Yale wins overtime thriller against Harvard

The women's basketball team finished an Ivy weekend in Cambridge with a stunning overtime victory over Harvard, 72-61. After falling to Dartmouth, 82-63, Yale was ready to avenge an earlier season loss to Harvard. Harvard was ranked second in the Ivy League, and Yale had not won at Cambridge since the 1993-94 season. But the Elis stepped up, overcoming an early 8-2 Harvard run to lead throughout most of the game. Harvard succeeded in tying the game at 53 by the end of regulation.

Yale outscored Harvard 19-8 in the period. Head Coach Amy Backus stressed the importance of Yale's defense. "At this point in the season, to play with the kind of defensive intensity we displayed at Harvard serves notice to opponents and ourselves what we are capable of achieving on any given night," she said.

Against Dartmouth, Brynn Gingras, TC '04, led the Bulldogs in scoring with 13 points. Captain Alyson Miller, JE '01, contributed 12 points, and Helene Schutrumpf, BK '03, led the team with six rebounds.

In Cambridge, Schutrumpf led Yale with 20 points, while Miller added 15 points and six rebounds. Meg Simpson, SY '02, led all players with 10 rebounds. As Sara Perkins, MC '01, said, "This was a really emotional win because we were at Harvard and we went into overtime. The team stepped up to show everyone how well we can play together, and we are excited for the upcoming weekend."

Winning consistently in a balanced Ivy League is difficult, as Backus notes: "No one team is so superior to any other where the outcome can be determined with any certainty at all." Yale hopes to build on recent success this weekend, hosting Columbia and Cornell. —Samuel Webb

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