Women's Basketball: After losses, Elis fight to stay out of cellar

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Kelly Denit, DC '00, must step up with Caitlin Blair, TD '02, absent.

As the season winds down, the last few weeks present the perfect--and final--opportunity for teams to jockey for position in the standings. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they have been near the bottom of those standings for much of the season. On Fri., Feb. 19 and Sat., Feb. 20, the Elis, who currently stand sixth in the Ivy League, face Cornell and Columbia, who hold the seventh and eighth positions, respectively.This weekend marks the battle to stay out of the basement.

The Bulldogs are coming off a tough weekend which saw them drop two games to top Ivy teams Princeton and Penn. On Fri., Feb. 12, Yale lost a lopsided decision to the Tigers, 62-40. Princeton, fighting for the Ivy title, took control of the game from the start. "Against Princeton, I think we really didn't come to play--we were flat in all aspects of the game: rebounding, shooting, defense," Kelly Denit, DC '00, said.

The next night produced disappointing results as well, as the Elis lost 73-62 to Penn. Despite having three players in double figures, including a season-high 17 for Christina Bertao, JE '99, Yale could not keep up with the Quakers' high-powered offense. "The intensity was there [against Penn], but our shots just weren't falling," Denit said. Penn boasts the League's top two scorers, forward Diana Caramonico '01 and guard Mandy West '00 who combined for 55 against Yale.

Scoreboard losses, however, were not the only kind the Bulldogs suffered. Guard Caitlin Blair, TD '02, perhaps the Blue's best defender, went down with a season-ending knee injury against Princeton. The loss was felt immediately against Penn, as West poured in 22.

This weekend marks the final two home games for Yale, and the Bulldogs are looking to play more consistent basketball. Earlier this year, the Blue split two games with Cornell and Columbia. Coach Cecilia DeMarco knows that if her team is to come away with victories, improvements must be made.

"We can't shoot the way we did against Penn and expect to win either game this weekend," she said. "We've been working on our shooting in practice. We simply have to shoot the ball better to be successful."

--Christopher Burke

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