Box Score Box Score

ROCHESTER, Mich. – The Big Red women's basketball team overcame a poor shooting first half and a 19-point deficit, but couldn't come all the way back as it fell to Oakland University, 56-45, this afternoon at the O'Rena in Rochester, Mich. Clare Fitzpatrick finished with 10 points, all of which came in the second, to go along with four rebounds, three steals and two assists to lead Cornell.

Fitzpatrick was the only Big Red player to score in double-digits, with Allyson DiMagno and Shelby Lyman registering nine and seven points, respectively. DiMagno also finished with five rebounds, while Spencer Lane tallied four assists.

Oakland (3-3) was led by Bethany Watterworth's 16-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Brittany Carnago netted 10 points.

Cornell (1-4) shot just 23.3 percent in the first half, going 7-for-30, but rebounded in the second half, shooting 40 percent overall (12-for-30) and outscoring the Grizzlies in the final 20 minutes, 28-25. For the game, the Big Red shot 31.7 percent overall and 38.9 percent from 3-point range while Oakland connected on 41.3 percent overall and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.

The Grizzlies held the 39-33 edge in rebounds but for the first time this season, the opposition had more turnovers, with Oakland finishing with 23 miscues to Cornell's 22. The Big Red also had 11 steals, to the Grizzlies seven.

In the end, free-throws proved to be the difference, with the home team going 15-for-20 from the charity stripe, while the Big Red did not earn a single trip to the line, going 0-for-0 for the first time since playing Miami on Jan. 2, 2009.

"I think we had a great second half against a very good team,” said head coach Dayna Smith. “We did some nice things defensively, but we weren't able to contain Bethany Watterworth, which was a big part of our game plan. Overall it was a great experience for our very-young team to show that it could comeback against a very good team.”

Trailing 31-17 at the break, the Big Red found its shooting touch early in the second half and used a 10-2 run over the opening four minutes to cut the Grizzlies lead to six points, 33-27. During the run, Cornell saw three different players score with a foul-line jumper by Fitzpatrick and a layup from Spencer Lane followed by back-to-back treys from Taylor Flynn.

After trading baskets, the Big Red got four unanswered points from Maka Anyanwu and Fitzpatrick to make it a 35-31 contest at the 13:42 mark but two straight jumpers from Elizabeth Hafeli and Zakiya Minifee gave the home team some breathing room, making it a 39-31 game with 11 minutes to play.

Another clutch jumper from Fitzpatrick made it a six-point game once again but neither team managed to score for the next two minutes until a pair of made free throws from Watterworth put Oakland up, 41-33.

A deep trey by Watterworth was the first field goal by either team in 3:30 and extended the Grizzlies lead to double-digits at the 7:08 mark.

Coming out of a Cornell timeout, Anyanwu made a strong post move to score and make it a nine-point game, but a four-point spurt saw Oakland go up, 48-35 with just four minutes remaining to play.

The Big Red began to press and forced back-to-back Oakland turnovers as it pulled within eight points thanks to a layup from Fitzpatrick and trey from DiMagno.

The Grizzlies retained its 10-point lead and the teams traded baskets to 52-42 before Oakland converted four straight free throws to go up, by 14.

DiMagno hit a trey from the left corner in the final moments to account for the 56-45 final.

Cornell found itself needing to dig out 19-point deficient after a 16-7 run blew open what had been a manageable 10 point Oakland lead. The home team went up, 31-12 with just over three minutes to play but the Big Red began its comeback as it closed the half with five unanswered points off a layup from Allie Munson and a trey from Aspen Chandler to make it a 31-17 game at the half.

Cornell returns to New York for its final game before its 17-day study break, as it travels to Hamilton to take on Colgate on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m.