Though the game was tied 6–6 at the 16:34 mark, the Tigers used an 11–0 run to go up 17–6.

    A layup from forward Michelle Cashen ’12 capped a 7–2 run by Yale that cut Princeton’s lead to 19–13 with 11:35 left in the half, but the Tigers went on to score 10 unanswered points to maintain their control of the game.

    A trey from Gobrecht ended the Bulldogs’ scoring drought, but after that, Princeton continued to be the dominant team and went on an 8–0 run to take a 37–16 lead at the 6:27 mark. The Tigers closed out the first half by scoring three consecutive layups over the final 2:23 to take a 47–23 lead into the locker room.

    Princeton shot a scorching 61 percent from the field in the first half and outrebounded the Bulldogs 24–11.

    Still, the Elis battled back to reduce the deficit after halftime and outscored the Tigers 11–4 over the first seven minutes of the second half. A three-point shot from forward Janna Graf ’14 with 13:05 left cut the Tigers’ lead to 51–34, but Princeton responded by scoring 10 unanswered points to push its lead back up to 27.

    A shot from beyond the arc from Messimer pulled the Elis within 14 points, but it was the closest they would get, as they could not dig themselves out of their first-half hole.

    “Once you get down by 20 or so, it’s kind of hard to pull yourself out,” Messimer said. “We didn’t have the mentality at the time to do what we needed to do, to calm ourselves and just pull ourselves out of it.”

    With the win, the Tigers secured their hold of first place, while the Bulldogs tumbled down one spot to third. Harvard was able to take over second place with a win over Cornell.

    The following night, the Elis traveled to Philadelphia to take on Penn at the Palestra. The Bulldogs rebounded from their loss to Princeton in a big way, as Vasquez and Gobrecht scored 21 and 20 points, respectively, to lift Yale over the Quakers.

    “I think that I was definitely worried,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “We had played poorly [against Princeton], and it had been a real downer type of a loss. But they did an incredible job of bouncing back. We played as well today as we did poorly last night. We were throwing all the punches tonight.”

    Gobrecht had a team-high nine boards, three assists and three steals to go along with her 20 points. Guard Aarica West ’13 added seven points and three assists, while Cashen grabbed six rebounds and dished out six assists. The Bulldogs shot 53.1 percent from the field in the effort.

    Brianna Bradford led the Quakers with 13 points. Freshman guard Alyssa Baron, who leads the league in scoring with 16.5 points per game, was limited to just nine points.

    The Bulldogs got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 9–2 lead after Vasquez hit a jumper at the 15:46 mark.

    Penn fought back and pulled within four points after a layup from Jerin Smith trimmed Yale’s lead to 13–9, but the Elis responded with a 13–2 run over the next seven minutes to take a 26–11 lead at the 6:11 mark.

    Still, the Quakers ended the half with a pair of layups to cut Yale’s lead to 28–17 at halftime.

    The Bulldogs held Penn to 29.2 percent shooting in the first half and outrebounded them 17–14.

    The Quakers came out of the locker room strong and quickly scored four points to pull within seven, but the Bulldogs countered with a 20–2 run that gave them a 48–23 edge with 10:06 left on the clock. Four minutes later, Gobrecht converted a three-point play to give the Elis a 27-point lead, their largest of the night.

    “I thought everyone showed up to play, and that’s what we have to do,” coach Gobrecht said.

    Though the Quakers outscored the Bulldogs 20–6 over the final six minutes of the game, the damage had already been done, and the Elis emerged with their second win over Penn this season.

    “It’s tough to win on the road, so we’re happy to get the win at Penn, that’s for sure,” coach Gobrecht said.

    The team embarks on another road trip this weekend, when it travels to Dartmouth and Harvard. Tip-off against Dartmouth is slated for Friday night at 7 p.m. The matchup against Harvard is set to start at 6 p.m. Saturday night.

  10. W. BASKETBALL | Tigers, Bulldogs battle for the top

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    Last weekend, the women’s basketball team’s weekend sweep vaulted them from a third-place tie up to second place in the Ivy League standings. This weekend, the Bulldogs have a chance to complete their climb and take possession of first-place in the league.

    The Elis (10–12, 6–2 Ivy) will travel to south to take on the top of the league Princeton Tigers (17–4, 6–1) on Friday night and Penn (9–12, 3–4) on Saturday. Friday night’s game between the Bulldogs and Tigers will be a high stakes showdown, as the winner will take sole possession of first place in the Ancient Eight. The Bulldogs currently trail first-place Princeton by only half a game.

    The Bulldogs have momentum going into the two matchups after winning both of their games last week. The Elis defeated Harvard, 82–71, and Dartmouth, 66–53, over the weekend to earn the sweep.

    This week will be the first of two consecutive weeks that the Bulldogs will play on the road. It will be big test for the Elis, who are 3–6 when playing away from John J. Lee Amphitheater.

    “6–2 is nice; of course, I think we wish we could be better,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said last Saturday. “I think we have a very, very tough second half [of the season]. The next two weekends are where we’ll find out what we’re made of.”

    Princeton is also coming off a weekend sweep. The Tigers defeated Columbia, 57–35, on Friday, and Cornell, 65–43, the next day.

    The Bulldogs will look to avenge their Jan. 29 loss to the Tigers, 52–37. Though Yale held Princeton to only 20 points in the first half, they could not contain the Tiger’s offense for a full 40 minutes, and Princeton was able to emerge with the victory.

    The Tigers have the best scoring margin in the league at +15.6, and are led by senior guard Addie Micir and junior center Devona Allgood, who average 12.9 and 12.3 points per game, respectively.

    The Tigers lead the all-time series with Yale 44–30.

    Penn is also coming off a sweep of Cornell and Columbia last week. The first meeting of the season between Yale and Penn was a defensive battle, but the Bulldogs ultimately came out on top, 53–44, behind guard Megan Vasquez’s ’13 game-high 16 points.

    Penn is second in the league in scoring defense and is holding teams to just 53.6 points a night. The Quakers also boast the league’s top scorer, freshman guard Alyssa Baron, who is averaging 16.5 points per game. Penn is also strong on the glass, with guard Erin Power and forward Jess Knapp averaging 7.1 and 6.9 boards per game, respectively, good for second and third in the conference. Yale has a slim 34–33 margin over Penn in the all-time series.

    Tip-off against Princeton is scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J. The Bulldogs will travel to Penn the following night for a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Penn.

  11. W. BASKETBALL | Sweep puts Bulldogs into second

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    Before the start of every game, the women’s basketball team huddles together and chants, “Defense, defense, rebound!” Those two factors proved to be key this weekend, as strong defensive performances and solid rebounding helped the Bulldogs earn two league wins.

    The Elis (10–12, 6–2 Ivy) knocked off Harvard (13–8, 5–2) and Dartmouth (5–16, 1–6) to earn the weekend sweep at home. The two wins vaulted the Bulldogs up from a third-place tie with Columbia to second place in the Ivy League standings, just a half-game behind Princeton.

    “It was really nice [to get the sweep] because we had two tough teams this weekend,” guard Megan Vasquez ’13 said. “Harvard was a really emotional game, and it meant a lot to us. But we had to beat Dartmouth to really make the Harvard win count.”

    The weekend began with a meeting against archrival Harvard. The Elis’ strong first-half defense held the Crimson to just 19 points in the first half and allowed the Bulldogs to build a 20-point lead at halftime. Though Harvard found its offensive groove in the second half, the deficit proved too great to overcome, as the Elis emerged with an 82–71 win. It was the Crimson’s first Ivy League loss of the season.

    “It’s a huge win,” forward Janna Graf ’14 said. “I’m just a freshman, so it’s my first time playing against Harvard, but it feels great. I think everyone is really happy to beat Harvard.”

    Graf scored a game-high 21 points in the contest and also tallied seven assists and six rebounds. Vasquez added 13 points and six boards, while forwards Mady Gobrecht ’11 and Michelle Cashen ’12 chipped in with 11 points apiece. Guard Aarica West ’13 totaled nine points, seven assists and three steals.

    Harvard forward Victoria Lippert paced the Crimson, scoring 18 points and grabbing eight boards. Guard Brogan Berry also added 16 points and seven assists.

    The Bulldogs opened the game by jumping out to a 9–2 lead behind five points from West and layups from Gobrecht and Cashen. The Crimson worked their way back into the game after Berry and Emma Markley cut Yale’s lead to 13–10 with 11:03 left, but after that it was all Yale for the remainder of the half.

    Over the next four minutes, the Elis outscored the Crimson 14–4 run to go up 27–14 at the 5:39 mark. Yale also locked down on defense, scoring 14 points off 10 Harvard turnovers in the first half. “I thought we had tremendous defensive energy in the first half,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “They’re an outstanding offensive team. I just thought we were so energized in the way we jumped on them that they were very off balanced offensively.”

    The Bulldogs closed out the half with an 11–2 run over the final 5:23 to go into the locker room with a commanding 39–19 edge.

    Harvard reduced the deficit to 45–31 following a layup from Lippert at the 15:23 mark, but the Bulldogs pushed their lead back up to 20 after Vasquez hit a shot from beyond the arc two minutes later.

    Still, Harvard used strong shooting to chip away at Yale’s lead. The Crimson shot 62.2 percent from the field in the second half. A layup from Markley and a three-pointer from Lippert brought the Crimson within 10 points with 2:48 left to play.

    “It was good that we had that 20-point lead heading into half,” Graf said. “We let up a little on defense, but they were also hitting some shots.”

    Harvard trimmed the deficit to eight points after Berry converted a three-point play with 1:06 left, but the Bulldogs were able to hit the free throws they needed down the stretch to secure the win.

    The Elis returned to action the following night to host a struggling Dartmouth team on Pink Zone day. The matchup proved to be a battle of sophomore guards, as Vasquez and Dartmouth’s Faziah Steen each scored 21 points for their team. In the end, however, it was the Bulldogs who came out on top with a 66–53 win behind another strong defensive effort.

    “I thought Dartmouth really came to play,” coach Gobrecht said. “When you play Dartmouth when they’re that determined, you’re going to have a battle, and that’s what we had.”

    In addition to Vasquez’s 21 points, Graf also netted 15 points and eight rebounds. Gobrecht added 11 boards and seven assists, while Cashen grabbed 12 rebounds and five steals.

    Steen also had three assists, four steals and three blocks for the Big Green, while forward Cassie Cooper tallied a double-double, with 10 points and 10 boards.

    After Dartmouth took an early 10–7 lead, the Bulldogs countered with a 12–2 run that gave them a 19–12 advantage.

    Still, the Big Green battled back, and a layup from Janelle Ross pulled Dartmouth within five points with 7:05 left in the half. But Yale outscored Dartmouth 12–6 to close out the half and build an 11-point lead at halftime.

    Yale’s defense held the Big Green to just 21.2 percent shooting in the first half.

    Dartmouth had a strong start to the second half and used a 6–2 run to cut the deficit to 35–28, but Yale pushed its lead back up to double digits after guard Allie Messimer ‘13 sank a three-point shot that gave the Bulldogs a 40–30 edge.

    After that, the Big Green never seriously threatened the Bulldogs’ lead. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the game, allowing the Elis to maintain their lead and come away with the weekend sweep.

    The Bulldogs are now halfway through league play and currently sit in second place in the conference standings. The Elis have a key road trip coming up this weekend, as they will travel to Princeton on Friday; the winner will take sole possession of first place in the Ivy League.

    “6–2 is nice; of course, I think we wish we could be better,” coach Gobrecht said. “I think we have a very, very tough second half [of the season coming up]. If we learned what we needed to learn from those two losses, then we have a shot of getting through this second half of playing four of our last six games on the road. The next two weekends are where we’ll find out what we’re made of.”

    Tip-off against Princeton is slated for Friday night at 6 p.m. in Princeton, N.J. The Bulldogs will travel to Penn the following night for a 7 p.m. matchup.