NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A late third-quarter run by Cornell women's basketball got the team within one heading into the fourth. But the Big Red could not materialize the comeback, falling to the Yale Bulldogs, 79-72, on Friday night from the John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Big Red dropped to 7-17 (1-11 Ivy), while the Bulldogs improved to 8-17 (5-7 Ivy).

Kaya Ingram led the way for the Big Red offense, netting a career-high 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting alongside a team-high five assists. Ingram was not alone in the double figures department, as sophomore Emily Pape secured her first double-double since Dec. 21, 2023, against Marist with 19 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Freshman and birthday girl Azareya Kilgoe rounded out the top scorers for Cornell, adding 10 points and three assists to secure her ninth game of ten or more this season. 

Yale has four players in double figures: Jenna Clark (23), Nyla McGill (19), Brenna McDonald, and Kylie Capstraw (11). McGill also got it done on the boards with a season-high 16 rebounds in a game that saw the Bulldogs secure 46 boards compared to 34 for the Big Red. Clark also fell one assist short of a double-double, handing out nine. Capstraw closed the top performers with a game-high three steals in the win for Yale, which keeps their chance for the final spot in Ivy Madness alive.

Both teams traded buckets to open the game, as Nyla McGill and Emily Pape scored for their respective squads to knot things at two just over a minute and a half in. Yale kept its foot on the gas pedal after Pape's bucket, bursting out to a 6-0 run over the next 2:15 to force a Big Red timeout. Cornell started to find its rhythm after the stoppage, thanks to senior captain Kaya Ingram knifing through the Yale defense for layups on consecutive possessions and a free throw in just over a minute to push the deficit down to four. The senior continued to be the hot hand for the visitors on the offensive end, scoring the last four points of the quarter for the Big Red to help keep Cornell within seven after the opening ten minutes with 19 points. 

Yale's offense continued to roll to open the second, with Mackenzie Egger and McGill combining for six points over the opening 1:30 to stretch the Bulldogs' lead to 11. Cornell started to chip away at the double-digit deficit midway through the quarter thanks to three consecutive successful trips into Yale's end as Pape and Kilgoe registered six points combined to keep the Big Red within eight. But after Yale stretched its cushion back up to nine on a jumper by Christen McCann, Cornell got its opportunity to strike again with Clarke Jackson going on a little run of her own with five consecutive points to push the Big Red within a possession at 37-33 with 17 seconds left in the quarter. Yale had the last laugh of the quarter with a McGill three-point play with seven seconds left to push the Bulldogs back up by six heading into the halftime break.

Summer Parker-Hall got the scoring started for the Big Red to open the second half, securing a McGill jumper and converting a fastbreak jumper off a pass from Ingram to get back within one before Kiley Capstraw converted a three off a pass from Jenna Clark to jump back up by seven. Yale continued to weather the storm midway through the quarter, stretching its lead back up to nine and looking to continue to lay down the hammer. But a jumper by Ingram sparked Cornell, as it went on an 8-0 run over the final 3:25 to tip the momentum back into their favor, cutting the deficit to its lowest since the opening minute to put the score at 50-49 heading into the final ten minutes. 

With the momentum back on its side, it looked like the Big Red was poised to pull off the comeback, as it kept the game within a possession through the opening three minutes of the final stanza. Yale had none of the Big Red comeback, jumping out to an 8-0 run over the next minute to shoot back up by double digits. Five of those points came from Brenna McDonald. Despite the run, the red and white kept chipping away let, cutting the Bulldogs' lead to five with 54 seconds left with two free throws by freshman Azareya Kilgoe. That was as close as Cornell would get, as Yale secured its eighth straight victory over the Big Red.

BIG RED NOTABLES

• Kaya Ingram's 23 points bested her previous high (20) earlier this season in a 74-61 victory over Marist in Ithaca on Dec. 21, 2023.
• Emily Pape secured her first double-digit performance (19) in Ivy League action since having 13 against Brown on Jan. 20, 2024.
• Ingram (23), Pape (19), and Kilgoe's (10) scoring outputs make it the first time three players have tallied double figures in the same game since its battle against Dartmouth in Ithaca on February 2nd.
• Cornell's 72 points makes it the fourth time this season that the team has scored north of 70 and the first time it has had that mark or better in an Ivy contest since scoring 79 against Dartmouth on Feb. 28, 2020.

UP NEXT
Cornell closes out its final road trip of the season in Providence, battling the Brown Bears on Saturday, March 2 at 3 p.m. for the Pizzitola Sports Center. Game action will be available on ESPN Plus.