Feb. 16, 2008
NEW HAVEN, Conn.--It looked for a while like "Think Pink" night at the John J. Lee Amphitheater would be a success, both on the court and off. Unfortunately, only half of that equation held true, as Penn (4-18, 1-6 Ivy) charged back from eight points down in the second half to post a 75-67 victory over Yale (6-15, 4-4 Ivy) in front of 1,004 pink-clad Bulldog fans Saturday night. The Quakers snapped a 15-game losing streak with the victory, while the Bulldogs fell for the fourth time in five games.
Yale was in control for much of the first half. After Penn scored the first basket of the game, the Bulldogs quickly jumped in front 12-4. Jamie Van Horne's layup midway through the period increased Yale's lead to 22-12, and the margin reached as many as 14 points when Melissa Colborne's layup made it 28-14 with 6:47 left in the first half. The Quakers used back-to-back three-pointers to cut their deficit to eight, but that's roughly where the lead would remain for the rest of the half and the Bulldogs took a 41-32 lead into the locker room.
After the teams traded layups to open the second half, the Quakers went on a 9-0 run and took a one-point lead when Kelly Scott's trey made it 46-45 at the 15:35 mark. Following a media timeout, a technical foul on the Penn bench ignited an 11-3 Yale run that opened up a 57-49 Bulldogs lead with 12:13 remaining. Penn countered with another rally and this time Yale couldn't find the answer, as the Quakers outscored the Bulldogs 26-10 the rest of the way.
The Bulldogs went scoreless for over four minutes, but the Quakers didn't completely take advantage, only increasing their lead from 63-60 to 69-60 during that span. Yale finally got back on the scoreboard when Van Horne drained a pair of free throws, but the Bulldogs missed eight of nine shots before Stephanie Marciano sank a three-pointer with four seconds left and Penn up by 10. The Quakers shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the second half and made enough free throws down the stretch to pull away for a 75-67 triumph.
Colborne led the Bulldogs with 16 points and added five rebounds. Van Horne tallied 15 points, but was held to just two in the second half. Lindsey Williams posted 14 points and nine rebounds, while Marciano notched 10 points, three rebounds and four assists. Mady Gobrecht grabbed six rebounds, as the Bulldogs outrebounded the Quakers 40-39.
Yale shot 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the field in the game, but just 28 percent (7-of-25) in the second half. The Bulldogs shot just 24 percent (6-of-25) from three-point range, including 16.7 percent (2-of-12) in the second half. The Ivy League's best free throw shooting team, Yale shot an uncharacteristic 65.6 percent (21-of-32) from the line, including just 52.6 percent (10-of-19) in the second half.
Sarah Bucar finished with a double-double, tallying 15 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three assists and four steals. She did most of her damage in the second half, posting 13 points and eight boards in the final 20 minutes. Scott and Carrie Biemer each had 14 points for Penn. Scott added three assists and three steals, while Biemer grabbed seven rebounds. Kim Adams notched 13 points, three assists and two steals off the bench for the Quakers. Penn shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field in the game. The Quakers shot 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from behind the arc and 64.7 percent (22-of-34) at the charity stripe.
Yale continues its four-game homestand next weekend when first-place Cornell (15-6, 7-1 Ivy) and Columbia (8-14, 5-3 Ivy) visit the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Bulldogs host a Big Red team that was won six straight Friday at 7 p.m. and take on the Lions next Saturday at 7 p.m. Yale split the road games at Columbia and Cornell earlier this season, knocking off the Lions 66-59 before dropping a 62-54 decision to the Big Red the following night.
NOTES: Yale lost for the first time this season when leading at halftime...Penn has won four straight over Yale and now leads the all-time series 34-29...There was a total of 54 personal and two technical fouls called, and the teams went to the free throw line a combined 66 times...Saturday was freshman forward Vicky Perez's birthday...Yale was one of more than 900 schools around the country to host a "Think Pink" game for breast cancer awareness this season...The Bulldogs wore pink shooting shirts, shoelaces, socks and headbands, and breast cancer survivors were honored at halftime.
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity
