CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Cornell University women's basketball team closed its Florida trip with a 61-47 loss to ACC foe Miami this evening at the BankUnited Center. The Big Red jumped out to an early lead before a 19-2 scoring run by the Hurricanes gave the home team control of the game.
The Big Red shot better from the floor and 3-point range and held the significant 45-30 advantage on the boards, but was plagued by 31 turnovers. Cornell made 43.8 percent of its shots from the floor and 33.3 percent from 3-point line, while the Hurricanes connected on just 35.6 percent overall and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Miami (10-4) was led by Riquna Williams and LaToya Drake with 18 and 12 points, respectively
After trading baskets to open the game, the Big Red got back-to-back 3-pointers from
Allie Fedorowicz to take an 11-6 lead at the 14:26 mark. From there, the Hurricanes used a 19-2 run to build a commanding 25-13 lead with just over five minutes to play in the opening half. A layup by Benson ended the Miami run but the home team outscored Cornell 13-6 over the closing minutes to take the 38-21 lead into the intermission.
Miami pushed its lead to 24 points early in the second half before the Big Red used an 11-2 scoring run to make it a 49-34 game at the 9:51 mark.
Sasha Truong opened the run with a 3-pointer before Scarselletta sandwiched a pair of jumpers around a layup from Benson. Scarselletta then ended the run with a layup. After trading baskets on the next few possessions, the Hurricanes scored five unanswered points to push its lead back over 20 points, 57-36, with just over seven minutes to play.
Cornell outscored Miami, 9-4, down the stretch, thanks to seven points by McMunigal, to account for the 61-47 final.
The Big Red returns to Ithaca to play host to Binghamton at Newman Arena on Monday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.
