Box Score Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – A hot-shooting Manhattan women's basketball team jumped out to a commanding first half lead and never looked back as it defeated the Big Red, 73-45, this evening at Newman Arena. Cornell (1-8) turned up the defensive pressure and found some offensive rhythm in the second half but could not come all the way back in its final game before the holiday break.

Clare Fitzpatrick led the Big Red with a season-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and one blocked shot, while Kristina Danielak, Allyson DiMagno and Taylor Flynn all chipped in seven points apiece. Danielak also had four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Manhattan (7-3) was led by Abby Wentworth's 22 points, while Alyssa Herrington finished with 13. Lindsey Loutsenhizer pulled down a game-high seven rebounds and both Wentworth and Nadia Peters tallied four assists.

The Big Red held the slight edge in rebounds (27-25), but Manhattan forced 27 Cornell turnovers with 12 steals while turning the ball over just 13 times. The Lady Jaspers also shot 47.1 percent overall for the game and a blistering 57.1 percent from beyond the arc, while holding the Big Red to 43.2 percent from the floor and just 15.4 percent from 3-point range.

Manhattan opened the game shooting 57.1 percent and connecting on 8-of-11 treys in the first half to jump out to an overwhelming 30-point lead before taking a 41-14 advantage into the intermission. Fitzpatrick was the lone offensive spark for the Big Red, scoring 10 points in the first 20 minutes on a 4-of-6 performance from the floor.

Cornell registered eight unanswered points in the opening moments of the second half with a layup from Danielak followed by back-to-back treys from DiMagno and Shelby Lyman to cut the visitor's lead to 41-22. The Big Red eventually slashed the Lady Jaspers lead to 16 points on a pair of made free throws from Fitzpatrick with 11:23 to play but that was as close as it would get as Manhattan rolled to the 73-45 final.

The Big Red returns to action at Bucknell on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m.