Senior guard Mackenzie DeWees’ game-leading eight rebounds led the Quinnipiac women’s basketball team to beat Yale on Wednesday, 61-59.

Yale came into the game out-rebounding its opponent in every game this season. It has the No. 1 rebounder in the Ivy League in junior Camilla Emsbo, averaging 11.4 rebounds per game heading into Wednesday.

However, DeWees led the game with eight rebounds, five of which were offensive rebounds. The reigning MAAC Player of the Year has been crucial for the Bobcats this year, and especially against Yale. 

“She’s been so good all season long, I mean she is really having herself a year… every single one of them (offensive rebounds) was important,” Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri said.

DeWees leads the Bobcats in points per game (13.7) and is second on the team in rebounds per game (7.0) and assists (18). 

Where she’s excelled most this year, however, has been stealing the ball. DeWees led the game with four steals against Yale, and now leads the team with 28 steals in seven games played. 

“Steals and defense really leads into offense, and that’s where a lot of our flow comes from,” DeWees said. “If I get a deflection and it goes to one of our teammates or if I steal the ball myself, it doesn’t matter as long as we’re benefiting from it.”

Quinnipiac junior forward Cur’Tiera Haywood scored eight points out of the team’s first 10, which came within the first three minutes of the game. The Bobcats got out to an early 16-8 lead against the Bulldogs, and they made their first four 3-point attempts, two of which were by Haywood.

Yale only led for 16 seconds in the first half, and the Bobcats had a 41-31 lead at the break.

The Bulldogs got off to a fast start in the third quarter. Sophomore Klara Astrom scored off a Bobcats turnover, got fouled a couple possessions later and made both free throws, and then had a drive inside where she finished a layup with her left hand. She helped Yale go on a 12-0 run, as the Bulldogs took a 47-45 lead and had a 53-51 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bobcats out-rebounded the Bulldogs 12-10 in the fourth quarter, a lot of it coming from DeWees following up missed shots by grabbing rebounds or tipping balls to her teammates.

Yale was down 61-59 and had the ball with 26 seconds left in regulation. Astrom, who had a game-high 19 points, drove inside and her layup attempt was off the rim and no good. It was rebounded by DeWees, she dribbled to the other side of the court before she could be fouled, and the clock hit triple zeros.

The Bobcats did a great job limiting Emsbo throughout the game. Emsbo had gotten a double-double in all seven games she played coming into the matchup against Quinnipiac. She got 11 points and seven rebounds on Wednesday, breaking that streak. When Emsbo had the ball near the paint, Quinnipiac brought weak-side help to limit her.

“A lot of it just is our philosophy,” Fabbri said. “Just how we wanna pressure them, how we play our halfcourt D.”

Toward the end of the game, there were a few blocking calls and charging calls that went Yale’s way. Some of the Bobcats players disagreed with the calls, but DeWees made sure she calmed them down and they focused on closing out the game. As a senior, DeWees is a leader of the team and plays a huge role for them.

“I love that I play that role on this team because you need somebody like that,” DeWees said. “You need somebody that’s gonna calm everybody down. No matter if you took a bad shot or couldn’t get a rebound, we were steady, calm, cool, and collected.”

DeWees and the Bobcats improved to 4-3 on the season, while Yale fell to 5-3. 

The Bobcats will host Northeastern on Tuesday, Dec. 7 and Yale will play at Saint Joseph’s on Saturday, Dec. 4.