Feb. 4, 2007

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA--The Princeton-Penn road trip is never easy. The back end is made even tougher after losing on Friday night. Yale saw its Ivy League title hopes hit a major hurdle Saturday night, as the Bulldogs (10-10, 3-3 Ivy) dropped a 70-57 decision to Penn (8-10, 3-2 Ivy) at The Palestra, completing an 0-2 weekend on the southernmost Ivy swing.

"We still have a lot to learn about being a target," Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht said. "We have to understand what it means to get that respect."

Yale started off strong, building a 9-3 lead 2:45 into the contest. However, the momentum of the game may have changed at that point, as Yale captain Chinenye Okafor dislocated a toe going for a steal. Okafor, who had three offensive rebounds in the first 2:45, did not return.

"It was hard emotionally to recover from losing Nenye," Gobrecht said. "She is our captain."

Penn quickly rallied for five straight points to cut the lead to one before a Melissa Colborne three-pointer increased the Bulldogs' lead to four at 12-8. The Quakers put together another 5-0 run and took a 13-12 lead on Monica Naltner's trey at the 13:31 mark. Penn nursed the lead for the remainder of the half and held a three-point edge, 33-30, at intermission.

The Quakers exploded out of the gates in the second half, starting the half on an 8-0 clip to open up an 11-point lead at 41-30. Penn made 10 of its first 13 shots in the period to go in front by as many as 16 points, 57-41 with 9:56 remaining. Yale gradually chipped away, cutting it to 11 at 61-50 with 5:14 left.

Yale had chances to get back in it, but the score stood at 61-50 for the next 2:52 until back-to-back layups by Stephanie Marciano cut the deficit to seven with 1:54 to go. That was as close as the Bulldogs would get, however, as the Quakers made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to seal the 70-57 victory. Penn went the last 6:28 without a field goal, but scored 11 points from the free throw line during that time.

Erica Davis had another solid effort for the Bulldogs, notching 21 points and eight rebounds. Davis did not register a block for the first time in 12 games. Marciano was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 14 points. Haywood Wright, who played a career-high 16 minutes in place of Okafor, notched career-highs with eight rebounds and four blocks.

The Bulldogs shot 32.1 percent (17-of-53) from the field and 36.4 percent (4-of-11) from three-point range. Yale shot 70.4 percent (19-of-27) from the free throw line. The Bulldogs had just four steals and a season-low seven assists.

Joey Rhoads had a game-high 23 points, 14 in the second half, for the Quakers. Naltner added 19 points and six rebounds, while Lauren Pears tallied 10 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals. Ashley Gray had five points and seven rebounds off the bench for Penn.

Penn shot 46 percent (23-of-50) from the field, including 52.4 percent (11-of-21) in the second half. The Quakers shot 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from three-point land and 69 percent (20-of-29) from the charity stripe. Each team grabbed 37 rebounds, the second time all season Yale had the same number of rebounds as its opponent.

The Bulldogs look to get back on track next weekend when they return to the John J. Lee Amphitheater for a pair of games. Columbia visits New Haven Friday at 7 p.m., and Cornell comes to town Saturday at 7 p.m.

NOTES: Davis scored 20 points for the second straight night and the fifth time this season...There were 33 fouls in the game, and five players fouled out...Yale is 0-9 this season when trailing at halftime...Yale has dropped back-to-back games for the first time since losing to Fordham and Hofstra on Dec. 7 and 12...The Bulldogs have lost 12 straight Ivy League road games...Marciano celebrated her 21st birthday on Saturday.

Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity