GAME #7: Cornell vs. Fairfield
TIP OFF: Monday, Dec. 1, at 6:00 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Fairfield leads, 1-0
LAST MEETING: Fairfield won, 73-57, on Dec. 7, 1996 at Alumni Hall (Fairfield, Conn.)
2008-09 RECORDS: Cornell (2-2); Central Connecticut State (1-3); Bryant (2-2)
RADIO: None
THE MATCHUP – The Big Red welcomes Fairfield University to Ithaca this evening as it plays host to the Stags in Newman Arena at 6 p.m. Cornell is coming off a 66-55 victory over Bryant on Saturday afternoon to even its record at 3-3, while Fairfield has won back-to-back games against Sacred Heart and IPFW to improve to 3-2 on the year.
THE SERIES VS. FAIRFIELD — Today's contest marks just the second meeting between the Big Red and Fairfield with the Stags holding the 1-0 advantage in the series. The lone meeting came during the 1996-97 season with Fairfield taking the 73-57 victory in the championship game of the 17th annual Warner's Classic at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn.
SCOUTING THE STAGS – Fairfield is currently 3-2 on the season, with wins over UNC-Asheville, Sacred Heart and IPFW. The Stags are led by senior forward Baendu Lowenthal with 14.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Junior center Stephanie Greehan is matching Lowenthal with 7.6 rebounds per game, while freshman guard Desiree Pina is chipping in 12.8 points per game. Senior point guard Megan Caskin runs the offense, handing out 4.8 assists per contest.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE STAGS – Fairfield defeated the Big Red, 73-57, in the championship game of the 17th annual Warner's Classic at Alumni Hall in Fairfield, Conn. The contest was tight early on as the teams traded baskets for a 21-21 tie at the 8:26 mark. The Stags used a 19-5 run to close out the half, giving the home team a 40-26 lead at the intermission. The Stags came out on fire in the second half and built a 23-point lead, 66-43, with six minutes remaining in the contest before cruising to the 73-57 final. Cornell shot 28.2 percent for the game and was led by All-Tournament pick Kim Ruck with 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Kacee English added 10 points and was also named to the All-Tournament team. Fairfield's Page Driscoll led all scorers with 27 points and nine rebounds, while Jessica Grossarth, the tournament MVP, ended the day with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists.
CORNELL VS. THE MAAC – Cornell fell to 10-28 all-time vs. the current members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Iona (1-0), but a losing record vs. Canisius (1-5), Fairfield (0-1), Loyola (0-2), Marist (2-7), Niagara (6-10) and Siena (0-3). Cornell has never faced Manhattan, Rider or St. Peter's in women's basketball ... Coach Smith's record against teams in the MAAC fell to 1-4 with the lone win coming during the 2005-06 season when the Big Red defeated Niagara, 75-63, in overtime during the consolation game of the St. Bona Shootout.
ON THE AIR – Big Red fans can enjoy a new way to follow the squad for the 2008-09 season, as the Cornell Department of Athletics and Physical Education has teamed up with WVBR 93.5 FM (Ithaca) to provide coverage in 23-of-26 Big Red women's basketball games this season. The broadcast team of Jay Sage and Jared Feldman will provide the call for every game for the remainder of this season. Every game will be broadcast live on either WVBR 93.5 FM (Ithaca), on www.WVBR.com, or as part of the Cornell RedCast package at www.CornellBigRed.com. Please check the women's basketball schedule page at www.CornellBigRed.com for details.
LIVE VIDEO – The Big Red's home contests will all be broadcast live with streaming video as part of the RedCast subscription service. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all the latest information on Cornell broadcasts.
LIVE STATS – Cornell will use SIDEARM Live Stats for each of the Big Red's home games in 2008-09. Visit www.CornellBigRed.com for all of the official statistics.
HOME SWEET HOME — Cornell is currently riding an 10-game home winning-streak, dating back to a 73-57 victory over Columbia on Jan. 19, 2008. That span is the longest in Cornell women's basketball program history, eclipsing the previous mark of five straight home victories, set twice previously. The first run took place between Dec. 1, 1985 and Jan. 4, 1986 (Princeton, St. Francis (N.Y.), St. Bonaventure, Marist and Ithaca College), while the most recent streak happened between Feb. 23, 2007 and Nov. 30, 2008 (Yale, Brown, Lafayette, Bucknell, Gardner-Webb).
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM –
Lauren Benson was named to the URI Classic All-Tournament team after helping the Big Red split a pair of games as it fell to Central Connecticut State, 74-66, before defeating Bryant, 66-55. Against the Blue Devils, the junior point guard registered 11 points, five rebounds and six assists. The next day against the Bulldogs, Benson led Cornell by matching a career-high 19 points, going perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe over the final 1:30 to seal the victory. She also grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN – Only seven Big Red players saw the court in Saturday's victory over Bryant. That marks just the second time during Coach Smith's tenure that only two substitutes were used. The first occurrence happening on March 3, 2007 vs. Dartmouth.
CRAZY EIGHTS – Twice this season, against IUPUI and Bryant, junior
Lauren Benson has gone 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Against the Bulldogs, her eight free throws all came in the final 1:14 of the contest to help seal the Big Red victory.
HAIL ALMA MATER – Head coach
Dayna Smith returned to her alma mater, the University of Rhode Island, as the Big Red took part in the URI Classic from Nov. 28-29. Smith played for the Rams from 1992-96. One of the top point guards in Atlantic 10 history, Smith helped lead the Rams to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1996, capping a season where URI also captured its first A-10 East Division crown. A two-time first team all-conference pick, Smith was one of only 11 players in Division I history to score more than 1,000 points and record 750 assists. She rewrote the Rhode Island record book, graduating as the program's all-time assist and 3-point field goal leader. She finished second in the nation in assists as a sophomore and ranked fourth as a junior. She ranks among the NCAA top 20 all-time in career assists (20th, 793) and assists per game (12th, 7.14).
COACHING HISTORY — With her victory over Bryant on Saturday afternoon, Coach Smith moved into second place in Cornell women's basketball history in number of wins with 64. Smith surpassed Linda Lerch (1981-88) and is now behind only former coach Marnie Dacko (1995-2002), who ranks first all-time in wins with 80.
HELPING HAND – With her 10 assists at the URI Classic,
Lauren Benson jumped into seventh place in Cornell history with 261 career assists. She now sits just 34 assists behind
Breean Walas. Benson's career total comes in large part thanks to a sophomore season in which she averaged a team-high 5.4 assists per game, good for first in the Ivy League and 24th in the country. She also set the school record for assists in a single-season (156) that year, breaking the old mark of 140.
3-POINT THREAT — Cornell finished the 2007-08 season ranked fourth in the nation in 3-point percentage (39.4%) and 21st overall in 3-pointers per game (6.9). While the 2008-09 rankings will not be available until Dec. 2, the Big Red is off to a good start this season, connecting on 37.3 percent of its shots and making 7.3 treys per game.
HOOSIERS –
Lacey Workman returned to her home state of Indiana when Cornell took on IUPUI and played a season-high 20 minutes in front of family and friends. The senior guard hails from Indianapolis and attended Ben Davis High School. She was an all-county, all-league and all-state basketball player and helped lead her team to a Section 12 championship as a senior.
CAREER DAYS – When
Lauren Benson handed out a career-high 10 assists against Albany on Nov. 19, it marked the most assists in a single game for a Cornell player since Karen Force dished out 10 assists at Duquesne on Jan. 20, 2004 (123 games). In the Big Red's next game at IUPUI on Nov. 22, Benson registered a career-high 19 points to lead Cornell is scoring against the Jaguars.
FOLLOW THE LEADER – With her 19 points against both IUPUI and Bryant, junior
Lauren Benson led the Big Red in scoring. It marked just the fourth and fifth times, respectively, in Benson's career that she has led the team in scoring.
THE HOT HAND – Junior
Allie Fedorowicz tallied a career-high 19 points against Albany to lead the Big Red to victory against the Great Danes. It marked just the third time in her career that she was the team's leading scorer in the game.
NET ZERO – The Big Red didn't make a single free throw against Albany on Nov. 19, going 0-for-3 from the charity stripe. The last time Cornell didn't make a free throw during game came against Harvard on Feb. 9, 2002 when the team went 0-for-2.
SLIM WIN – When Cornell defeated Albany, 50-46, on Nov. 19, it marked the ninth time during Coach Smith's tenure that the Big Red has won a game by four points or less. Of the nine, eight have come since the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
50 FOR THE WIN – With the Big Red's 50-46 win over Albany on Nov. 19 it marked the third straight season in which Cornell won at least one game during the year despite scoring 50 points or less. Since Coach Smith took over the program prior to the 2002-03 season, the Big Red has won four games while scoring 50 points or less.
SWAT TEAM – Senior
Shannan Scarselletta currently ranks ninth in Cornell history with 50 career blocks. She needs just five more blocks to surpass Bee Sponaugle (1990-94), who sits in eighth place with 54 career blocks.
TEAM ASSISTS — The Big Red proved to be very efficient on the offensive end in its first six games of the season, registering assists on 61.4 percent of its made shots (75 assists, 122 field goals). That mark is slightly behind what the Big Red did last year, as Cornell assisted on 66.1 percent of its made shots (436 assists, 659 field goals).
20-POINT PERFORMANCE —
Shannan Scarselletta is the only current Big Red player to have registered 20 points during her career, accomplishing the feat against Princeton on Jan. 14, 2006.
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR – So far this season, a Cornell player has tallied 19 points on three occasions, as
Allie Fedorowicz led the Big Red with 19 points vs. Albany, while
Lauren Benson has scored 19 points vs. IUPUI and Bryant.
FIRST ACTION – Cornell's three freshmen all saw action in the first game of the season at Duquesne.
Allison Abt had a strong showing with seven points (3-for-5) in just 13 minutes of action, while
Allie Munson matched a team-high with six rebounds in 20 minutes.
Christine Vlasic saw the floor for nine minutes and pulled down two rebounds.
IRISH NATIONAL – Sophomore
Susie Doyle has been a member of the U16, U17, U18 and U20 Irish national teams. She led her U16 and U18 Irish National Teams to the European Championships and was named captain of the U16 squad in 2004 and the U18 in 2006. She was named MVP of the U18 team and finished the 2006 season with the national team as the leading rebounder with 8.3 caroms per game.
FOUR-YEAR FOREIGNERS –
Susie Doyle will have the opportunity to be the first of her kind – a foreign student that uses all four years of her eligibility at Cornell. The Big Red has had three foreigners in program history: Jumana Salti (Amman, Jordan),
Sarah Lee (Deep River, Ontatio) and Moïna Snyder (Nice, Frace), but all three only played two years for Cornell.
DON'T I KNOW YOU? – There is a familiar face on the sideline for the Big Red this season as Moïna Snyder '09 has returned to serve as a volunteer assistant for her former team. A two-time All-Ivy selection, Snyder helped Cornell to the first Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament berth in women's basketball history during the 2007-08 season. Despite only playing two seasons for the Big Red, she finished her career ranking in the top 10 of 10 season and career categories at Cornell, including career field goal percentage (.500 – second), career rebound average (5.8 – ninth), career blocks (66 – fifth), season field goal percentage (.513 – third, .489 – 10th), season blocks (36 – fourth, 30 – sixth), season block average (1.3 – fifth), season games played (29 – first) and season games started (29 – first). Snyder, a native of Nice, France, is pursuing a degree in biological sciences in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.
SWEET 70 – When Cornell defeated Princeton, 76-59, on March 8, 2008, it marked the 16th-straight game in which the Big Red scored at least 70 points and went on to win the contest. The last time Cornell scored 70 or more points and lost was on Feb. 4, 2006, when the Big Red dropped an 80-71 decision at Harvard.
AWKWARD TURTLE – Senior
Shannan Scarselletta currently writes one of the most popular Op-Ed articles in the school paper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Her column, entitled Awkward Turtle, appears alternate Mondays throughout the school year.
PACK THE HOUSE – This season, Cornell will take part in the NCAA's Pack the House Challenge. The event, which will take place on Saturday, Feb. 7 as the Big Red plays host to Penn, allows NCAA member schools to compete against schools in their own conference, as well as all Division I schools, for a chance to win prizes by setting an attendance record.
PINK ZONE – Once again, the Big Red will take part in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Pink Zone initiative on Saturday, Feb. 21 as it plays host to Brown. Pink Zone, formerly known as Think Pink, is a global, unified effort for the WBCA nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Last season, over 500 fans came out to support the cause and watch Cornell defeat Dartmouth, 50-43.
FOR OPENERS – With the loss to Duquesne on Nov. 16, the Big Red fell to 17-21 all-time record in season openers. Coach
Dayna Smith has posted a 1-6 record in season openers during her time with Cornell.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS — Cornell was chosen to finish third in the Ivy League, earning three first-place votes, according to the preseason media poll. Harvard and Dartmouth were selected to finish ahead of the Big Red, with the Crimson tabbed to win the conference with 10 of a possible 17 first-place votes. The Big Green picked up four first-place votes to finish 13 points ahead of Cornell. Yale was selected fourth overall with 83 points, while Columbia finished right behind in fifth-place with 74 points. Penn (52), Princeton (46) and Brown (18) rounded out the bottom three.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS – The 2007-08 Cornell women's basketball team won the first Ivy League title in program history, finishing the year with an 11-3 conference record.
BIG RED DANCERS – Cornell, which won a share of the Ivy League title along with Dartmouth and Harvard, earned the right to represent the Ancient Eight in the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament by defeating the Big Green, 64-47, in a playoff game held at Columbia's Levien Gym on March 16, 2008. It was the first postseason berth in the history of the Big Red women's basketball program.
BIG D – Cornell has held opponents to less than 45 points in a game on 11 occasions since Coach Smith took over the program, including four times during the 2007-08 season and four times during the 2006-07 season. When the Big Red held Brown to just 37 points on Feb. 1, 2008, it was the second-lowest point total by a Cornell opponent during Smith's tenure, a distinction that also belongs to the Bears, who managed only 36 points on Feb. 24, 2007.
HONORABLE MENTION –
Lauren Benson was named All-Ivy honorable mention last season. Benson was the Big Red's most improved player during the year, leading Cornell and the Ivy League and ranking 24th in the nation with 5.38 assists per game. She also chipped in 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting a conference-best 46.2 percent from 3-point range. Her assist/turnover ratio was second-best in the league (1.44) and she ranked 10th in the conference in 3-pointers made per contest (1.24 pg).
NON-CONFERENCE RECORD — With the 75-60 victory over NJIT last season, the Big Red finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 8-5 record. That matched the most non-conference wins in school history and is the most since the 1999-2000 squad went 8-4. Since the formation of Ivy League women's basketball, the Big Red has won eight non-conference games on just five occasions (1982-83, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1999-2000, 2007-08).
D-E-F-E-N-S-E — Cornell finished the 2007-08 season ranked 55th out of 326 Division I schools in scoring defense, allowing opponents only 58.9 points per game. The Big Red held opponents to less than 60 points in 18 of its 29 games that season.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE –
Lauren Benson finished the 2007-08 season ranked first in the Ivy League in assists per game (5.4). That was a huge improvement from her rookie season, when she ended the year ranked 10th in the conference in that same category with 2.67 assists per game.
GOING STREAKING – Cornell enjoyed an eight-game winning streak before falling to both Dartmouth and Harvard on Feb. 29 and March 1, 2008, respectively. The eight games proved to be a school record, eclipsing a mark that was set when the Big Red closed the 1972-73 season and opened the 1973-74 season with seven victories in a row. At the time that the streak was broken, the eight straight wins was good for 16th in the nation.
THE BIG SCORE – Cornell averaged 65.8 points per game during the 2007-08 season, the most ever under coach Smith.
POINT PRODUCTION — The 85 points scored by Cornell vs. Harvard on Feb. 15, 2008 was the highest point total scored by the Big Red since Coach Smith took over the program. Earlier during the season, Cornell hung 82 points on Colgate, which ranks fourth overall for the most points scored by a Coach Smith team.
GET A GRIP – The Big Red turned the ball over a season-low six times last season at Penn on Feb. 9, 2008. That matched the school record for the lowest number of turnovers by Cornell in a single game, which was accomplished just once previously, at Princeton on March 9, 1985.
21-OF-21 – Cornell set an NCAA team-high for the season last year when it connected on 100 percent of its free throw attempts (21-of-21) at Penn on Feb. 9, 2008. Last season, 10 schools made 100 percent of its free throw attempts (min. 15 made), but only Cornell made more than 20, with the next highest being Manhattan (19-of-19) vs. Fairfield.
WINNING BIG — When Cornell defeated Colgate, 82-47 on Dec. 18, 2007, it was the largest margin of victory (35 points) for the Big Red in over eight years. Just over one month later, Cornell nearly matched that output when it beat Brown by 33 points, 70-37. Prior to the 2007-08 season, the last time Cornell defeated a team by more than 30 points came on Nov. 11, 1999 when it outpaced Canisius, 85-50.
MILESTONE WINS — With Cornell's 75-60 victory over NJIT last season, Coach Smith earned the 50th win of her career. The victory was also the 300th win in the history of the Cornell women's basketball program.
ON THE BOARDS — Last year, the Big Red grabbed a season-high 59 rebounds vs. Texas A&M-CC, the most rebounds in a single game by a Cornell team during Coach Smith's tenure.
UP NEXT – The Big Red will be dormant for three weeks as the University enters the mandated study-break period. Cornell will return to action on Monday, Dec. 22 as it travels to St. Bonaventure to take on the Bonnies at 4 p.m.
