Game #25: Cornell at Penn
Tip off: Friday, March 6, at 7:00 p.m. (The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pa.)
Series Record: Penn leads, 46-14
Last Meeting: Penn won, 79-70, on Feb. 7, 2009 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Game #26: Cornell at Princeton
Tip off: Saturday, March 7, at 6:00 p.m. (Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.)
Series Record: Princeton leads, 37-20
Last Meeting: Princeton won, 75-56, on Feb. 6, 2009 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Live Radio: WVBR, 93.5 FM
Live Video (Friday): www.PennAthletics.com (http://www.pennathletics.com/newMediaPlayer/console.htm?type=vod&oemid=1700&id=&DB_MENU_ID=&SPSID=8649&SPID=540&DB_OEM_ID=1700&CLIP_ID=&CLIP_FILE_ID=)
Live Video (Saturday): www.GoPrincetonTigers.com (http://www.goprincetontigers.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPSID=46556&SPID=4232&db_oem_id=10600)
THE MATCHUP – The Big Red (10-14, 6-6 Ivy) is looking to make a move up the Ivy League standings this weekend as it travels to Penn and Princeton on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7, respectively. The game against the Quakers is slated to tip off at 7 p.m., while the game against the Tigers will begin at 6 p.m. The Quakers are 7-18 on the season and a 4-7 in the Ivy League after splitting a pair of games last season against Yale and Brown. The Tigers, however, swept the Bulldogs and the Bears last weekend to improve to 11-14 record overall and 6-5 in the Ivy League.
THE SERIES VS. PENN – Cornell's rivalry with Penn began during the 1974-75 season and the two teams have met every year since, excluding the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons. The Quakers hold the all-time series record, 46-14, but the Big Red has won five of the last seven meetings, including a sweep over Penn last season. Coach Smith, who was an assistant coach for Penn from 1999-2002, holds a 5-8 record vs. her old squad.
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS – Penn is 7-18 on the season and 4-7 in the Ivy League. The team is led by Carrie Biemer's 17.8 points per game, while Kelly Scott is averaging 10.4 points per game. Biemer is also pulling down 5.2 rebounds per game, to go along with Erin Power's team-leading 5.8 rebounds per game.
LAST TIME VS. PENN – The Big Red 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 at Newman Arena. Allison Abt recorded a career-high 17 points after shooting 6-for-10 from the floor and knocking down 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Shannan Scarselletta tallied 16 points, a team-high five rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal. Virginia McMunigal registered nine points, while Lauren Benson handed out a game-high eight assists. Penn had four players score double-digits and was led by Carrie Biemer's 27 points, while Erin Power registered an 11-point, 13-rebound double-double. Cornell shot an impressive 44.6 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent from 3-point range, but the Quakers 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. 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 SERIES VS. PRINCETON – The Cornell and Princeton series has been one of the more competitive Ivy League match-ups in recent years, with Cornell holding a 10-7 advantage since the 2000-01 season. The series began in 1974-75 with a 51-33 Princeton victory, but the teams wouldn't meet again until the 1979-80 season. The schools have met every year since 1979-80, and the Tigers hold the edge in the series, 37-20. Coach Dayna Smith is 7-6 vs. Princeton.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS – Princeton is 11-14 on the season and 6-5 in the Ivy League after winnig a pair of games to Brown and Yale last weekend. Addie Micir is the team's leading scorer with 11.4 points per game, while Devona Allgood is pulling down a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game. Whitney Downs and Lauren Edwards are also both close to averaging double-digits with 9.3 and 9.2 points per game, respectively.
LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON – The Big Red fell to Princeton, 75-56, at Newman Arena. Cornell was led by Lauren Benson with nine points and four assists. Allie Munson, Allie Fedorowicz and Christine Vlasic scored eight points apiece. Munson pulled down a team-high six rebounds, while Fedorowicz and Vlasic grabbed five and four rebounds, respectively. Princeton was led by Whitney Downs' 19 points and Devona Allgood's 11 points. The Tigers shot a blistering 49.2 percent overall and an impressive 40 percent from 3-point range, while Cornell connected on 37 percent overall and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Big Red held the 37-32 advantage in rebounds, but turned the ball over 20 times to Princeton's nine miscues.
ON THE AIR – Big Red fans can enjoy a new way to follow the squad for the 2008-09 season, as the Cornell Department of Athletics and Physical Education has teamed up with WVBR 93.5 FM (Ithaca) to provide coverage in 23-of-26 Big Red women's basketball games this season. The broadcast team of Jay Sage and Jared Feldman will provide the call for every game for the remainder of this season. Every game will be broadcast live on either WVBR 93.5 FM (Ithaca), on www.WVBR.com, or as part of the Cornell RedCast package at www.CornellBigRed.com. Please check the women's basketball schedule page at www.CornellBigRed.com for details.
LOTS OF GAMES – Shannan Scarselletta has seen action in 106 games during her career. That total puts her in third place in Cornell history for career games played and if she plays in both games this weekend, she will tie the school mark.
OVERTIME SUCCESS – Cornell is 3-0 all-time in overtime games under current head coach Dayna Smith, a mark that was improved upon with the Big Red's overtime victory against Dartmouth on Feb. 27. Previously, the Big Red defeated Harvard, 66-64, during the 2003-04 season and Niagara, 75-63, during the 2005-06 season.
40-MINUTE WOMAN – Lauren Benson set a new career-high on Feb. 27 when she played a full 45 minutes in the Big Red's 66-61 overtime victory against Dartmouth. Benson has played a full 40 minutes in 9-of-24 contests this season, not including the Columbia game on Jan. 24 in which she played 39:34, riding the bench for just 26 seconds. Benson has racked up 13 complete games during her career. Only Karen Walker '91 and Kacee English '97 have played more 40-minute games than Benson.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE – Lauren Benson registered the first double-double of her career against Dartmouth on Feb. 27, doing it the hard way with 12 points and 10 assists to lead the Big Red. The 10 assists matched a career-high for Benson, who had previously handed out 10 assists against Albany earlier this season. The last time a Big Red player registered a point-assist double-double came nearly 12 years ago when Kim Ruck scored 14 points and handed out 11 assists on Feb. 7, 1997 against Brown.
20-POINT PERFORMANCE — Before Feb. 20, only two current members of the Big Red had registered 20 points during their career – Lauren Benson and Shannan Scarselletta – but since that time, three others have reached the 20-point plateau with both Allison Abt and Virginia McMunigal tallying 20 points against Yale, while Allie Fedorowicz scored 25 against Harvard on Feb. 28. McMunigal followed up her Yale performance with a career-high 24 points against Brown, joining Scarselletta as the only Cornell player to reach 20 points in a single game more than once.
HELPING HAND – With her 15 assists last weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard, Lauren Benson jumped into fourth place in Cornell history. Benson currently has 352 assists, sitting just 42 assists behind Kacee English, who sits in third place. Benson's career total comes in large part thanks to a sophomore season in which she averaged a team-high 5.4 assists per game, good for first in the Ivy League and 24th in the country. She also set the school record for assists in a single-season (156) that year, breaking the old mark of 140.
SWAT TEAM – Senior Shannan Scarselletta is currently sitting in eighth place in Cornell history, with 61 career blocks. She needs just two more blocks to surpass Heidi Johnson (1982-86), who sits in seventh place with 62 career blocks.
SWAT TEAM II – As a team, the Big Red has blocked at least one shot in each of its 24 games this season. Leading the way is Shannan Scarselletta with 16 blocks, but nipping senior's heels is freshman Allie Munson with 15 blocks.
SENIOR NIGHT – Last weekend marked the final home contests of seniors Shannan Scarselletta and Lacey Workman. Scarselletta has seen action in 106 games, making 53. She leads the team in both scoring and rebounding this season and has been one of the team's most consistent shot blockers during career. Workman has seen her career hampered by a myriad of injuries, but has managed to see action in 72 games, while making seven starts. She has seen her numbers and playing time increase each season and currently has a career average of 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
BALANCED ATTACK – The Big Red saw its most balanced scoring attack of the season against Harvard on Feb. 13, as four players scored in double-digits. Cornell had four players score in double-digits once again against Dartmouth on Feb. 27.
IT'S 50/50 – When Cornell defeated Yale, 80-62, on Feb. 20, it scored 50 points in the first half of action, marking the first time the Big Red has scored 50 points in a single-half of play since racking up 50 points in the second half against Colgate on Nov. 29, 2000. Cornell defeated the Raiders, 77-65.
YOU'RE THE TOPS – Virginia McMunigal's career-high 24 points against Brown on Feb. 21 set an individual player high for the season, but one week later, that mark was surpassed when Allie Fedorowicz registered a career-high 25 points against Harvard.
THAT'S NEW – With Cornell's 68-58 victory over Brown, the Big Red improved its current winning streak against the Bears to six games, the longest winning streak by Cornell in the series with Brown.
TWO FOR 20 – Virginia McMunigal and Allison Abt both tallied 20 points apiece against Yale on Feb. 20. The last time the Big Red had two players score 20+ points in the same game also came against the Bulldogs when Jeomi Maduka and Lindsay Krasna scored 29 and 25 points, respectively, on Feb. 11, 2006.
OFFENSVIVE HIGH – The 74 points scored by Cornell when they played Brown on Jan. 30 was the highest offensive output of the season for the Big Red, before defeating Yale on Feb. 20, 80-62.
PINK ZONE – Once again, the Big Red took part in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Pink Zone initiative on Saturday, Feb. 21 as it played host to Brown. Pink Zone, formerly known as Think Pink, is a global, unified effort for the WBCA nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Nearly 500 fans came out to support the cause and watch Cornell defeat Brown, 68-58.
THAT'S ALL THREE – When Allison Abt got her first career start at Dartmouth on Feb. 14, she became the final member of the class of 2012 to earn a start this season.
HALL OF FAMER – Coach Dayna Smith was inducted into the University of Rhode Island Hall of Fame on Saturday, Feb. 14. Smith, one of the top point guards in Atlantic 10 history, started for Rhode Island from 1992-96 and is currently just one of 11 players at the NCAA Division I level to record more than 1,000 points and 750 assists. Smith was inducted with five other Rhody greats, most notable among them is 10-year NBA veteran Cuttino Mobley.
3-POINT SHUT DOWN – The Big Red held both Brown (1-for-11; 9.1 percent) and Yale (1—for-14; 7.1 percent) to less than 10 percent shooting from 3-point range on the weekend of Feb. 6-7, the best performance in a single Ivy League weekend since holding both Harvard (0-4) and Dartmouth (0-5) to .000 percent on the weekend of Feb. 17 and 18, 1989.
SWEET 70 – When Cornell fell to Penn, 79-70, it marked the first time in over three years that the Big Red scored at least 70 points and went on to lose the contest. Cornell won 17-straight games in which it had scored at least 70 points, dating back to an 80-71 loss to Harvard on Feb. 4, 2006.
PACK THE HOUSE – When Cornell played host to Penn on Feb. 7, the Big Red took part in the NCAA's Pack the House Challenge and saw over 3,000 fans flow into Newman Arena. The Pack the House Challenge 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.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lauren Benson was named the Ivy League Co-Player of the Week on Monday, Feb. 2. Benson, who earned two Rookie of the Week awards during her freshman season, shared the first Player of the Week award of her career with Harvard's Emily Tay. Benson ran the offense for the Big Red as it picked up a sweep of Brown and Yale. The junior guard led Cornell to a 74-62 victory against the Bears with a team-high 20 points, while handing out five assists and playing a full 40 minutes for the sixth time this season. Benson collected half of her career-high 20 points at the charity strip, going 10-of-14 on the evening, including seven in the final five minutes of play as the Big Red held off a surging Brown squad to take the victory. The next night, Benson was instrumental in helping the Big Red build an early 10-point lead from which Yale would not recover en route to a 57-42 Cornell victory. Benson scored 15 points, 11 of which came during the crucial first half, as she finished the day going 4-for-6 from the floor, including an perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range, while handing out a team-high four assists, grabbing three rebounds and coming up with two steals.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Cornell has had two players named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week this season with freshmen Allie Munson and Allison Abt both taking home the honor once this season. Abt won the first league honor of her career on Monday, Feb. 23 after the Big Red defeated both Yale and Brown on the weekend of Feb. 20-21. Abt had the best night of her young career against the Bulldogs, going 7-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three-point range for 20 points while grabbing three rebounds and blocking one shot. The next night against the Bears, Abt scored eight points and pulled down a game- and career-high eight rebounds, while handing out one assist and blocking one shot. Munson was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Monday, Jan. 26 after a career-best performance on Saturday, Jan. 24, as she helped the Big Red snap a six-game losing streak and earn its first conference win as it defeated Columbia, 58-53. Munson was dominant inside the paint, connecting on 8-of-9 shots from the floor as she recorded a career-high 17 points. The 6-2 forward also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked two shots. A native of Southington, Conn., she scored 11 points in the decisive second half as the Big Red rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit. Among her 17 points were six straight early in the second half during a crucial 8-0 scoring run which pulled the Big Red within two points with just under 14 minutes to play.
BIG D – When Cornell held Yale to just 42 points on Jan. 31, it marked the 12th time the Big Red has held an opponent to less than 45 points in a game since Coach Smith took over the program. Cornell has done it once this season, four times during the 2007-08 season and four times during the 2006-07 season. When the Big Red held Brown to just 37 points on Feb. 1, 2008, it was the second-lowest point total by a Cornell opponent during Smith's tenure, a distinction that also belongs to the Bears, who managed only 36 points on Feb. 24, 2007.
COACHING HISTORY — With her victory over Bryant on Nov. 29, Coach Smith surpassed Linda Lerch (1981-88) to move into second place in Cornell women's basketball history in number of wins by a coach. Smith currently has 72 wins with the Big Red, sitting behind only former coach Marnie Dacko (1995-2002), who ranks first all-time in wins with 80.
CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR – Prior to Scarselletta's 21-point performance against Fairfield, 19 points had been the team-high with a Cornell player scoring 19 points on three occasions – Allie Fedorowicz (vs. Albany) and Lauren Benson (vs. IUPUI and vs. Bryant).
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE – One game after Shannan Scarselletta registered the first double-double of the season for Cornell with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance against Binghamton, Allie Fedorowicz responded with her first career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Bucknell. Scarselletta is currently the only member of the Big Red to have multiple double-doubles to her credit, having previously tallied one against Yale during the 2006-07 season.
SCORELESS STRETCH – In a 56-51 loss to Binghamton, the Big Red overcame an early 13-0 deficit by forcing the Bearcats to miss 13 straight shots and holding BU without a point for 11:08. That has proven to be the longest scoreless stretch of the season for any of Cornell's opponents. The previous long came in the second game of the season when Cornell held Albany scoreless for 7:37 late in the second half to secure the 50-46 victory.
HOME SWEET HOME — Cornell had an 11-game home winning-streak snapped by Binghamton on Jan. 5. The streak dated back to a 73-57 victory over Columbia on Jan. 19, 2008. That span is the longest in Cornell women's basketball program history, eclipsing the previous mark of five straight home victories, set twice previously. The first run took place between Dec. 1, 1985 and Jan. 4, 1986 (Princeton, St. Francis (N.Y.), St. Bonaventure, Marist and Ithaca College), while the most recent streak happened between Feb. 23, 2007 and Nov. 30, 2008 (Yale, Brown, Lafayette, Bucknell, Gardner-Webb).
