NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's basketball team jumped on first-place Columbia early Friday night at Lee Amphitheater, getting the three-time defending Ivy League champions back on their heels. But Columbia chipped away at a double-digit Yale first-quarter lead and eventually overtook the Bulldogs in the second quarter. Once the Lions did so they never looked back, pulling away for a 68-47 win.
Yale raced out to a 14-4 lead, capped by a pair of free throws by sophomore guard
Ciniya Moore at 2:30 of the first. Thanks in part to a pair of Yale blocks, the Lions missed 12 of their first 14 shots. The Bulldogs led 16-12 after one quarter.
The Lions took the lead, 22-20, on a three-pointer by Riley Weiss at 6:17 of the second. They got the lead up to as many as seven later in the quarter before a late Yale run pulled the Bulldogs within three, 30-27, at halftime.
Columbia outscored Yale 15-0 to start the third, eventually building a 56-35 lead entering the fourth. The evenly played final quarter (12-12) yielded the 68-47 final score.
Yale falls to 6-19 (2-10 Ivy League) while Columbia improves to 19-6 (10-2 Ivy League). The Lions remain tied for first in the Ivy League with No. 25 Princeton, who beat Dartmouth 97-47 Friday night.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
- Sophomore guard Ciniya Moore led Yale in points with 15.
- Senior forward Kiley Capstraw led Yale in rebounds with nine and assists with three.
KEY STAT
- Columbia outscored Yale 26-8 in the third.
NOTES
- The Bulldogs finished with seven blocks, two shy of their season high. They now have at least three blocks in each of their last nine games.
- Moore drew six fouls on Columbia players and shot .875 (7-for-8) from the free throw line.
- Junior forward Ana Guillen tied her career high with a team-best three steals.
- First-year guard Hannah Wasserman scored her first career point, hitting a free throw in the final minute.
AROUND THE IVY LEAGUE
- Brown 62, Cornell 47
- Harvard 60, Penn 46
- Princeton 97, Dartmouth 47
UP NEXT
- Yale hosts Cornell Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
