Jan. 26, 2007

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NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Stephanie Marciano had a career-high 16 points, all in the second half, to lead Yale (9-8, 2-1 Ivy) to a 61-53 victory over Harvard (3-12, 1-1 Ivy) Friday night at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Erica Davis added 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the victory.

Marciano was fouled shooting a three-pointer with 7:23 remaining in the game and the Bulldogs leading by one, 42-41. She made all three free throws to increase the lead to 45-41. After Liz Tindal's jumper made it 45-43, Marciano drained a trey to put Yale in front 48-43 with 6:48 remaining. She scored 11 straight points to help the Bulldogs open up a 53-47 advantage.

Harvard cut the lead to two at 54-52 with 51 seconds remaining, but Marciano's three-pointer as the shot clock expired on Yale's next possession ended any remaining comeback hopes the Crimson had. Marciano and Melissa Colborne each drained a pair of free throws down the stretch to cap the 61-53 victory.

"Steph really came up big tonight," Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht said. "Those were as big a shot as you're going to see. It was great to see her step up."

Yale built an early 11-6 advantage, but the Crimson stormed back to take a 14-13 lead with 8:53 left in the first half. The Crimson's lead reached a game-high three when a Tindal layup made it 23-20 with 6:16 to go before halftime. Yale responded with a 9-0 run over the next 1:51 and opened up a 29-23 advantage when Jamie Van Horne's three-pointer rolled around the rim several times before finally falling through. Harvard then went on a 9-0 run of its own to take a 32-29 lead. The Bulldogs scored the final three points of the half to force a 32-32 deadlock at intermission.

The back-and-forth play continued for the first few minutes of the second half, as neither team was able to take a lead greater than three before Marciano took over. Harvard's last lead of the night, a 39-38 edge, came on a Niki Finelli layup with 13:52 remaining. After three missed shots and offensive rebounds, Kaitlyn Lillemoe put the Bulldogs ahead for good with a fall-away jumper with 13:03 to go.

Marciano had four assists and four steals to go along with her 16 points. Colborne tallied seven points and eight rebounds. Chinenye Okafor, who missed the Brown game due to injury, notched seven boards and three steals in 26 minutes. The Bulldogs shot 33.3 percent (17-of-51) from the field and 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from three-point range. Yale shot at a 78.6 percent (22-of-28) clip from the free throw line, compared to Harvard's 66.7 percent (12-of-18).

Emily Tay had 12 points to lead the Crimson. She added three assists. Lindsay Hallion tallied 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for Harvard. Emma Moretzsohn led the Crimson with seven boards off the bench. She also posted three blocks. The Crimson shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field, but just 20 percent (1-of-5) from behind the arc. Yale was outrebounded for just the fourth time all season, as the Crimson held a 39-36 edge on the boards.

The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow for a 7 p.m. contest with Dartmouth at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Dartmouth was a 61-44 winner over Brown on Friday night.

NOTES: The win was Yale's first over Harvard since Feb. 14, 2004...Davis was honored before the game for scoring her 1,000th career point...Davis moved into 11th place on the all-time scoring list, five behind Maria Siambekos for 10th...With three steals, Okafor now has 133 in her career, moving her into a tie with Katy Grubbs for 10th all-time...The game was tied at halftime, the first time all season the Bulldogs were deadlocked at intermission.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity

Video Highlights:

• Davis gets the ball from her 1,000th point
• A Davis jumper
• Chen cleans up a Marciano miss with the offensive board and a nice reverse lay-up
• McCollum nabs a jumper with the shot clock winding down
• Van Horne picks up the three-pointer after a long roll
• Right before halftime, Davis gets three blocks in three consecutive plays
• An Okafor jumper
• Lillemoe hits the long jump-shot as the shot clock buzzes
• Marciano's three-pointers keyed the Yale win
• Yale celebrates the victory