PRINCETON, N.J. – The Cornell University women's basketball team dropped its final contest of the season, falling to Princeton, 76-55, at Jadwin Gym this evening. The Big Red finishes the season with a 10-16 record overall and a mark of 6-8 in the Ivy League.
Princeton (13-14, 8-5) was led by Lauren Edwards' 18-piont, 10-rebound double-double, while Whitney Downs added 11 points.
For the second night in a row, the Big Red started the game well, but went cold in the second half, shooting 36.7 percent in the first, but just 21.2 percent in the second to finish at 28.6 percent overall for the game. Cornell also struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 15.4 percent for the game. By contrast, Princeton started slowly, but improved significantly in the second half to finish the game shooting 44.3 percent overall and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
The Tigers held the 48-40 advantage on the boards and both team turned the ball over 11 times.
Princeton jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but three straight layups by Scarselletta gave Cornell an 8-6 lead at the 14:49 mark. A layup by Downs, followed by one free throw by Edwards returned the lead to the home team, but the lead was short-lived as a trey by Fedorowicz from the top of the key gave the Big Red the 11-9 advantage.
An offensive putback by Edwards tied the game once again, 11-11, but a runner in the lane by Fedorowicz gave the advantage back to the visitors. A traditional three-point play by Krystal Hill opened up an 8-0 scoring run to give Princeton the 19-13 lead with 8:35 to play in the opening half.
Benson ended the run with a jumper from the right elbow, but a layup from Laura Johnson retained the six-point advantage for the Tigers. A pair of Princeton steals led to fastbreak layups by Edwards and Downs to give the home team a double-digit lead, 25-15, with just under seven minutes to play in the half.
Cornell used a 9-4 scoring run, capped by a three-point play be Fedorowicz, to make it a 29-24 game at the 4:51 mark. The teams traded possessions on its next two trips down the floor, but a pair of free throws by Fedorowicz a minute later made it a 31-28 game. A long 2-pointer by McMunigal brought the Big Red within a single point, but Princeton outscored Cornell 5-2 over the closing minutes to take the 36-32 advantage into halftime.
The Tigers then opened the second half on an 8-2 scoring run to open up a 44-34 lead at the 16:05 mark.
A pair of free throws by Scarselletta ended a four-minute scoreless drought by the Big Red and a baseline jumper by Fedorowicz made it a six-point game, 44-38, but back-to-back treys by Addie Micir and Jessica Berry pushed the lead back to double-figures, 50-38, with 13:03 remaining in the contest.
The teams traded baskets for the next two minutes before a 14-2 Tigers' run pushed the Princeton lead to 66-44 at the 4:06 mark. Cornell's lone basket during the run came off a foul line jumper by Benson.
From there, Princeton cruised to the 76-55 victory.
