Cornell used a gritty defensive effort to take down Brown at Newman Arena Friday, 74-63.
“We grinded out the win,” said coach Dayna Smith. “We found a way to make key baskets at key times and get some big stops.”
The Big Red (9-6, 2-1 Ivy) took the lead just 98 seconds into the game and held onto it for good. They held a 38-31 halftime lead over the Bears (6-10, 0-3) behind 23 first-stanza points from senior Samantha Widmann, who was honored before the game for surpassing 1,000 career points against Columbia last time out.
“My teammates really just found me in the right places,” Widmann said. “They found me in the middle of their zone, and that was just wide open and just being able to knock down those shots.”
Widmann was 10-for-14 from the field and 3-for-3 from downtown. She only scored two second-half points and would eventually foul out. But first-year Shannon Mulroy stepped up again with 22 points, 14 of which came after the half. Mulroy also had seven assists.
“The seven assists is awesome. I was a point guard, and I’m proud of that,” said Smith. “I’m more proud of the two turnovers; that ratio is phenomenal.”
The Bears held tough all night and found themselves down by 14 points at the max. They were making a final push with about a minute and a half left and down seven, but Mulroy put an end to that as she drilled a three and drew the foul.
A few free throws later, the Big Red walked out of their home gym with an 1- point victory, their second consecutive league win.
The Big Red held the Bears to just 42% shooting and made them turn the ball over 19 times, but Dayna Smith still wasn’t satisfied.
“I thought our press was going to be more effective than what it was,” Smith said. “I thought we were very passive in going for steals and a little reactive instead of dictating what they did.”
Kate Sramac chipped in 11 points for the Big Red, knocking down all three attempts from outside and playing solid defense. Laura Bagwell-Katalinich had an off night, scoring just six points on 2-for-8 shooting and four missed free throws. The bench added only four points in 46 total minutes.
Justine Gaziano and McKenna Dale each had 15 points to lead the visitors. Maddie Mullen came off the bench to score 13.
The Big Red were outrebounded 36-34 but tied the Bears with 14 offensive rebounds. Cornell shot 75% from the line while the Bears shot just 64%. The Big Red had 10 steals compared to seven from the visitors, but only two blocks compared to seven.
On Saturday, the Big Red hosts the Yale Bulldogs, who are currently 13-3.
“We’ve got to play better defense,” said Smith. “Our zone has to be more aggressive and gotta be able to press a little bit more and gotta stay out of foul trouble.”
Game time is scheduled for 5 p.m. from Newman Arena on ESPN+.
“It’s really exciting. Yale is one of the best teams to play in the Ivy League. They’re gritty. They’re tough,” Widmann said. “And they’re definitely coming for us. we knocked them out of [their] tournament [hopes] last year.”