2012-13 Women's Basketball Schedule

ITHACA, N.Y. – Dayna Smith, The Rebecca Quinn Morgan '60 Head Coach of Women's Basketball, has announced the schedule for the upcoming 2012-13 season. The slate features 14 home games, including a visit from in-state rival Syracuse, as well as a trip to the Lone Star State to face national power Texas.

The 2012-13 campaign opens on Nov. 9 with a trip to regional rival Colgate before the team's home-opener two days later, as the Big Red plays host to Fordham on Nov. 11. Cornell holds a slim, 17-15 lead in the all-time series with the Raiders, having won five of the last six contests against the Patriot League foe, while the series with the Rams is tied at 1-1 after Cornell gutted out a 40-39 victory last season.

A midweek game at Binghamton on Nov. 14 will be followed by visits from the Orange on Nov. 16 and MAAC foe Manhattan on Nov. 20. The Bearcats have won the last four meetings to take the 7-4 lead in the all-time series, while Syracuse is riding a three-game winning streak for a 13-4 record against the Big Red. The Jaspers have also won two games in a row against Cornell to take a slim 2-1 lead in the all-time series.

Cornell closes November on the road at New Hampshire on Nov. 25 and Saint Francis (N.Y.) on Nov. 28. The Big Red will look to avenge last season's last second loss to the Wildcats, which kept UNH unbeaten against Cornell (3-0), while looking to extend its four-game winning streak against the Terriers to improve upon its 5-1 record in the all-time series.

Morgan State comes to Newman Arena on Dec. 1, as the teams will meet for just the second time in program history, before Cornell enjoys its annual hiatus for the school's study break. The Bears are 1-0 all-time against Cornell.

The Big Red returns to action on Dec. 18 with a game at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, followed by its highly anticipated match-up with the Longhorns. Cornell earned a 66-40 victory in its lone meeting with the Islanders but has never played Texas in women's basketball.

The year ends with a home game against William & Mary, which defeated the Big Red last season in the first-ever meeting between the two squads, on Dec. 30, before Cornell travels to Bucknell on Jan. 2. With its 65-45 victory last season, the Big Red ended a three-game skid against the Bison and cut Bucknell's record in the series to 16-5. 

For the first time since the 2003-04 season, Cornell will face Buffalo when the Bulls travel to Newman Arena on Jan. 5, before wrapping up non-conference play at home against NJIT on Jan. 15. Buffalo owns a 9-4 record in the series, while Cornell is a perfect 2-0 against the Highlanders.

The Ivy League slate begins with a home game against Columbia on Jan. 19, before the Big Red makes the return trip to New York city the following Saturday to face the Lions on Jan. 26. Cornell swept the Lions last season to run its winning streak to three games and improve to 39-23 in the all-time series.

The first weekend in February will feature home games against Princeton (Feb. 1) and Penn (Feb. 2). The reigning Ivy League champion Tigers have a 44-20 advantage in the all-time series, but it has been much more competitive of late, with Princeton leading 14-10 since the 2000-01 season. The Quakers also hold a commanding all-time series record, 48-19, but the Big Red has won 10 of the last 14 meetings.

Cornell's first full Ivy League road weekend is next on tap with a trip to Harvard (Feb. 8) and Dartmouth (Feb. 9). The Crimson has controlled the series, leading the Big Red 57-11, including a perfect 32-0 in contests played in Cambridge, and Dartmouth has historically been just as successful, with a 53-13 record against the Big Red. However, since Cornell snapped an 11-game Big Green winning streak during the 2007-08 season the two teams have split the last 12 meetings, with five of those games being decided by four or fewer points.

The first half of Ivy League play wraps up the following weekend when Yale and Brown travel to Ithaca on Feb. 15 and Feb. 16, respectively. The Bulldogs have won the last six meetings to improve its lead in the all-time series history to 44-22, but Cornell has held the lead in the series since 2000 (leading 13-11). The Bears also dominated the Big Red early on, with Cornell winning only three times prior to the 1994-95 season. Since that year, the series has been far more competitive with Brown holding a slight 19-17 lead, as compared to its 46-20 advantage all-time in the series. The two teams split last season, as Cornell ended a five-game skid against the Bears.

Cornell ends February and opens March with four consecutive road games, facing Penn (Feb. 22), Princeton (Feb. 23), Brown (March 1) and Yale (March 2), before ending the season with home games against Dartmouth (March 8) and Harvard (March 9).