CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – For the first time this season, the Cornell University women's basketball team had four players register double-digits, but it wasn't enough as it fell to Harvard, 75-57 this evening at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red stayed within striking distance the majority of the game, before a late 15-3 scoring run by the home team gave the Crimson the victory.
Cornell (7-12, 3-4 Ivy) was led by
Allie Fedorowicz, who scored all 14 of her points in the second half, while
Lauren Benson tallied 13 points on a 5-of-10 performance, including a mark of 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Benson also registered team-highs with five rebounds and five assists.
Virginia McMunigal and
Allison Abt both chipped in 10 points apiece.
Harvard (13-7, 5-1 Ivy) was led by Emma Markley, who accounted for 15 of the Crimson's first 17 points of the game, and finished with a game-high 18 points on the evening. Markely also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Brogan Berry and Niki Finelli both registered 15 points, while Emily Tay scored 14 and handed out a game-high eight assists.
The Big Red shot an impressive 42.3 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from 3-point range in the first half, but saw its shooting touch cool in the second stanza to finish the evening shooting 36.4 percent overall and 36.7 percent from beyond the arc. Harvard, meanwhile, shot over 50 percent in both halves to finish the game with a 51.9 percent showing overall and a mark of 37.5 percent from 3-point range.
The Crimson held the significant advantage on the boards, 40-25, but both teams turned the ball over 19 times.
Virginia McMunigal opened the scoring in the contest with a trey from the top of the key, but back-to-back jumpers by Markley gave the home team the early 4-2 advantage. A midrange jumper from Benson, followed by a hard-fought layup from
Shannan Scarselletta gave Cornell a 7-4 lead at the 16:31 mark. The lead didn't last long, however, as five straight points by Markley and a fastbreak layup from Tay returned the 11-7 lead to Harvard with 14:37 to play in the half.
The Crimson run continued, as the home team built a 15-7 advantage before Abt knocked down a trey from the top of the key. Harvard responded with four straight points, but a McMunigal 3-pointer from the corner made it a 19-13 game at the 11:05 mark. A made free throw by Markley made it a seven-point game, but Cornell opened up a 9-3 scoring run to make it a one-point game, 23-22, at the 8:37 mark, During the run, the Big Red got 3-pointers from
Sasha Truong and Abt, to go along with a free throw from McMunigal and a layup from Scarselletta.
Five straight points by Finelli ended the Cornell run and Berry scored the Crimson's next four points to push the lead to double-digits, 32-22.
Neither team managed much offense for the next several minutes but a trey from Benson ended the drought and Berry answered on the following possession with a foul line jumper. Another Benson 3-pointer was answered immediately by Markley, but Benson scored a driving layup as time expired to make it a 38-30 game at the intermission.
Once again, McMunigal nailed a 3-pointer to open the scoring, making it a five-point game, but jumpers by Tay and Finelli made it a 42-33 contest with just over 16 minutes to play. A 3-pointer by Benson and an offensive putback by Abt made it a four-point game once again, but Claire Wheeler pushed the Crimson lead back to 44-38 with a runner in the lane at the 14:04 mark.
A long jumper by Abt made it a 44-40 game, but a fastbreak layup from Tay and a jumper by Jackie Alemany pushed the Harvard advantage to eight points. Cornell cut back into the lead with a pair of free throws by Fedorowicz, followed by a layup by
Allie Munson, but the Crimson responded with an 8-2 scoring run to get back to double-digits, 56-46, with 7:21 to play.
A trey from the left corner by Fedorowicz ended the Harvard run, but a pair of free throws by Finelli started a prolonged 7-1 run as the home team built a 63-50 lead with just under four minutes to play.
From there, the teams traded baskets and the Crimson made its free throws down the stretch to take the 75-57 victory.
The Big Red is back in action tomorrow evening as it travels to Dartmouth to take on the Big Green at Leede Arena on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m.
