No. 7/8 Stanford Too Much for Bulldogs In Opener
Nov. 9, 2007
NEW HAVEN, Conn.--Stanford is ranked in the top 10. Yale found out why Friday afternoon at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The No. 7/8 Cardinal (1-0) scored the first 16 points of the game and were never threatened en route to a 100-44 victory over the Bulldogs (0-1) in the season opener for both teams. Jayne Appel led five Cardinal in double figures with 20 points, while Jamie Van Horne tallied 15 points on five three-pointers for the Bulldogs.
"I was disappointed with the way we handled our opponent," Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht said. "Our team is a lot better than we showed tonight. I thought we would handle the `Stanford mystique' better."
Stanford was up 16-0 just 3:40 into the contest. The Bulldogs finally got on the board when Sara McCollum sank a pair of free throws at the 16:00 mark. Yale's first field goal was a Yoyo Greenfield three-pointer 5:47 into the game, with the Cardinal already leading 20-5. Stanford continued pouring it on, making 12 of its first 14 field goal attempts. The lead reached 40 when Appel's layup made it 47-7 with 7:03 left in the half. The Cardinal held a 56-18 advantage at intermission.
Stanford began the second half the same way it started the first. The Cardinal's lead reached 50 when Cissy Pierce's layup made it 73-22 with 14:31 to go, and hit a game-high 56 on Morgan Clyburn's free throw that made the score 83-27 with 9:15 remaining. Yale went on an 8-0 run over the next 3:35 to pull within 83-35, but the Cardinal outscored the Bulldogs 17-9 the rest of the way to hit the century mark.
Van Horne was the only Bulldog in double figures with 15 points. Melissa Colborne added nine points and five rebounds, while Mady Gobrecht tallied six points, five rebounds and two assists in her collegiate debut. Greenfield also made her collegiate debut and chipped in three assists and two steals to go along with her three points. McCollum pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 21.2 percent (14-for-66) from the field and 18.8 percent (6-for-32) from three-point range. Yale was 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) at the free throw line.
Appel, last season's Pac-10 Rookie of the Year, tallied her 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting. She added six rebounds and two blocks. Jeanette Pohlen posted 15 points, five assists and four rebounds off the bench for Stanford, while Kayla Pedersen added 15 points and nine boards. Pierce contributed 12 points and three steals, and Jillian Harmon recorded 11 points and four assists. All 11 players who saw action for the Cardinal scored. Stanford shot 56.9 percent (37-for-65) from the field and 75 percent (3-for-4) from downtown. The Cardinal shot 67.6 percent (23-for-34) from the line and outrebounded the Bulldogs 55-33.
"We knew they had the ability to score 100," captain Stephanie Marciano said. "This game obviously wasn't a confidence builder. We just have to stay mentally tough."
The road doesn't get any easier for Yale, as the Bulldogs' next game is against another ranked Pac-10 opponent, and this time it's on the road. The Bulldogs have 10 days off before visiting No. 12/12 Arizona State at 8:30 p.m. ET on Nov. 19. Yale doesn't return home until a matchup with Stony Brook on Dec. 7.
NOTES: The only previous time Yale yielded 100 points in a game was a 101-66 loss at Clemson on Jan. 13, 1978...The 56-point loss was the largest margin of defeat in school history, breaking the previous record of 51 set in consecutive losses at George Washington (88-37) and Virginia (92-41) on Dec. 20 and 28, 2005...Chris Gobrecht, who previously coached at Washington and USC, fell to 16-28 against Stanford in her career...With Mady Gobrecht getting the start at power forward, Yale has had a freshman start the opener in three consecutive seasons and four times in the last five years...Van Horne's five three-pointers give her 100 for her career...Yale fell to 15-20 all-time in season openers...This marked the first time in school history that the Bulldogs hosted a ranked opponent.
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity
