Nov. 30, 2005

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NEW HAVEN, CONN. -- Yale takes on a pair of nutmeg state rivals this weekend, traveling to face the Sacred Heart Pioneers before returning home to host the Fairfield Stags. Yale and Sacred Heart square off on Thursday at 7:00 pm while Saturday's contest tips off at 4:30 pm.

THE MATCHUP Yale enters the weekend still searching for its first victory of the campaign. Yale takes on a pair of in-state rivals over the weekend, traveling to Fairfield to take on Sacred Heart on Thursday, before returning to New Haven to take on Fairfield on Saturday.

SERIES HISTORIES Yale has locked up with Sacred Heart 10 times, with the Pioneers coming away the victors in seven of those contests. Sacred Heart has also won the last six meetings, the most recent coming last season at Lee Amphitheater, a 66-53 win for SHU. The Bulldogs and Stags have played 20 times with Fairfield holding a 13-7 series lead. Last season the team's played to a 75-68 Stag victory in Fairfield.

THE LAST TIME OUT The Bulldogs came up just short against New Orleans in the consolation game of the St. Louis Billiken Classic, 54-50. Yale held a halftime lead, but the Privateers came out fast in the second half and held off the resilient Bulldogs to hang on for the four-point victory. SCOUTING THE PIONEERS Sacred Heart has started the season 2-1 with wins over Big East opponents Syracuse and Providence. The Pioneers are led by gritty junior guard Amanda Pape. Pape leads SHU, and is third in the Northeast Conference, averaging 16.0 points. Her 8.7 rebounds and 31.0 minutes are also team-highs. Senior Nicolle Rubino has been a solid second scoring option, averaging 10.7. The Pioneer's have been active on the fast break, outscoring their opponents 32-11 on the gallop.

SCOUTING THE STAGS A Trio of Stags are averaging double-digits in scoring, yet Fairfield has just a 1-2 record in their first three games. Sophomore guard Sabra Wrice has set the early pace, averaging 11 points. She is closely followed by Stephanie Cairia with 10.5 points and Candice Lindsay at 10.3 points. Freshman Baendu Lowenthal leads Fairfield in cleaning the glass, averaging 6.3 rebounds.

LILLEMOE NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM Freshman guard Kaitlyn Lillemoe has been impressive through the first four 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.

CAREER HIGHS Setting a new career high has become a nightly event for the Bulldogs. Kaitlin Emmerling has already set (13 points vs New Hampshire) and re-set (19 points at Providence) her career high in points. She also set a new high in minutes played, with 37 against the Wildcats to open the season. Stephanie Marciano has also been active, accumilating a personal best 12 assists against New Orleans. The 12 helpers was only two shy of Anne Peacock's school record of 14 in 1986.

UP NEXT After taking on Sacred Heart and Fairfield, the Bulldogs enjoy an extended break, as they don't play a game for 16 days. After more than a fortnight off, Yale returns to action with a four-game road swing that starts on Dec. 19 and 20 with games at Delaware State and George Washington.

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 reigns 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.

YALE SELECTED SIXTH IN IVY POLL Coming off a 6-21 season the Bulldogs have been predicted to finish sixth in the pre-season Ivy League media poll receiving 51 points, one spot below where they were picked a season ago. Defending champion Dartmouth was the unanimous selection to repeat, receiving all 16 first-place votes and 128 points. Harvard finished second with 95 points. Princeton (93 points), Brown (87) and Penn (69) round out the top five. Columbia (27) and Cornell (26) finished seventh and eighth respectively.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK Yale welcomes four fresh faces into the fold for 2005-06. Jenny Burke, Ashley Easley, Emily St. Jean and Jamie Van Horne will all look to contribute during their first seasons in the blue and white at either guard position. The four will bolster a backcourt corps that lost its top two scorers to graduation.

NOTHING BUT A BLOCK PARTY 2004-05 was another banner year for Bulldog swatters, as both Erica Davis and Julie Mantilla set new career highs in rejected shots. Davis sent 55 balls back at the shooter, breaking her own school record of 40. Mantilla bested her own personal record by two, returning 34 balls to sender.

EMMERLING SETS NEW CAREER HIGH For the second time in as many games junior Kaitlin Emmerling set a new career high in points. On the strength of 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc, Emmerling set a new career mark for points with 17 against Providence. Her previous mark came in the season opener against New Hampshire when she scored 13.

LILLEMOE IMPRESSIVE IN DEBUT Freshman guard Kaitlyn Lillemoe 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 with four rebounds and a pair of assists as well.

PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES Yale welcomes back nearly 59% of its scoring from 2004-05, led by Erica Davis and Chinenye Okafor. The duo combined for 37% of the Bulldogs offense last season. On the glass Yale welcomes back nearly 70% of its rebounding, led again by Davis and Okafor, who accounted for 29% of the team's rebounds.

WELCOME BACK After not playing in 2004-05, senior Cassandra Harris has re-joined the team for the 05-06 campaign. In 2003-04 Harris played in every game, averaging 11.4 minutes, 2.5 points and 2.5 rebounds. Her return makes her the lone senior on the squad.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN The Bulldogs will play only 11 home games in 2005-06, starting opening night when New Hampshire visits New Haven. The game is one of only three non-conference home games the Elis have. The Fairfield Stags play Yale on Dec. 3, and Lehigh comes to town on Jan. 2 rounding out the Bulldogs non-League home slate.

FREQUENT FLYER MILES Yale's non-League road trips this year range 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 travel to nutmeg state rivals Quinnipiac (Hamden.) and Sacred Heart (Fairfield). The longest trip of the season will knock two games off the schedule when Yale plays in the St. Louis Billiken Classic against hosts St. Louis and either Miami (Ohio) or New Orleans. The Bulldogs will also partake in the Virginia Cavalier Classic, taking on hosts Virginia and either Boston University or Holy Cross in December.