Game Notes in PDF Format

GAME #10: Cornell at Bucknell
TIP OFF: Thursday, Dec. 30, at 4:30 p.m. (Lewisburg, Pa.)
SERIES RECORD: Bucknell leads, 15-4
LAST MEETING: Bucknell won, 69-55 on Jan. 6, 2010 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2010-11 RECORDS: Cornell (1-8, 0-0 Ivy), Bucknell (2-8, 0-0 Patriot)
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE STATS: BucknellBison.com
LIVE VIDEO: BucknellBison.com

GAME 11: Cornell vs. Ithaca
TIP OFF: Saturday, Jan. 1, at 2:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Ithaca leads, 11-8
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 81-54 on Nov. 15, 2009 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2010-11 RECORDS: Cornell (1-8, 0-0 Ivy), Ithaca (6-4, 2-0 Empire 8)
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE STATS: CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: CornellBigRed.com

THE MATCHUPS – The Big Red ends 2010 and opens 2011 as it closes this week with a pair of games. Cornell will close out the year at Bucknell on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 4:30 p.m., before returning home to ring in the New Year against cross-town rival Ithaca College on Saturday, Jan 1 at 2:00 p.m. The Big Red fell to 1-8 on the season after losing to Manhattan before the holiday break, while the Bison fell to 2-8 after dropping a 96-48 decision to Penn State on Dec. 28. The Bombers are 6-4 on the season, but have been idle since before the holiday break when they traveled to Hawaii and handily defeated Cal-Lutheran, 79-53, before dropping an overtime thriller to No. 5/8 Thomas More, 74-73.

THE SERIES VS. BUCKNELL – Cornell and Bucknell have faced off 19 times in the history of the two women's basketball programs, with the Bison holding the series advantage, 15-4. The two teams first met in the 1981-82 season with Bucknell taking the 68-58 victory, the first of a series record six-straight wins. All four of the Big Red's victories (1991-92, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2007-08) have come at Newman Arena, as the Bison lead just 5-4 in Ithaca. Head coach Dayna Smith is 2-5 vs. Bucknell.

SCOUTING THE BISON – Bucknell (2-8) is riding a five-game losing streak after falling to Penn State, 96-48, on Tuesday, Dec. 28. Shelby Romine leads the team with an impressive 15.2 points per game. She is also the Bison's main 3-point threat, connecting on 44 percent (22-of-50) of her shots from long-range and is the only player on the team to make more than three 3-pointers on the year. Joyce Novacek and Cosima Higham are averaging 8.9 and 7.3 rebounds, respectively.

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE – Cornell is 36-51 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League. The Big Red owns the advantage in the series with Lafayette (8-7) and Colgate (16-15) buts holds a losing mark against American (1-2), Army (5-6), Bucknell (4-15), Lehigh (2-4) and Navy (0-2). Holy Cross is the only member of the Patriot League that Cornell has never faced in women's basketball ... Coach Smith's record vs. the conference fell to 11-12 after falling to Colgate earlier this season.

THE SERIES VS. ITHACA – In just the third-ever game in the history of the Cornell women's basketball program, the Big Red took on Ithaca College and dropped a 44-42 squeaker. The Bombers went on to win the next 10 contests before Cornell took its first win with a decisive 61-37 victory during the 1982-83 season. The Big Red has cut Ithaca's lead in the series to 11-8 by winning the next seven games, including an 81-54 victory in 2009-10.

SCOUTING THE BOMBERS – Ithaca brings a 6-4 record into Newman Arena after splitting a pair of games in Hawaii before the holiday break. The Bombers opened the trip with a 79-53 victory over Cal-Lutheran before falling in overtime to No. 5/8 Thomas More, 74-73. Ithaca is led by Elissa Klie's 10.6 points per game. The senior forward also leads the team in assists (2.9 per game) and ranks second overall in rebounds (6.0 per game). Freshman guard Jennifer Escobido is the team's second leading scoring (9.0 per game) and is connecting on a team-best .614 percent of her shots. Sophomore forward Devin Shea is tallying a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game and is blocking 1.0 shots per game.

CORNELL VS. THE EMPIRE 8 – Cornell is 17-25 all-time vs. the current members of the Empire 8, but has played only two games vs. a member of the conference since the 1987-88 season, both of which were against Ithaca. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Hartwick (9-6), but has a losing mark against Ithaca (8-11), Nazareth (0-3), St. John Fisher (0-1) and Utica (0-4). Cornell has never faced Alfred, Elmira or RIT in women's basketball.

LAST TIME OUT –
• 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, on Dec. 21.
• Sophomore Clare Fitzpatrick led the Big Red with a season-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and one blocked shot.
• Kristina Danielak, Allyson DiMagno and Taylor Flynn all chipped in seven points apiece. In addition to the season-high seven points, Danielak also had four rebounds and two blocked shots.
• 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.

STUDYING THE OPPONENTS – Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 12-19 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a 6-3 record in the first game back.

COACHING HISTORY — With the victory over Winston-Salem, head coach Dayna Smith recorded her 80th career win with the Big Red, tying the school record for wins by a coach, joining Marnie Dacko (1995-2002).

FITZPATRICK LEADING THE WAY – Sophomore forward Clare Fitzpatrick has led the Big Red in scoring in 5-of-9 games this season. Over the course of 27 games last season, Fitzpatrick led the team in scoring just three times.

OFFENSIVE SHIFT – Last season, Cornell had only five games in which a forward led the team in scoring, with Clare Fitzpatrick doing it three times and Allie Munson leading the team twice. So far this season, forwards have led the team in scoring five times.

I'LL TAKE THAT – The Big Red is averaging 6.7 steals per game. That is the best average since the 2006-07 team registered 8.0 steals per game.

HELPING HAND – So far this season, the Big Red has assisted on 115-of-169 baskets (68.0 percent). That is just up from last season when Cornell assisted on 67.7 percent of its made shots (364-of-537), which is the best percentage during Coach Smith's tenure.

SUDDEN IMPACT – Four of the Big Red's top six scorers so far this season are freshmen. Rookie Allyson DiMagno ranks second on the team with 7.3 points per game, while Stephanie Long (7.0), Shelby Lyman (5.6) and Aspen Chandler (3.8) rank third, fifth and sixth, respectively.

FRESH START – A pair of guards, sophomore Spencer Lane and freshman Shelby Lyman, made their first career starts for the Big Red vs. Cleveland State … Junior college transfer Maka Anyanwu and freshman Stephanie Long earned their first starts of the season vs. Winston-Salem ... Freshman Allyson DiMagno made her first career start at Oakland … Sophomore Kristina Danielak started the first game of her career against Canisius.

YOUTH WILL BE SERVED – With just one senior and two juniors, the Big Red squad boasts nine sophomores and freshmen, meaning that underclassmen comprise 75% of the roster. That makes Cornell the youngest team in the Ivy League by percentage with Brown (73%) and Columbia (70%) slightly trailing. The average age of the Big Red is 19 years, four months. Senior Susie Doyle is the oldest member of the team at 21 years, eight months, while freshman Stephanie Long is the youngest, at 18 years, three months. Long is just 12 days younger than fellow freshman Allyson DiMagno.

40-MINUTE WOMAN – Freshman Shelby Lyman played a full 40 minutes vs. Cleveland State, becoming the only player in Coach Smith's tenure to play a full game in their first collegiate start.

CLEAR THE BENCH – In 5-of-9 games this season, Coach Smith has used all seven members of the Big Red bench.

WELCOME BACK – After suffering a season-ending injury prior to the start of last season, senior Susie Doyle made her return to the court vs. Cleveland State.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – Senior Susie Doyle and junior Allie Munson will serve as team captains for the 2010-11 season.

FOR OPENERS – With its loss to Cleveland State, the Big Red fell to 17-23 all-time in season openers. Coach Dayna Smith has posted a 1-8 record in season openers during her time with Cornell.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK – The Big Red added six players to the 2010-11 squad: Maka Anyanwu (Oakland, Calif.), Aspen Chandler (Dallas, Texas), Joelle Davidson (Hyattsville, Md.), Allyson DiMagno (Fairport, N.Y.), Stephanie Long (Norwich, Conn.) and Shelby Lyman (Snohomish, Wash.). The class of six players come from six different states and consists of four guards, one forward and one player that could see action at guard or forward.

UMPQUA COMMUNITY CONNECTION – Junior college transfer Maka Anyanwu comes to the Big Red after a successful season at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. Fans of the Big Red should know UCC, as it was the two-year home of former Cornell standout Moina Snyder '07.

ALL IN THE FAMILY – Freshman Aspen Chandler comes from a long line of athletes. Her father, Brian Hopgood, had a successful professional basketball career playing in the various domestic and overseas leagues. Collegiately, he played at University of Louisville and Oklahoma City University. While at OCU, he led his team to the NAIA national championship and was a two-time All-American. Her cousin Shelton Johnson currently plays football for the University of Wisconsin and her grandfather Wayne Long ran track and field in college.

IRISH NATIONAL – Senior 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.

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.

WELCOME BACK – Former Cornell women's basketball standout Gretchen Gregg '08 has returned to East Hill to join head coach Dayna Smith's staff for the upcoming 2010-11 season. Gregg brings two years of coaching experience, as well as an unparalleled passion for Cornell, with her to her new position. Gregg comes to Cornell following two very successful seasons with the Lehigh women's basketball program, where she served as a graduate assistant. During her time in Bethlehem, the Mountain Hawks won back-to-back Patriot League championships, advanced to two straight NCAA tournaments, and set a new school and Patriot League record for wins (29) during the 2009-10 season. As a player at Cornell, Gregg capped a successful career by helping the Big Red to its first-ever Ivy League Championship and the program's first berth to the NCAA Tournament.

HI, MY NAME IS – Cornell had a new face on the bench for the 2010-11 season, as Ryan Woerner joined the women's basketball staff as an assistant coach. Despite having just graduated from nearby Ithaca College this past May, Woerner brings with him significant coaching experience. In addition to interning with the Cornell men's program last spring, he has served as an assistant coach at Xavier high school, as well as coaching at the Boston College Elite Camp and the West Point Basketball Camp. He was also a coach for the Five Star Basketball Camp and The Hoop Group. Additionally, Woerner served as the assistant basketball camp director at Molloy College.

SMARTY PANTS – For the second straight season, the Big Red has been named to the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll. Cornell was the only Ivy League institutions on the list, ranking 25th overall with a team GPA of 3.308.

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Two members of the Big Red earned All-Ivy honors following the 2009-10 season, highlighted by Lauren Benson's second-team selection. Joining Benson was All-Rookie team pick Claire Fitzpatrick.

REVIEWING THE 2009-10 SEASON – Cornell wrapped up the 2009-10 season with a 7-20 record overall and a mark of 2-12 in the Ivy League, good for seventh in the conference.

UP NEXT – The Big Red travels to Binghamton on Monday, Jan. 3 for a contest with the Bearcats, before returning to Newman Arena on Thursday, Jan. 6 to face the University of South Dakota. Both games are slated to begin at 7 p.m.