Feb. 9, 2006

Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

THE MATCHUP
Yale will try to parlay the momentum from a 20-point, come-from-behind victory over Penn last weekend into a successful road trip at Columbia and Cornell. The Lions enter the weekend winless in six conference games while the Big Red have split their six Ivy games and stand in the middle of the pack.

SERIES HISTORIES
The Bulldogs hold a commanding 30-8 all-time series lead over Columbia despite being swept last season. The last Yale win in the series came in the final game of the 2003-04 season on March 6, 2004, a 56-50 decision in New Haven. Yale's last win in Levien Gymnasium came on Feb. 22, 2003, a 71-60 victory.

Yale also holds a large series edge over Cornell, 37-16. The Bulldogs have won three consecutive against the Big Red dating back to a 70-63 Cornell win in Ithaca on Feb. 7, 2004. In three wins since, the Bulldogs average margin of victory has been 22 points.

THE LAST TIME OUT
Yale closed out a brief two-game home stand with an incredible 20 point second half comeback against Penn. Erica Davis led all scorers with a season-high 15 points, all of which came in the second half, including the clincher with just six seconds on the clock. Chinenye Okafor cleaned up on the glass, pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds. Prior to the contest with Penn, Yale was defeated by Princeton 53-37. The Bulldog defense was up to the task of facing the Tigers, who were held 17 points under their normal scoring average. Stephanie Marciano scored a career-high 10 points for the Bulldogs.

SCOUTING THE LIONS
Columbia enters Friday night 4-15 overall and 0-6 in Ivy play. They are led by junior guard Megan Griffith, who is fourth in the conference in scoring (14.6 ppg.). Griffith has started every game for the Lions and is averaging nearly 37 minutes per game. Despite her efforts Columbia is mired in a nine-game losing streak and has won only once in its last 12 contests. Sophomore guard Michele Gage is the second leading scorer on the team, averaging 11.2 points.

SCOUTING THE BIG RED
Cornell, who takes on Brown on Friday night, enters the weekend 6-13 overall and 3-3 in conference play. After winning three of their first four conference games, the Big Red has lost their last two to drop to the .500 mark. Standout freshman forward Jeomi Maduka leads the Big Red in scoring and rebounding. Her 13.9 point per game average is best among all rookies in Ivy play and sixth in the conference. Her 8.1 rebounds is also the best mark of any rookie in the league, and overall.

UP NEXT
Yale returns to New Haven to close out the home portion of the schedule with a four-game home stand. The Bulldogs host Dartmouth and Harvard on the weekend of Feb. 17 to open the home stand.

COMEBACK KIDS
Yale's 20-point rally against Penn on Feb. 4 was its largest come from behind victory since erasing a 16-point deficit against Morgan State on Dec. 20, 2004. The Bulldogs won that game 79-70.

Chris Gobrecht, JOEL E. SMILOW, CLASS OF 1954 HEAD COACH OF WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Chris Gobrecht, a 25-year Division I coaching veteran and a two-time Pacific-10 Conference Coach of the Year, takes the reins for her first season at Yale. Gobrecht is the ninth coach in the 31-year history of Yale women's basketball, and enters the Ivy League with more career victories than any other active coach in women's or men's basketball with 425.

VAN HORNE NAMED ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
On Jan. 30, freshman guard Jamie Van Horne was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week. Van Horne averaged 13 points, including tying her career-high of 17, to earn the honors. It was the first time this season a Bulldog earned conference honors.

OKAFOR STAYS HOT
It has been a tale of two seasons for junior captain Chinenye Okafor. After averaging a slim 6.9 points over her first seven games, Okafor has turned things around in her last nine to average 10.2 points. Her rebounding also took a dramatic up-turn, going from 3.9 rpg. over the first seven games to 5.8 over the last nine. For the season she is averaging 8.8 points and 4.9 rebounds. She notched her first double-double of the season and the third of her career against Harvard with 10 points and 11 rebounds on Jan. 27.

DAVIS NOTCHES 100TH CAREER BLOCK
With a rejection late in the first half of Yale's game at Brown on Jan. 20, junior Erica Davis picked up the 100th block of her Bulldog career. Davis already holds the Yale career record for rejections along with the single season mark (55).

McCOLLUM DOUBLES DOWN
Sophomore Sara McCollum recorded her second double-double of the season on Jan. 14 against Brown. McCollum dropped in 14 points and pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds to accomplish the feat. Her previous double-dip came on Jan. 2 against Lehigh when she had 10 points and 12 rebounds. For the season she is averaging 8.7 points and ranks fifth in the conference with 7.1 rebounds. Chinenye Okafor is the only other Bulldog to have a double-double this season. COMMON OPPONENTS
Yale and Columbia share three non-conference opponents in Delaware State, Lehigh and Sacred Heart. Columbia was swept by the trio while Yale pulled out a win over Lehigh. Cornell has one common opponent, New Hampshire, with Yale. Both teams fell to the Wildcats.

NOTHING BUT A BLOCK PARTY
Julie Mantilla tied a school record with five blocked shots at Quinnipiac on Jan. 4. It is the third time in her career she has swatted five shots, and the second time against Quinnipiac. Teammate Erica Davis also shares the record, accomplishing the feat twice. Sarah Jacobson `93 and Megan Connick `81 also hold a piece of the record. For the season Mantilla is third in the Ivy League, averaging 1.33 blocks per game.

GOBRECHT PICKS UP FIRST YALE WIN
With a 66-61 win over Lehigh, Chris Gobrecht picked up her first career victory at Yale, snapping a ten-game losing streak by the Bulldogs.

LILLEMOE NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Freshman guard Kaitlyn Lillemoe has been impressive through the first 14 games of her Bulldog career and was named to the Coca-Cola St. Louis Billiken Classic All-Tournament team. During the two games she averaged 12.5 points, including a 16- point effort in the Bulldogs narrow loss to the Privateers. She was also clutch in the effort, hitting a key three pointer and picking up a block in the final minutes. She had an impressive Yale debut, scoring a team-high 19 points. On two occasions the freshman buried three-pointers as the shot clock expired as part of her .615 night. She finished 8-13 from the floor and 3-4 from three-point land. She chipped in four rebounds and a pair of assists as well.

EMMERLING SETS NEW CAREER HIGH
Junior Kaitlin Emmerling set a new career high in points twice this season. On the strength of 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc, Emmerling set a new career mark with 17 against Providence on Nov. 21. Her previous mark came in the season opener against New Hampshire when she scored 13.

FREQUENT FLYER MILES
Yale's non-League road trips this year ranged from as close as Hamden, Conn. (12 miles) to St. Louis, Mo. (1056 miles) and virtually every distance in between. Among their closer road trips, the Bulldogs traveled to nutmeg state rivals Quinnipiac (Hamden) and Sacred Heart (Fairfield). The longest trip of the season knocked two games off the schedule when Yale played in the St. Louis Billiken Classic against host St. Louis and New Orleans. The Bulldogs also participated in the Virginia Cavalier Classic, taking on host Virginia and Boston University in December.