NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team had one of its best halves of the season Saturday against Columbia at Lee Amphitheater, outscoring the Lions 35-34. But by then Columbia had already racked up enough points to keep the Bulldogs from threatening the lead, and the Lions came away with an 84-64 win.
Yale (1-15, 0-3 Ivy League) trailed 31-16 after the first quarter before gradually regrouping. The Bulldogs had a 6-0 scoring run in the second, but that only trimmed the deficit to 15. Columbia (12-4, 3-0 Ivy League) went into halftime up 50-29.
Yale cut its turnovers dramatically in the second half, committing only seven after having 16 in the first half. That helped give the Bulldogs nearly twice as many shots in the second as they had in the first (31 compared to 16). They utilized that to pour in 35 points, but got no closer than 14 before the Lions pulled away.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
KEY STAT
- Columbia had a 30-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
NOTES
- Including the 69 points they scored last Saturday at Brown, the Bulldogs have now scored 60+ points in back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2024 (won at Dartmouth 78-42, beat Cornell 79-72).
- Junior guard Lola Lesmond came off the bench to sink three three-pointers in the second quarter, and she finished with a season-high nine points.
- Five Bulldogs scored eight or more points.
- Yale had a 37-18 advantage in bench scoring, led by nine each from Lesmond and first-year guard Ciniya Moore.
- This was Egger's sixth double-double of the year.
- This was the fifth time this season Columbia has scored 80 or more points.
- The Bulldogs had season highs in free throws made (16) and attempted (26).
AROUND THE IVY LEAGUE
- Harvard 83, Brown 53
- Penn 57, Cornell 51
- Princeton 63, Dartmouth 39
WHAT'S NEXT
- Yale plays at Dartmouth Monday at 6:00 p.m.
