WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Yale women's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end Thursday morning at Monmouth, as the Hawks topped the Bulldogs 50-46 in overtime at OceanFirst Bank Arena.
Yale fell behind by as many as nine with 1:19 left in the third quarter but rallied to go ahead 40-38 on a jumper by sophomore guard
Ke'iara Odume with 5:03 left in the fourth. The Bulldogs went up by four when sophomore guard
Ciniya Moore hit a jumper with 1:54 left, but Monmouth scored the final four points of regulation — including a pair of free throws by guard Kathy Kersaint with 38 seconds left – to send the game to OT. There, the Hawks took control by scoring the first three points via free throws. Senior forward
Kiley Capstraw pulled Yale within two on a short jumper with 14.8 seconds left, but Hawks guard Alexis Andrews sealed the win by calmly sinking a pair of free throws with seven seconds left.
Yale falls to 4-8 (0-0 Ivy League) while Monmouth improves to 5-4 (0-0 CAA).
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Sophomore guard Ciniya Moore led Yale in points with 10.
- Junior forward Mary Meng led Yale in rebounds with 14 and blocks with three.
- Four Bulldogs had a pair of assists.
KEY STAT
- There were 12 lead changes in the game, the last coming when Monmouth went ahead 43-42 with 3:52 left in overtime.
NOTES
- Yale's 47 rebounds were the most in a game for the Bulldogs since they got 51 against Harvard Feb. 3, 2023.
- This was Meng's first game for Yale. She joined the Bulldogs as a transfer from Michigan State after last season.
- Monmouth's .241 shooting percentage was the lowest for a Yale opponent since Dartmouth shot .222 on Mar. 7, 2015 (a 53-28 Yale win).
- A crowd of 1,061 – mostly children – was on hand as part of Monmouth's Field Trip Day promotion involving local schools.
UP NEXT
- Yale now flies to North Carolina and plays at High Point on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. That is the Bulldogs' final game before Ivy League play starts Saturday, Jan. 3 at 2:00 p.m. vs. Brown.