CRASH THE BOARDS – Cornell outrebounded Yale, 46-30, on Jan. 31, the best rebounding margin of the season for the Big Red. During Coach Smith's tenure, Cornell has outrebounded its opponents by at least 15 boards on 13 occasions. The Big Red has won all of those contests, except the game at Miami earlier this season.
SUNSHINE STATE – Over the holiday break, Cornell made its first trip to the state of Florida since the 2001-02 season when it defeated Stetson, 73-63.
21 DAYS – The Big Red ended a 21-day study break with a loss to St. Bonaventure on Dec. 22. This year's break was the longest during Coach Smith's tenure. In fact, since the 1991-92 season, Cornell has endured a 21-day study break just once, coming during the 2001-02 season. Following that break, the Big Red defeated Stetson, 73-63.
STUDYING THE OPPONENTS – With the loss to St. Bonaventure on Dec. 22, Coach Smith's record following the study break fell to 5-2 overall. Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is just 11-18 coming out of the study break.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM – Lauren Benson was named to the URI Classic All-Tournament team after helping the Big Red split a pair of games as it fell to Central Connecticut State, 74-66, before defeating Bryant, 66-55. Against the Blue Devils, the junior point guard registered 11 points, five rebounds and six assists. The next day against the Bulldogs, Benson led Cornell by matching a career-high 19 points, going perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe over the final 1:30 to seal the victory. She also grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN – Only seven Big Red players saw the court vs. Bryant on Nov. 29. That marked just the second time during Coach Smith's tenure that only two substitutes were used with the first occurrence happening on March 3, 2007 vs. Dartmouth. Last weekend against Harvard, Cornell once again only saw seven players play.
CRAZY EIGHTS – Twice this season, against IUPUI and Bryant, junior Lauren Benson has gone 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Against the Bulldogs, her eight free throws all came in the final 1:14 of the contest to help seal the Big Red victory.
HAIL ALMA MATER – Head coach Dayna Smith returned to her alma mater, the University of Rhode Island, as the Big Red took part in the URI Classic from Nov. 28-29. Smith played for the Rams from 1992-96. One of the top point guards in Atlantic 10 history, Smith helped lead the Rams to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 1996, capping a season where URI also captured its first A-10 East Division crown. A two-time first team all-conference pick, Smith was one of only 11 players in Division I history to score more than 1,000 points and record 750 assists. She rewrote the Rhode Island record book, graduating as the program's all-time assist and 3-point field goal leader. She finished second in the nation in assists as a sophomore and ranked fourth as a junior. She ranks among the NCAA top 20 all-time in career assists (20th, 793) and assists per game (12th, 7.14).
FOLLOW THE LEADER – With her 19 points against both IUPUI and Bryant, junior Lauren Benson led the Big Red in scoring. It marked just the fourth and fifth times, respectively, in Benson's career that she has led the team in scoring. Benson has led the Big Red in scoring seven times, with the latest coming against Princeton on Feb. 6.
HOOSIERS – Lacey Workman returned to her home state of Indiana when Cornell took on IUPUI and played a season-high 20 minutes in front of family and friends. The senior guard hails from Indianapolis and attended Ben Davis High School. She was an all-county, all-league and all-state basketball player and helped lead her team to a Section 12 championship as a senior.
CAREER DAYS – When Lauren Benson handed out a career-high 10 assists against Albany on Nov. 19, it marked the most assists in a single game for a Cornell player since Karen Force dished out 10 assists at Duquesne on Jan. 20, 2004 (123 games). Benson registered 10 assists once more against Dartmouth on Feb. 27.
THE HOT HAND – Junior Allie Fedorowicz tallied a career-high 19 points against Albany to lead the Big Red to victory against the Great Danes. She has led the team in scoring three times this season (Albany, Bucknell and Harvard).
NET ZERO – The Big Red didn't attempt a single free throw against Miami on Jan. 2, 2009 and didn't make a single free throw against Albany on Nov. 19, 2008, going 0-for-3 from the charity stripe. Prior to this season, the last time Cornell didn't make a free throw during game came against Harvard on Feb. 9, 2002 when the team went 0-for-2.
SLIM WIN – When Cornell defeated Fairfield, 58-54, on Dec. 1, it marked the 10th time during Coach Smith's tenure that the Big Red has won a game by four points or less. Of the 10 games, nine have come since the beginning of the 2005-06 season.
50 FOR THE WIN – With the Big Red's 50-46 win over Albany on Nov. 19 it marked the third straight season in which Cornell won at least one game during the year despite scoring 50 points or less. Since Coach Smith took over the program prior to the 2002-03 season, the Big Red has won four games while scoring 50 points or less.
TEAM ASSISTS — The Big Red proved to be very efficient on the offensive end this season, registering assists on 62.3 percent of its made shots (309 assists, 496 field goals). Still, that mark is behind what the Big Red did last year, as Cornell assisted on 66.1 percent of its made shots (436 assists, 659 field goals).
FIRST ACTION – Cornell's three freshmen all saw action in the first game of the season at Duquesne. Allison Abt had a strong showing with seven points (3-for-5) in just 13 minutes of action, while Allie Munson matched a team-high with six rebounds in 20 minutes. Christine Vlasic saw the floor for nine minutes and pulled down two rebounds.
IRISH NATIONAL – Sophomore Susie Doyle has been a member of the U16, U17, U18 and U20 Irish national teams. She led her U16 and U18 Irish National Teams to the European Championships and was named captain of the U16 squad in 2004 and the U18 in 2006. She was named MVP of the U18 team and finished the 2006 season with the national team as the leading rebounder with 8.3 caroms per game.
FOUR-YEAR FOREIGNERS – Susie Doyle will have the opportunity to be the first of her kind – a foreign student that uses all four years of her eligibility at Cornell. The Big Red has had three foreigners in program history: Jumana Salti (Amman, Jordan), Sarah Lee (Deep River, Ontatio) and Moïna Snyder (Nice, Frace), but all three only played two years for Cornell.
DON'T I KNOW YOU? – There is a familiar face on the sideline for the Big Red this season as Moïna Snyder '09 has returned to serve as a volunteer assistant for her former team. A two-time All-Ivy selection, Snyder helped Cornell to the first Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament berth in women's basketball history during the 2007-08 season. Despite only playing two seasons for the Big Red, she finished her career ranking in the top 10 of 10 season and career categories at Cornell, including career field goal percentage (.500 – second), career rebound average (5.8 – ninth), career blocks (66 – fifth), season field goal percentage (.513 – third, .489 – 10th), season blocks (36 – fourth, 30 – sixth), season block average (1.3 – fifth), season games played (29 – first) and season games started (29 – first). Snyder, a native of Nice, France, is pursuing a degree in biological sciences in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.
AWKWARD TURTLE – Senior Shannan Scarselletta currently writes one of the most popular Op-Ed articles in the school paper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Her column, entitled Awkward Turtle, appears alternate Mondays throughout the school year.
FOR OPENERS – With the loss to Duquesne on Nov. 16, the Big Red fell to 17-21 all-time record in season openers. Coach Dayna Smith has posted a 1-6 record in season openers during her time with Cornell.
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS — Cornell was chosen to finish third in the Ivy League, earning three first-place votes, according to the preseason media poll. Harvard and Dartmouth were selected to finish ahead of the Big Red, with the Crimson tabbed to win the conference with 10 of a possible 17 first-place votes. The Big Green picked up four first-place votes to finish 13 points ahead of Cornell. Yale was selected fourth overall with 83 points, while Columbia finished right behind in fifth-place with 74 points. Penn (52), Princeton (46) and Brown (18) rounded out the bottom three.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS – The 2007-08 Cornell women's basketball team won the first Ivy League title in program history, finishing the year with an 11-3 conference record.
