Yale women’s basketball gave up 97 points to high-octane Columbia when the teams met at John J. Lee Amphitheater on New Year’s Eve.
So giving up 74 points to the Lions showed a modicum of progress for the Bulldogs at Levien Gym Saturday.
The problem was that Columbia stymied Yale’s offense in a 74-46 clinic controlled by the home team.
“We did a much better job defensively for three quarters,” Yale coach Dalila Eshe said. “We were locked in and applied our scout[ing]. We also did a good job boxing out.”
Yale (11-12, 5-5 Ivy) made a concerted effort early on to use as much of the shot clock as possible. The visitors only trailed by 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, largely due to woeful 1-for-9 three-point shooting from Columbia (19-4, 8-2).
The Bulldogs were stuck at 7 for over nine minutes. Columbia went on a 14-0 run.
Columbia led 32-17 at the half. It was the third game out of the last four in which Yale did not crack the 20-point mark at the half.
The Lions shot 38% in the first half and held Yale to 25%, scoring 13 points off of turnovers to only 1 by Yale.
The Lions ran away from Yale in the second half, shooting 45% from the field in the third quarter and 54% in the last stanza.
”We responded well from a defensive standpoint,” Columbia coach Megan Griffith said. “Offensively, the game was choppy for us.”
Sophomore guard Nyla McGill led Yale with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Junior guard Abbey Hsu registered a game-high 19 points for the Lions.
Yale faces Penn and Princeton at home next weekend, while Columbia travels to Harvard and Dartmouth.
Columbia and Princeton still sit tied atop the Ivy standings.