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ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell never trailed on Thursday as they took down the Niagara Purple Eagles 82-59, ending a three-game homestand and winning their second game in a row.
The Big Red took a 20-13 lead after the first quarter and led 43-32 at halftime. They limited the Purple Eagles to just nine in the third quarter and led 63-41 with 10 minutes remaining.
The Purple Eagles did get off to a quick 8-0 run to begin the quarter, but the Big Red quickly regained control and won the game with ease.
Much like the men’s game the night before, the Cornell women’s squad jumped out to a sizable halftime lead but failed to close it out as they lost to the Colgate Raiders, 62-58.
The Big Red held the Raiders to just 28% shooting in the first half, including 22% in the first quarter while Cornell shot over 50% in the first half. Cornell took a 15-point advantage into the locker room at the half.
Samantha Widmann scored a layup just six seconds into the third quarter, but after that it was all Colgate. They cut a 41-24 Cornell lead to just three points with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter. The Big Red made just two shots in the third quarter. However, they were still clinging onto a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Big Red led by eight with seven minutes left in the game, but it didn’t seem to matter to the Raiders, who went on a 11-1 run and took a one-point lead with 2:55 remaining in the game.
But Kate Sramac hit an enormous three-pointer with 1:36 left to put Cornell back on top by one. Then the Big Red got a much needed stop but couldn’t take advantage of it as Widmann was called for an offensive foul with 52 seconds remaining.
Colgate went down on their end and Haley Greer drilled a three with 37 seconds left, and that was the shot that put the Raiders ahead for good. Colgate made four free throws in the final 25 seconds, and that would be about it.
The Big Red scored just 19 points in the second half and made just five field goals.
“They (Colgate) didn’t change anything (in the second half). We stopped executing our offense, we rushed shots, we didn’t get second chances with boards, we let the refereeing get in our heads, we didn’t finish when there was contact, and we didn’t really get stops on the defensive end,” said Cornell coach Dayna Smith. “We’ve gotta dig down, we get some of those defensive rebounds and not give up five (offensive rebounds) in one possession.”
Despite the fact the Big Red lost, they won the rebound margin (47-34), but allowed 16 offensive rebounds. They gave up nine of those offensive rebounds in the final five minutes of the third quarter.
“I just expect more out of our upperclassmen, our captains, our veterans; they played a lot of minutes (and) there was no putting a foot down and carrying our team over that emotional ride they (Colgate) were on,” Smith said.
The Big Red did a nice job of guarding the Raiders star Rachel Thompson in the first half. She was limited to just four points on 2-for-7 shooting. Abby Schubiger led the Raiders with 11 points in the first half but was contained in the second stanza. Thompson went off, scoring 17 second-half points.
Widmann and Laura Bagwell-Katalinich led the way for the Big Red, scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. Bagwell-Katalinich also had 11 boards, and Widmann had seven. Also chipping in was Shannon Mulroy with nine points, and Kate Sramac and Dylan Higgins with six apiece.
The Big Red continue their three-game homestand on Saturday when they host the NJIT Highlanders. Game time will be at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Ivy Hoops Online’s writing staff voted on where all eight Ivy women’s and men’s basketball teams would end up for the 2019-20 season. Our projected order of finish for the women:
Cornell (8-10, 2-5 Ivy) 65 at Brown (9-14, 1-6) 53
The Big Red limited the league’s most prolific offense to only 17 second half points, as it came away with a 65-53 victory over Brown in Providence. With the Bears holding a 42-37 lead four minutes into the third quarter, Cornell finished the frame on a 13-2 run to take a six point lead. A Justine Gaziano layup made the score 57-53 in favor of the Big Red with 3:38 to go, but those would be the last points of the night for the Bears. Cornell then went on an 8-0 run, including a 6-6 performance from the free throw line, to close the game.
Dartmouth (9-9, 2-3 Ivy) 63 at Cornell (7-9, 1-4 Ivy) 56
Cy Lippold scored 21 and Isalys Quinones added 19 to lead the Big Green to a 63-56 victory over Cornell, its first win in Ithaca in nine years. The two captains shot a combined 10-for-17 from beyond the arc with each making five three-pointers. As a team, Dartmouth ended up hitting 11 shots from three at a 50 percent rate.
The teams were close throughout with Dartmouth holding a 32-30 lead at the half and a 50-45 advantage after three. Cornell tied it at 50 on an old-fashioned three by Caitlin Smith with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter. With the Big Green up 53-52 at the seven-minute mark, Cornell shot 1-for-9 over the next 6:30 as Dartmouth went on a 10-2 run to put the game away.
Harvard (10-7, 3-1 Ivy) 100 at Brown (9-11, 1-3 Ivy) 83
With Brown holding a 51-50 lead one minute into the third quarter, Harvard used two separate runs of 10-0 and 15-3 over the next ten minutes to take a 78-59 advantage. The Bears battled back, going on their own 21-7 run over the next five minutes to make it a 85-80 with four minutes left in regulation. A Justine Gaziano three 30 seconds later made it a 87-83 contest, but the Crimson scored the game’s last 13 points to win going away.
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY – In front of a boisterous 1,000-plus crowd at Levien Gymnasium, the Columbia women rode the outside shooting of Janiya Clemmons and inside play of Lillian Kennedy to a 65-57 victory over Cornell, their first of the Ivy season.
The Lions (5-10, 1-1 Ivy) jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead, but the Red (7-6; 1-1) dominated the third quarter to cut the lead to two. Clemmons and Kennedy then took over in the last 10 minutes, with the junior guard scoring 10 points and the first-year forward securing four points, three rebounds (two offensive) and one assist. With the win, the Light Blue picked up their third win in four games in 2019.
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – While the Cornell men took their yearly trip up I-81 to take on Syracuse, the women traveled south to Long Island to complete their four game road trip at Stony Brook. Despite overcoming a seven-point deficit at the start of the final frame, the Big Red could not hold onto a late one-point lead and ended up on the losing end of the 63-61 contest. Cornell now sits at 2-5 on the season.