Bulldogs Tabbed for Fifth in Ivy League Preseason Poll

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Coming off of a 4-10 Ivy League season that was marred by a slew of injuries, the Yale women’s basketball team has been selected to finish fifth in the upcoming 2009-10 campaign, as voted upon by the Ancient Eight media and sports information directors. The Bulldogs, who return four opening-day starters from last season and added a nationally-recognized recruiting class for this season, shared fifth place with Cornell. Dartmouth, the reigning Ivy League champion, was selected to repeat with 11 of 16 first-place votes.

Despite the middle-of-the-pack expectations of the media, Chris Gobrecht, entering her fifth season as Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women’s Basketball at Yale and her 30th season at the helm of a Division I program, is optimistic that 2009-10 will be a breakout campaign for the deep, and finally healthy, Bulldogs’ squad.

“The returning players have a great foundation of experience and know how to be successful playing Yale basketball,” said Gobrecht. “Combining the returning players with a strong recruiting class, we finally have the depth to make our system work.”

Harvard grabbed the remaining five first-place votes in the poll to take second place. Princeton and Columbia were chosen to finish ahead of the Bulldogs and Big Red at third and fourth place, respectively, while Penn and Brown rounded out the poll at seventh and eighth.

Yale begins the 2009-10 season on Nov. 13, as Holy Cross visits the John J. Lee Amphitheater for a 7:30 p.m. contest. The Ivy League slate kicks off on Jan. 15, with the Bulldogs traveling to Providence, R.I. for a matchup with Brown.

report filed by Drew M. Kingsley, Yale Sports Publicity