BIG RED DANCERS – Cornell, which won a share of the Ivy League title along with Dartmouth and Harvard, earned the right to represent the Ancient Eight in the 2008 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament by defeating the Big Green, 64-47, in a playoff game held at Columbia's Levien Gym on March 16, 2008. It was the first postseason berth in the history of the Big Red women's basketball program.
HONORABLE MENTION – Lauren Benson was named All-Ivy honorable mention last season. Benson was the Big Red's most improved player during the year, leading Cornell and the Ivy League and ranking 24th in the nation with 5.38 assists per game. She also chipped in 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting a conference-best 46.2 percent from 3-point range. Her assist/turnover ratio was second-best in the league (1.44) and she ranked 10th in the conference in 3-pointers made per contest (1.24 pg).
NON-CONFERENCE RECORD — With the 75-60 victory over NJIT last season, the Big Red finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 8-5 record. That matched the most non-conference wins in school history and is the most since the 1999-2000 squad went 8-4. Since the formation of Ivy League women's basketball, the Big Red has won eight non-conference games on just five occasions (1982-83, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1999-2000, 2007-08).
D-E-F-E-N-S-E — Cornell finished the 2007-08 season ranked 55th out of 326 Division I schools in scoring defense, allowing opponents only 58.9 points per game. The Big Red held opponents to less than 60 points in 18 of its 29 games that season.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE – Lauren Benson finished the 2007-08 season ranked first in the Ivy League in assists per game (5.4). That was a huge improvement from her rookie season, when she ended the year ranked 10th in the conference in that same category with 2.67 assists per game.
GOING STREAKING – Cornell enjoyed an eight-game winning streak before falling to both Dartmouth and Harvard on Feb. 29 and March 1, 2008, respectively. The eight games proved to be a school record, eclipsing a mark that was set when the Big Red closed the 1972-73 season and opened the 1973-74 season with seven victories in a row. At the time that the streak was broken, the eight straight wins was good for 16th in the nation.
THE BIG SCORE – Cornell averaged 65.8 points per game during the 2007-08 season, the most ever under coach Smith.
POINT PRODUCTION — The 85 points scored by Cornell vs. Harvard on Feb. 15, 2008 was the highest point total scored by the Big Red since Coach Smith took over the program. Earlier during the season, Cornell hung 82 points on Colgate, which ranks fourth overall for the most points scored by a Coach Smith team.
GET A GRIP – The Big Red turned the ball over a season-low six times last season at Penn on Feb. 9, 2008. That matched the school record for the lowest number of turnovers by Cornell in a single game, which was accomplished just once previously, at Princeton on March 9, 1985.
21-OF-21 – Cornell set an NCAA team-high for the season last year when it connected on 100 percent of its free throw attempts (21-of-21) at Penn on Feb. 9, 2008. Last season, 10 schools made 100 percent of its free throw attempts (min. 15 made), but only Cornell made more than 20, with the next highest being Manhattan (19-of-19) vs. Fairfield.
WINNING BIG — When Cornell defeated Colgate, 82-47 on Dec. 18, 2007, it was the largest margin of victory (35 points) for the Big Red in over eight years. Just over one month later, Cornell nearly matched that output when it beat Brown by 33 points, 70-37. Prior to the 2007-08 season, the last time Cornell defeated a team by more than 30 points came on Nov. 11, 1999 when it outpaced Canisius, 85-50.
MILESTONE WINS — With Cornell's 75-60 victory over NJIT last season, Coach Smith earned the 50th win of her career. The victory was also the 300th win in the history of the Cornell women's basketball program.
ON THE BOARDS — Last year, the Big Red grabbed a season-high 59 rebounds vs. Texas A&M-CC, the most rebounds in a single game by a Cornell team during Coach Smith's tenure.
