March 2, 2008
PRINCETON, N.J.--Shelbie Pool drained a pair of three-pointers in the last 1:35 to break a 56-56 tie and lead Princeton (7-20, 4-7 Ivy) to a 64-59 victory over Yale (8-17, 6-6 Ivy) at Jadwin Gym on Saturday night. The loss was Yale's sixth straight at Jadwin Gym and snapped the Bulldogs' two-game winning streak.
With the score tied at 56-56, Pool hit the first of her two treys with 1:35 remaining to give the Tigers a 59-56 lead. Melissa Colborne was fouled on the other end, but missed both free throws and Princeton grabbed the rebound. Yale got the ball back on an Ali Prichard turnover, but immediately gave it back to the Tigers on a key officials' decision.
After Yale was awarded possession, Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach Chris Gobrecht tried to send Jamie Van Horne into the game. Van Horne got to the scorer's table as the official handed the ball to Stephanie Marciano to resume play. The horn sounded for the substitution and Haywood Wright, thinking the play was dead, passed back to Marciano, who was still out of bounds. The officials then awarded the ball to Princeton with 1:01 left.
Krystal Hill's layup was blocked out of bounds by Mady Gobrecht with 18 seconds left on the shot clock, but the Tigers worked it around to Pool, who drained a three from the top of the key to make it a six-point game, 62-56, with 35 seconds remaining. After Marciano missed a three and Prichard made one of two free throws on the other end, Marciano drained a trey to cut the deficit to four, 63-59, with 10 seconds to go. The Bulldogs fouled immediately and Julia Berger's free throw capped the 64-59 Princeton victory.
Playing in her final home game for Princeton, Meagan Cowher scored her team's first six points as the Tigers raced out to an early 9-4 lead. After Whitney Downs drained a pair of free throws to make it 11-6, the Bulldogs went on a 16-2 run to take a 22-13 lead with 8:26 left in the first half. The Bulldogs' lead reached a game-high 10 points when Colborne capped a run where she scored 12 of 14 Yale points with a layup that made it 26-16 with 5:24 remaining. Colborne scored 18 of Yale's 28 first half points. Princeton ended the half on an 11-2 run to go into the locker room only trailing by one, 28-27.
The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 10-2 run to bring their lead back to nine at 38-29. However, the Tigers once again fought back, tying the score at 40-40. The score was tied twice more before Hill went on a personal 6-0 run to put Princeton in front 50-48. The Tigers opened up a five-point lead when Hill's layup made it 55-50 before the Bulldogs charged back to force the 56-56 deadlock.
Colborne scored 18 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Her only field goal attempt of the second half was a missed three-pointer. Marciano was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 12 points. She added three assists and two steals. Gobrecht had eight points and a team-high eight boards and Ashley Carter tied a career-high with seven rebounds, as the Bulldogs outrebounded the Tigers 38-34. Yale shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) as a team, including 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from three-point range. The Bulldogs shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the free throw line.
Hill finished one rebound shy of a double-double for Princeton, collecting 15 points and a game-high nine rebounds to go along with three assists. All but two of her points came in the second half. Jessica Berry had 12 points, three assists and six steals, while Prichard added 10 points and six boards. Pool dished out four assists to go along with her nine points. Cowher, the Ivy League's leading scorer, only played 27 minutes before fouling out and was held to eight points on 3-for-12 shooting. She scored two points in the last 38:25 of the game. Princeton shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the field, including 38.5 percent (5-of-13) from behind the arc, and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the line.
The Bulldogs conclude the 2007-08 season with a pair of home games next weekend. Dartmouth (12-14, 9-3 Ivy) visits the John J. Lee Amphitheater Friday at 7 p.m., then Harvard (17-9, 10-2 Ivy) comes to New Haven for the season finale at 7 p.m. next Saturday. Harvard took over first place with a 51-48 victory over Cornell on Saturday night. Marciano, the team's only senior, will be honored prior to Saturday night's game.
NOTES: The Bulldogs finished with a 3-11 road record, including a 3-4 mark in Ivy games...Yale led at the half in an Ivy League road game for the first time this season...Colborne scored 20 points for the fourth straight game and the eighth time this season...She topped the 700-point and 200-rebound plateaus in the contest...Princeton is the most common opponent in Yale history...This was the 67th meeting, and the Tigers lead the all-time series 39-28...Marciano is a native of nearby Edison, N.J., and had approximately 30 family and friends at the game...Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, Meagan's father, was also in attendance.
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity