Boxscore

NEW YORK – The Big Red women's basketball team erased an early eight-point deficit and then held off a late comeback attempt by the home team to defeat Manhattan, 71-67, this evening in Draddy Gymnasium. With the win, Cornell improves to 5-3 on the season, while the Lady Jaspers fall to 4-6.

The Big Red was led by Virginia McMunigal with 19 points, while Allie Fedorowicz and Clare Fitzpatrick chipped in 15 and 11 points, respectively. While Fedorowicz struggled from the field, she connected on 7-of-8 from the free throw line, all of which came in the closing minutes of the game as she helped seal the victory. Allie Munson grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while Christine Vlasic pulled down seven boards. Lauren Benson and Fitzpatrick both handed out a game-high five assists.

Manhattan was led by Michelle Pacheco with 23 points. Abby Wentworth (14) and Alyssa Herrington (12) also scored in double-figures.

After a slow start to the game, Cornell shot 52 percent from the floor, and 44.4 percent from 3-point range in the second half to improve to 39.6 percent from the field for the game and 36 percent from beyond the arc.

The Big Red held the significant 49-37 advantage on the boards, which helped them to overcome 29 turnovers.

Cornell was plagued by turnovers early on, allowing the Lady Jaspers to jump out to an early 8-0 lead before Allie Munson got the Big Red on the board with a layup at the 16:34 mark. After another Manhattan bucket, McMunigal nailed a trey to cut the Lead in half, 10-5. A Lady Jasper free throw was answered by a 10-foot jumper from Kristina Danielak, but from there Manhattan pushed its lead to 13-7. A 3-pointer by Fedorowicz made it a three point game with just over nine minutes to play in the first half, but the Lady Jaspers got back-to-back baskets to push its lead to 17-10. Spencer Lane ended the run with a trey at the 8:12 mark, but a 3-pointer by Alyssa Herrington on Manhattan's next possession made it a 20-13 contest.

A pair of free throws by Herrington put the home team up by eight, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Taylor Flynn and McMunigal made it a 24-19 game with three minutes to go in the half. A pair of defensive stops by Cornell led to four straight points from Christine Vlasic, making it a one-point game, 24-23, at the 1:13 mark. On the next play, the Big Red stole Manhattan's in-bounds pass and a foul by Pacheco led to a pair of made free throws by McMunigal, giving Cornell its first lead of the game, 25-24 with less than a minute to go before intermission. The home team closed the half with a trey by Herrington and a layup from Lindsey Loutsenhizer to take a 29-25 advantage into the locker room.

Pacheco hit a layup in the opening seconds of the second half, but a traditional three-point play by McMunigal made it a three-point game, 31-28. Cornell began to press the Lady Jaspers and forced them into several miscues, allowing a layup by Fedorowicz and a pair of free throws by Munson to give the visitors the 32-31 lead at the 17:42 mark.

A deep jumper from Herrington restored the lead to the home team temporarily, but a trey by Flynn as the shot clock was about to expire, followed by a layup by Clare Fitzpatrick gave Cornell a 37-33 lead. After going up, 39-34 on a layup from Vlasic, a traditional three-point play by Abby Wentworth made it a single possession game. Cornell used a 7-2 run, thanks to a pair of made free throws by Benson, a layup from Fitzpatrick and a trey by McMunigal to go up, 46-39 with 12:45 to play in the contest.

The Lady Jaspers responded with a 7-2 run of its own, but McMunigal ended the run with a trey from the top of the key and then scored a layup on an offensive rebound to put Cornell up, 53-46 with 9:37 to play. The teams traded baskets on the next several possessions, but while Manhattan was hitting layups, the Big Red was connecting on 3-pointers, allowing the visitors to build a 60-50 lead with under seven minutes to play.

Both teams went cold from the field over the next five minutes with all the scoring coming by way of the free throw line before a traditional three-point play by Pacheco with 1:03 to play made it a 66-60 game. A pair of free throws by Fedorowicz pushed Cornell's lead to eight points, before a 3-pointer by Wentworth with 34 seconds to play made it a 68-63 game. Manhattan forced a turnover on Cornell's next possession and Wentworth converted two free throws to make it a three-point game. Another Cornell turnover gave the Lady Jaspers the ball back with 28 seconds to play and Wentworth hit a driving layup to make it a one-point game with 19.1 seconds showing on the clock. A foul sent Fedorowicz to the line and the senior guard hit them both to make it a 70-67 game with 15.8 to play. Fedorowicz connected on one more free throw with 1.5 seconds to play to account for the 71-67 final.

The Big Red is back in action on Monday, Dec. 21, as it welcomes ACC foe Miami to Newman Arena at 7 p.m.