ITHACA, N.Y. – A balanced offensive attack with four players in double-digits led the Cornell University women's basketball team to a thrilling upset victory over league-leading Dartmouth, 66-61, in overtime. With the victory, the Big Red improves to 10-13 overall and 6-5 in the conference, while the Big Green slips to 14-10 overall and 9-1 in Ancient Eight action.

 

“I am so proud of our team,” said head coach Dayna Smith. “It was a great team effort tonight. We played really well-balanced, moved the ball well and played solid defense. Dartmouth is always an extremely talented and well-coached team, so it's great to get a victory.”

 

Virginia McMunigal posted team highs of 14 points and eight rebounds to lead Cornell, while Lauren Benson registered an unconventional 12-point, 10-assist double-double. Joining them in double digits was Allie Fedorowicz and Shannan Scarselletta with 13 and 10 points, respectively.   

 

Two Dartmouth players registered double-doubles for the Big Green. Darcy Rose scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Brittney Smith tallied 17 points and 10 rebounds. The duo also combined for four and three blocks, respectively.

 

The Big Red shot 36.5 percent from the floor and an impressive 41.4 percent from 3-point range, while holding Dartmouth to 30.6 percent overall and 29.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Big Green held the slight advantage on the boards, 45-41, and both teams took care of the ball with Cornell turning the ball over just 11 times, two times less than the visitors.

 

The Big Red held the lead for the first 34 minutes of the contest, before Dartmouth managed to go up, 46-45, with 5:05 to play. The teams traded baskets the rest of the way, but McMunigal's trey with 34 seconds to go knotted the score, 57-57. On that basket, Benson registered her 10th helper of the night as she drove baseline, waited for the defense to collapse and then hit McMunigal all alone at the top of the key.

 

The Big Green got two chances to win the game, with a layup by Koren Schram missing the mark before Brittney Smith's put-back effort was blocked by Scarselletta to send the game into overtime.

 

Dartmouth took an early four-point lead in the extra stanza, but a key steal by Benson triggered the decisive run as Cornell scored the final nine points of the contest to take the victory. The run opened with Benson making two free throws before knocking down a 3-pointer to put the Big Red up, 62-61, with 1:45 to play. After a prolonged Big Green possession resulted in no points for the visitors, Dartmouth was forced to foul and Fedorowicz connected on four straight free throws to account for the 66-61 final.

Cornell jumped out to an early five-point lead in the opening two minutes of the game, thanks to a 3-pointer by McMunigal and a fastbreak layup by Susie Doyle. Brittney Smith answered for Dartmouth, but Fedorowicz knocked down a trey on Cornell's next possession to make it an 8-3 game at the 16:55 mark. From there, both teams went cold before a single free throw by Rose ended the stalemate with 13:28 to go in the half. A layup by Cassie Cooper made it an 8-6 game, but a layup by Scarselletta and a 3-pointer by Benson extended the Big Red's lead to seven points, 13-6, with 11:33 to go before halftime.

 

Dartmouth slowly worked the Cornell lead down to three points, 22-19, at the 8:00 mark, but the Big Red closed the half on an 8-3 scoring run to take the 30-22 lead into the intermission.

 

The Big Green stepped up its game in the opening minutes of the second stanza, working Cornell's lead down to a single-point, 33-32, at the 16:42 mark, but back-to-back jumpers by Benson and Christine Vlasic shifted some momentum back to the home team, putting it up, 37-32.

 

Another long offensive drought plagued both teams as they combined for just a single layup, by Rose, over the next four minutes of action. A pair of free throws by Brittney Smith at the 10:10 mark brought the visitors back within one-point, but once again, Cornell had an answer as Lacey Workman knocked down a trey on the next possession. A Dartmouth miss on the other end resulted in another 3-pointer by McMunigal, as the Big Red quickly extended its lead back to seven points, 43-36, with 9:25 to play.

 

The Big Green used a 10-2 scoring run over the next 5:20 of action to take its first lead of the game, 46-45, with 5:05 to play, setting up the thrilling ending.    

 

Cornell is back in action tomorrow night as it plays host to Harvard at Newman Arena at 7 p.m. The game will be the final regular season home game for the Big Red and seniors Shannan Scarselletta and Lacey Workman will be honored before the contest.