Jan. 6, 2008

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NEW HAVEN, Conn.--The Yale women's basketball team provided its fans with a glimpse into the future on Sunday afternoon at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Because of injuries and illness, three freshmen were in the starting lineup, and Yale had just five eligible healthy regulars remaining at the end of the game (three Bulldogs fouled out). Nevertheless, the short-handed Bulldogs (2-9) fought back from 20 down in the second half before Holy Cross (6-8) held on for a 66-59 victory.

Yale trailed by 20 with 14:51 remaining, but outscored the Crusaders 30-15 the rest of the way. Trailing 62-50, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to pull within five on a Brittani Nichols three-pointer with 33 seconds left. Yale was forced to foul to stop the clock, and Briana McFadden sank a pair of free throws to make it a 64-57 game. Ashley Easley's layup brought Yale's deficit back down to five with nine seconds to go, but Bethany O'Dell made two foul shots and the Bulldogs ran out of time, as Holy Cross posted a 66-59 victory.

"Whoever got us today was going to luck out because we were far from full strength," Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht said. "It took us a little while to get used to some different combinations, but I thought we played well after we got settled. I was impressed with the way we battled back."

Yoyo Greenfield made her first career start at point guard for injured team captain Stephanie Marciano and scored Yale's first five points. After an Easley layup made it 7-7, Holy Cross went on a 17-4 run to open up a 24-11 lead with 8:09 left in the first half. The Bulldogs responded with a 10-1 run of their own to make it 25-21 with 3:56 to go before halftime, but the Crusaders ended the half on an 11-2 clip to take a 36-23 lead into the locker room.

The Crusaders continued their run early in the second half. Holy Cross outscored Yale 13-6 over the first 5:09 of the half to open up a 49-29 advantage.

Lindsey Williams had her second double-double in three games with 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Melissa Colborne finished one rebound shy of her first career double-double with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds. Despite battling flu-like symptoms, Easley chipped in a career-high 10 points in eight minutes off the bench. Mady Gobrecht posted six points and a career-high 10 boards, as the Bulldogs outrebounded the Crusaders 47-42. Greenfield registered seven points and a career-high four assists. Yale shot 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the field, but just 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from three-point range. The Bulldogs went 15-for-21 (71.4 percent) from the line.

O'Dell led four Crusaders in double figures with 15 points. She added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. McFadden tallied 12 points and five rebounds, while Ashley McLaughlin finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards, eight on the offensive glass. Laura Aloisi had 11 points and five rebounds to go along with three assists and seven steals. Holy Cross shot 32.8 percent (19-of-58) for the game, but was held to just 25 percent (7-of-28) shooting in the second half. The Crusaders shot 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from three-point range and 63.9 percent (23-of-36) at the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs have a week off to get healthy before beginning one of the most grueling stretches of the season. Seven of Yale's next eight games are on the road, starting at Boston College (13-3) next Sunday at 2 p.m. Five of the first six Ivy League games are away from New Haven during that stretch.

NOTES: Marciano missed a game for the first time since Jan. 4, 2006, a span of 53 consecutive starts...The five healthy players on the floor at the end were Colborne, Easley, Gobrecht, Greenfield and Nichols...The last time Yale had two players record double-digit rebounds in the same game was at Columbia on Feb. 24, 2007 (Erica Davis, 11 and Sara McCollum, 11)...Jamie Van Horne, who was experiencing flu-like symptoms, played just 12 minutes and was held scoreless for the first time since a 67-52 win over Marist on Dec. 22, 2006...Holy Cross made its first appearance in New Haven since Dec. 3, 1985...The Crusaders lead the all-time series 6-3.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity