March 4, 2006

PRINCETON, N.J. - Princeton senior Katy O'Brien scored a team-high 15 points, including 13 in the second half, as the Tigers defeated Yale 67-52 on senior day at Jadwin Gymnasium. Yale's Sara McCollum (Old Lyme, Conn.) led all scorers with 16 points, but it wasn't enough for the Bulldogs to overcome a strong second-half performance from the Tigers.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that featured seven lead changes and six tie scores. Yale held Princeton to just 26.9% shooting from the field, but still trailed by a pair going into the locker room after Jessica Berry hit a buzzer beating lay-up to put Princeton up 24-22.

The Bulldogs held a five point lead at the 8:04 mark after a McCollum jumper from the right elbow. The jumper punctuated a 6-0 run over a five minute stretch where Yale held Princeton without a field goal. During the stretch both conference-leading scorer Becky Brown and Meagan Cowher were on the bench with foul trouble.

The second half was a different story with Brown and Cowher in the game as Princeton wasted no time taking command. With Cowher and Brown back in the contest the Tigers went on an 18-2 run powered by Cowher and a trio of trey's from O'Brien. This gave Princeton a large cushion at 49-33 with just 9:25 left.

The Bulldogs tried to come back, but they couldn't build any momentum and eventually fell 67-52.

Chinenye Okafor (Rolla, Mo.) reached double-figures in scoring with 11 points to end the season with a string of seven consecutive games reaching the plateau.

The loss ends Yale's season at 3-24 (2-12 Ivy) while Princeton improves to 20-6 (11-2 Ivy) with one game left to play.

The game was the last in the Yale career of senior Cassandra Harris (Newbury Park, Calif.). She finished the game with a rebound and an assist.