ITHACA, N.Y. -- Junior Allie Fedorowicz scored a career-best 19 points and the Big Red grinded out a 50-46 win on Wednesday evening at Newman Arena, picking up its first victory of the season in a defensive struggle. Cornell evened its record at 1-1, while Albany slipped to 0-3.

Fedorowicz nailed five 3-pointers and made 7-of-17 field goals overall to lead the Cornell offense as the lone double-figure scorer. Junior point guard Lauren Benson set a new career-high with 10 assists, the most assists by a Cornell player in over four years (Karen Force – 10 vs. Duqeusne, Jan. 20, 2004). Benson also added seven points and recorded four rebounds, while Virginia McMunigal notched five points, six key rebounds and no turnovers in 33 minutes of court time. Susie Doyle added eight points and seven rebounds and Shannan Scarselletta ripped down 10 rebounds, including four on the offensive end. The Big Red defense limited Albany to 33 percent shooting and a paltry 24 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (5-of-21) while outrebounding the Great Danes 41-39.

Albany received 14 points from Janea Aiken and 10 more from Tiffanie Johnson. Aiken added five assists, while Johnson pulled down six boards. Britney McGee was the third Albany player in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds.

The teams combined for just six total free-throw attempts and one make in a game that saw 17 total fouls called. 

Cornell started with a flurry before Albany's full-court pressure took its toll as the Great Danes went into the break with a 24-23 advantage. The Big Red was up 9-2 just six minutes into the game on the strength of five consecutive points by Fedorowicz and two assists by Benson, the last on a layup by freshman Allie Munson. The teams traded baskets to 15-8 before Albany started chipping away. Seven straight points by Tiffanie Johnson cut the Big Red lead to one at 18-17. Amira Ford then hit Shelby Coon for a layup with 4:14 to play to give Albany its first lead since the opening minute. That was part of an extended 12-0 run that eventually saw the visitors get out to a six-point lead at 24-18. Cornell scored the final five points of the half on a Fedorowicz trey and a layup by Christine Vlasic for her first college points on a fine interior pass by Scarselletta with 16 seconds left in the half. 

Fedorowicz had a game-high 11 points in the first half, while Benson had three points and four assists in the low-scoring first 20 minutes. Both Scarselletta and Doyle had five rebounds apiece as the Big Red outrebounded the Great Danes 22-19. Johnson knocked down 4-of-5 shots by the break for her 10 points, while Janea Aiken had eight points to lead Albany's attack. The Great Danes shot just 36 percent from the floor, with Cornell even colder at 30 percent. The two teams also combined for just three free-throw attempts with zero for Cornell.

Fedorowicz hit her fourth 3-pointer of the half to force a timeout and give the home team a 28-24 adavantage 1:05 in the second half as part of a 7-0 Big Red run to open the second 20 minutes. Albany answered right away, going on a 14-4 spurt that put the visitors up 38-34 on a Britney McGee 3-pointers with 12 minutes on the clock. A Benson jumper as the shot clock expired and a perfectly-executed inbounds play where Benson found McMunigal for a layup tied the game at 42-42 with eight minutes to play. On the very next possession, Lacey Workman hit a long trey from the right corner to put the home team up 45-42.

When Suzie Doyle found Scarselletta with a nice feed on a screen-and-roll, Cornell upped the lead to five at 47-42, but Aiken answered right back with a 15-footer to get the lead back to three. With Albany holding the ball looking to cut the lead to one or tie the game, McMunigal stole the inbounds play with 1:20 remaining to give the home team the ball back. The Big Red got the ball out to Fedorowicz, who nailed another 3-pointer with a minute left to extend the advantage to 50-44. A driving layup by Albany's Aiken brought the lead back to four with 22 seconds remaining, with the Great Danes taking a timeout to apply its full-court pressure. The Big Red missed three front end of 1-and-1's, but Albany couldn't take advantage, missing all three shots in the final 20 seconds as the home team captured the victory.

The Big Red returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4:30 p.m. at IUPUI.