Box score
ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell University women's basketball team took a 35-24 lead into half time, but a hot-shooting Penn squad rallied for 55 points over the final 20 minutes to steal a 79-70 victory this evening at Newman Arena. Freshman Allison Abt recorded a career-high 17 points, while Shannan Scarselletta tallied 16 points to lead the Big Red.
Abt went 6-for-10 from the floor and knocked down 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. The rookie forward also grabbed four rebounds and came up with two steals. Scarselletta filled out the stat line with a team-high five rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. Virginia McMunigal just missed out on double-figures with nine points, while Lauren Benson handed out a game-high eight assists.
Penn (4-15, 1-4) had four players score double-digits and was led by Carrie Biemer's 27 points. Erin Power registered an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Anca Popovici and Katrina Lackner tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Cornell (7-11, 3-3) shot an impressive 50 percent in the first half, including an outstanding 70 percent from beyond the arc, but saw its shooting touch cool in the second to finish shooting 44.6 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent from 3-point range. The Quakers were also solid in the first half, but shot lights-out in the second stanza, connecting on 72.7 percent overall and 60 percent from beyond the arc to finish well above their season average with 59.1 percent overall and 47.1 percent from 3-point range.
Penn also held a significant 34-23 advantage on the boards, but turned the ball over five times more than the Big Red (17-12).
The Quakers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead over the opening two minutes, but Cornell used a jumper by Allie Fedorowicz and a layup from Scarselletta to knot the game at the 15:57 mark. That tie began a long stretch in which the teams traded baskets.
With a two-point lead, the Big Red finally stretched a couple of buckets together as Benson hit a layup before assisting on a Lacey Workman trey to put the home team up, 24-17, with just over five minutes to play in the opening half. After a free throw by Caitlin Slover, Cornell responded with a 3-pointer by McMunigal to push the lead to nine points. Back-to-back treys by Kelly Scott brought Penn within three points, 27-24, but Cornell scored the final eight points of the half to take the 35-24 lead into the intermission.
Penn used an extended 11-5 scoring run over the first six minutes of the second half to make it a two-point game, 40-38, but Christine Vlasic knocked down a shot from the elbow to give Cornell a little breathing room.
The lead didn't last long, however, as a jumper by Popovici and two made free throws by Powers tied the game for the fourth time, 44-44, at the 11:46 mark. The teams traded baskets, with the score getting tied up three more times, before a layup by Popovici started an 8-0 scoring run to put the visitors up, 68-60, with 3:03 to play.
A jumper by Abt ended the Quaker run, but Lackner responded on Penn's next trip down the floor. A 3-pointer by Kelly Scott gave the Quakers its largest lead of the game, going up by 10 points with 1:30 left to play.
The Big Red battled for the final 1:30 and cut the Penn lead down to five, 75-70, with 30 seconds to play, but the visitors made their free throws down the stretch to seal the 79-70 victory.
The Big Red travels Harvard and Dartmouth to take on the Crimson and Big Green on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14, respectively. Both games are slated to tip off at 7 p.m.
