Few Ivy observers would have been surprised after the 2021-22 season to see Yale women’s basketball perched near the top of the Ivy League standings in 2022-23. After all, unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection Camilla Emsbo, the league’s most dominant center, would be returning for her senior season.
Then came the summer announcement that Emsbo would miss the entire season due to injury.
But Yale has persevered under first-year coach Dalila Eshe and kept its momentum going with a 72-59 victory at Brown Monday afternoon.
Sophomore guard/forward Mackenzie Egger posted a career-high 24 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field and eight rebounds for Yale, which forced 25 turnovers.
“She did an excellent job in the zone, flashing and finding gaps, then turning and facing the basket and shooting confidently,” Eshe said.
The game was tied 29-29 at the half. Yale (10-8, 4-1 Ivy) went on a 9-3 run in the second half to pull ahead of Brown (8-9, 1-4) for good.
Junior guard Jenna Clark notched 19 points along with a career-high 12 assists and five steals.
Sophomore guard Isabella Mauricio led Brown with 14 points on 5-for-19 shooting.
Yale is now tied with Columbia and Penn for the Ivy lead.
Yale plays at Penn on Saturday and Brown is at Columbia.