NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Cornell women's basketball team held Yale to just one field goal in the first nine minutes of play to open up an early 10-point lead that it would not relinquish as it went on to defeat the Bulldogs, 57-42.  Allie Fedorowicz and Lauren Benson led the Big Red with 17 and 15 points, respectively, as Cornell improved to 7-9 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

 

Fedorowicz filled out the stat line with six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal, while Benson went 4-for-6 from the floor, including an perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and handed out a team-high four assists. Susie Doyle had one of her finest performances of the season, matching a career-high with 12 rebounds and scoring six crucial points in the final 1:30 of the game to help seal the victory.

 

Yale (9-9, 2-2) was led by Haywood Wright and Yoyo Greenfield with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

 

Cornell shot an impressive 42.9 percent (21-for-49) overall, but connected on just 29.4 percent (5-for-17) from 3-point range, while holding the Bulldogs to 31.5 percent (17-for-54) overall and a mere 7.1 percent (1-for-14) from beyond the arc.

 

The Big Red held the decisive advantage on the boards, 46-30, but turned the ball over eight times more than Yale (20-12).

 

Cornell held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first 3:15 of the contest as it jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, thanks to a trey by Benson and a layup from Shannan Scarselletta. Wright finally knocked down a shot to get Yale on the board at the 16:45 mark, but the Big Red answered with seven straight points. The run opened when Fedorowicz connected on a high floater off the glass before Lacey Workman put back an offensive board and Allie Munson converted a traditional three-point play.

 

Once again, Wright provided the offense for Yale as she connected on a single free throw to make it a 12-3 game at the 13:18 mark. Two more made free throws by Greenfield made it a seven-point game, but Fedorowicz responded on Cornell's next possession with a 10-foot jumper from the right baseline.

 

Another 3-pointer by Benson pushed the visitor's lead to 17-5 with 11:23 to play in the opening half, but Yale answered with back-to-back buckets from Greenfield and Wright to cut the lead to eight.

 

From there, Cornell used a 9-0 scoring run to go up 26-9 with just over five minutes to play in the opening half. The Big Red got a trey from Benson, a single free throw by Allison Abt, an offensive put-back by Scarselletta and a deep 3-pointer by Fedorowicz.

 

Back-to-back jumpers by Wright gave some momentum back to the Bulldogs but Fedorowicz answered with a baseline jumper as the shot clock ran down to send Cornell into the final media time out with a 28-13 lead at the 3:06 mark.

 

Neither team managed much offense in the final three minutes and the Big Red took the 30-15 lead into the intermission.

 

Scarselletta knocked down a jumper from the elbow before Benson connected on a spectacular reverse layup to push the Big Red advantage to 34-15 in the opening moments of the second half.

 

Michelle Cashen gave Yale its first points of the half at the 17:37 mark, but the shot was answered by a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Wrokman as the senior made it a 37-17 lead with 16:31 to play.  

 

The teams traded baskets for the next eight minutes before Yale converted seven straight points to make it a 41-30 game with 6:45 to play.  

 

Scarselletta and Doyle took over the next 1:30 of play, accounting for Cornell's next eight hit points, including six-straight from Doyle, to push the Cornell advantage back to 17 points, 49-32, with just over four minutes remaining in the contest.   

 

Yale used a 9-4 scoring run to make it a 13-point game with 1:46 to play, but that was as close as it got as Cornell took the 57-42 victory.  

 

The Big Red will return to the cozy confines of Newman Arena to take on Princeton and Penn on Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7, respectively. Both games are slated to tip off at 7 p.m. The game vs. the Quakers will be part of the NCAA's Pack the House Challenge. The event 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.