Jan. 4, 2007

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa.--Yale began 2006 with a win over Lehigh. The Bulldogs started 2007 the same way. Led by a career-high 20 points from Melissa Colborne, Yale (6-7) posted its fourth straight victory, a 66-56 victory over the host Mountain Hawks (5-9) Wednesday night at Stabler Arena. The Bulldogs have won four straight games for the first time since Jan. 22-31, 2000.

"Road wins are always tough," Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht said. "You're happy whenever you can get a W on the road. Lehigh has a lot of tough shooters, and it was a key to keep them at bay."

The Bulldogs drained their first five shots of the game to build a 13-4 advantage 3:40 into the contest. Yale's lead reached a game high 11 points when Chinenye Okafor's layup made the score 17-6 at the 13:17 mark. Lehigh went on a 13-2 run over the next 4:58 and tied it at 19-19 on Kristen Dalton's jumper with 8:19 left in the half.

An Okafor jumper put the Bulldogs back in front and ignited an 8-0 Yale run that gave the Bulldogs a 27-19 advantage. After the teams traded baskets on the next two possessions, the Mountain Hawks went on a 7-0 run to pull within one at 29-28. Erica Davis sank a layup with 35 seconds remaining in the half to give the Bulldogs a 31-28 lead at intermission.

Yale shot 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from the field in the half, and held the lead despite not going to the free throw line once in the period.

With the Bulldogs holding a 48-43 advantage with 9:48 remaining in the game, the Mountain Hawks went on a 6-0 run to take their first lead since it was 2-0. Yale pulled back in front, 50-49, on a pair of Colborne free throws with 5:56 remaining. Colborne made two more free throws to bring the lead to three, then a Haley Crites layup brought Lehigh back within one at 52-51.

Colborne's three-pointer on the next Yale possession ignited a 7-0 run that effectively put the game away. Yale went 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the game (all in the second half), and the Bulldogs outscored the Mountain Hawks 13-4 over the final 4:46 of the 66-56 victory.

Colborne had four rebounds and two assists to go along with her 20 points. Davis posted her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Okafor added 12 points. Stephanie Marciano dished out 10 assists and committed just one turnover in 29 minutes. She also had seven points, five rebounds and two steals.

As a team, the Bulldogs posted a season-high 20 assists and tied a season-high with 26 field goals. Yale shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field and 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from three-point land. The Bulldogs committed a season-low 16 turnovers, but were outrebounded for just the third time all year, 34-33.

"We didn't do our normal job on the boards," Gobrecht said, "but we were tough on defense when we needed to be. We did a good job executing down the stretch and a great job finding each other."

Melissa Rich led Lehigh with 14 points. She added five rebounds. Sara Ellis tallied 10 points and seven assists for the Mountain Hawks. Adrienne Blount had a team-high six rebounds for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the field and 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the charity stripe. Lehigh attempted just three treys, all by Ellis, and made one.

Yale concludes non-conference play Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Bulldogs host Massachusetts at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in the second half of a Yale basketball doubleheader. The men's team hosts Longwood at 2 p.m.

NOTES: Marciano became the first Bulldog to post 10 assists in a game since she had 12 against New Orleans on Nov. 26, 2005...Yale is 6-0 this season when leading at halftime...The Bulldogs were outrebounded for the first time in seven games...Yale leads the all-time series against Lehigh 11-8...With the victory, Yale has doubled last season's win total.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity