Jan. 13, 2008

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.--The Yale women's basketball team is ready for Ivy League play. The Bulldogs proved it Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum. Unfortunately, they came up just short of pulling off the upset against a talented Boston College team. Yale (2-10) had three chances to tie or go ahead in the final 30 seconds, but each time the shot didn't fall and the Eagles (14-4) escaped with a 57-55 victory.

A Stefanie Murphy layup gave the Eagles a 57-55 lead, their first since the 17:23 mark of the second half, with 38 seconds to go. Yale took its final timeout with 29 seconds left to set up a final shot. After Boston College took a timeout to set its defense, Lindsey Williams missed a three-pointer from the top of the key with 11 seconds remaining. Mady Gobrecht pulled down the rebound and kicked it out to Stephanie Marciano, who missed a layup. There was a scramble for the rebound, and the officials determined it was a jump ball. Yale held the possession arrow, so the Bulldogs kept the ball with 3.3 seconds left. Carolyn Swords knocked the inbounds pass out of Gobrecht's hands, and the Eagles survived.

"This game was a great experience for us," Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht said. "Even though the three didn't fall, we can take a lot of positives away from this game."

Yale scored the first points of the game on a Gobrecht three-pointer and led 6-2 after a Marciano trey at the 18:22 mark. Boston College scored the next four points to tie it, but the Bulldogs went back in front on a Gobrecht layup. Yale led for most of the first half, building a 22-18 edge on Gobrecht's free throw with 5:39 left. The Eagles responded with an 8-0 run over the next 2:20 to build a four-point lead of their own, 26-22 with 3:19 remaining before halftime. The Bulldogs cut it to one before Kaydia Kentish sank a layup to give Boston College a 28-25 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs opened the second half on fire. Yale outscored Boston College 18-5 over the first 7:30 of the period to open up a 43-33 lead. Back-to-back baskets by Williams to start the half gave Yale the lead before Boston College tied it at 31-31. A Marciano three-pointer then ignited a 10-0 Bulldog run that was capped by a Jamie Van Horne trey from approximately 26 feet out.

"The only difference (during the 10-0 run) was that our shots started falling," Chris Gobrecht said. "I thought our defense was good the whole time."

Trailing 43-33, the Eagles made their run. Murphy had eight straight points for Boston College, as the Bulldogs saw their lead evaporate down to one over a 4:30 span. Another Marciano trey brought Yale's lead back to four at 49-45 with 6:11 left. After Murphy went 1-for-2 at the line to cut the lead to three, a jumper by Williams and a Van Horne three-pointer brought the Bulldogs' advantage back to six, 54-48, with 3:25 to play. Boston College got within one before a Melissa Colborne free throw made it 55-53 with 1:34 left. Murphy drained a pair at the line to tie the game, then sank the game-winning layup with 38 seconds left. She had 19 second-half points.

Marciano, despite playing with an injured rib that forced her to miss the Holy Cross game, played 30 minutes and led the Bulldogs with 14 points. She went 4-for-6 from three-point range in the game. Van Horne had nine points on three second-half three-pointers, while Gobrecht added eight points and four assists. Colborne and Williams each tallied six points and five rebounds, while Williams also distributed three assists. The Bulldogs shot 38.8 percent (19-of-49) from the field, including a season-high 47.4 percent (9-of-19) from three-point range. Yale shot 61.5 percent (8-of-13) at the free throw line.

Murphy, a five-time ACC Rookie of the Week, finished with a game-high 23 points and eight rebounds. Swords, who ranked second in the nation in field goal percentage coming in, went just 4-for-8 from the field for eight points. She was limited to 13 minutes because of foul trouble. Ayla Brown had eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals. Jaclyn Thoman dished out six assists and added four steals. The Eagles shot 48.9 percent (23-of-47) from the field and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) at the line. Boston College did not make a three-pointer in five attempts. The Eagles had a distinct size advantage and outrebounded the Bulldogs 34-27.

Yale now has a week off to prepare for the Ivy League opener. The Bulldogs head to Providence for a matchup with Brown (1-13) Saturday at 4 p.m. The Bulldogs and Bears split the season series last year, with each team winning on its home floor.

NOTES: With six points, Colborne now has 500 career points, reaching the benchmark in her 40th game...Van Horne moved into a third-place tie with Maria Smear with 126 career three-pointers...The last time Marciano went without an assist was a 66-64 loss at Columbia on Feb. 24, 2007...The Bulldogs held an opponent without a three-point field goal for the first time since Dartmouth went 0-for-8 from behind the arc on Feb. 16, 2007...Yale didn't have a block for the first time this season and the first time since a 64-49 win over Princeton in last year's season finale...Yale fell to 0-8 all-time against members of the ACC.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity