Game Notes (PDF)

Game #20: Cornell vs. Penn
Tip off: Saturday, Feb. 12, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Series Record: Penn leads, 47-14
Last Meeting: Penn won, 62-50, March 6, 2009 (Philadelphia, Pa.)
2009-10 Records: Cornell (5-14, 0-6), Penn (1-18, 0-5)
Live Audio: None
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: www.CornellBigRed.com

Game #21: Cornell vs. Princeton
Tip off: Saturday, Feb. 13, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Series Record: Princeton leads, 38-20
Last Meeting: Princeton won, 76-55, March 7, 2009 (Princeton, N.J.)
2009-10 Records: Cornell (5-14, 0-6), Princeton (17-2, 5-0)
Live Audio: None
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: www.CornellBigRed.com

THE MATCHUP – The Big Red returns to Ithaca following a five-game road swing to welcome Penn and Princeton to Newman Arena on Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13, respectively. Both games are slated to begin at 7 p.m. Cornell (5-14, 0-6) is looking for its first Ivy League win, as are the Quakers (1-18, 0-5), while Princeton (17-2, 5-0) holds a game-and-a-half lead in the race for the Ivy League crown.

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, 47-14, but the Big Red has won five of the last eight meetings, including a sweep over Penn during the 2007-08 season. Coach Smith, who was an assistant coach for Penn from 1999-2002, holds a 5-9 record vs. her old squad.

SCOUTING THE QUAKERS – Penn enters the weekend on a nine-game losing streak after being beat by Dartmouth and Harvard last weekend to fall to 1-18 overall and 0-5 in the Ivy League. The Quakers average just 44.8 points per game and do not have a single player averaging double-digit points. The team is led by Sarah Bucar with 9.0 points per game and Kim Adams with 7.7 ppg. Jessica Knapp leads Penn with a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME VS. PENN – The Big Red jumped out to a nine-point lead midway through the first half, but couldn't rebound from a 13-0 scoring run by Penn, as the Quakers took the 62-50 victory at the Palestra. Cornell was led by Shannan Scarselletta's 12 points, while Christine Vlasic registered a career-high 10 points, six rebounds and one block. Lauren Benson tallied 10 points and handed out six assists, while Allie Fedorowicz added 11 points and Lacey Workman pulled down a career-high seven rebounds. Penn was led by Carrie Beimer's 16 points and eight rebounds. Sarah Bucar and Erin Power scored 12 and 10 points, respectively and pulled down seven rebounds apiece. Both teams shot well in the first half, but the Big Red suffered a cold spell in the second half, hitting just 21.2 percent overall to finish at 33.3 percent for the game. The Quakers, however, managed to hit 36.7 percent in the second half to finish at 40 percent for the game. Penn held the slight advantage in rebounds, 42-40, and both teams turned the ball over 13 times.

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 10-8 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, 38-20. Coach Dayna Smith is 7-7 vs. Princeton.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS – Princeton is riding a 12-game winning streak as it brings a 17-2 record overall and a mark of 5-0 in the Ivy League to Newman Arena on Saturday evening. The Tigers are averaging 71.1 points per game, while holding its opponents to just 52.3 points per game. Four players are averaging in double-digits, led by freshman Niveen Rasheed with 14.9 points per game. Addie Micir, one of the top 3-point threats in the nation, is chipping in 13.7 ppg., while Lauren Edwards and Devona Allgood are averaging 13.5 and 10.3 ppg., respectively. Allgood is also leading the team with 7.9 rebounds per game, with Rasheed close behind at 7.7 rpg.

LAST TIME VS. PRINCETON – The Big Red dropped its final contest of the season to Princeton, 76-55, at Jadwin Gym. Shannan Scarselletta and Allie Fedorowicz led Cornell with 18 points apiece, while Lauren Benson chipped in 11. Virginia McMunigal led the team with nine rebounds, while Christine Vlasic pulled down seven boards. Princeton was led by Lauren Edwards' 18-piont, 10-rebound double-double. The Big Red startedstrong, but went cold in the second half 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 finished the game shooting 44.3 percent overall and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

FOR THE (ASSIST) RECORD – Lauren Benson set the school record for career assists when she assisted on a Taylor Flynn 3-pointer with 5:59 to play in the opening half vs. Brown on Feb. 6. Benson surpassed Karen Force '04, who previously held the top spot with 459 career helpers. Benson already owns the single season assist record (156 in 2007-08), as well as the single game mark with 12 vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21, breaking a record that had been held by her and five other former Cornell players.

MOVING ON UP – With her six 3-pointers last weekend at Yale and Brown, senior Allie Fedorowicz surpassed Karen Force '04 to move into second place in Cornell history for career 3-pointers with 132 treys. Classmates Virginia McMunigal and Lauren Benson have also moved into the top-10 list for career 3-pointers, ranking ninth with 105 and 10th with 104, respectively.

SMARTY PANTS – Senior Virginia McMunigal has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District second team for her work in the classroom and on the court. McMunigal, a two-year starter and one of the Big Red's top offensive threats, is an outstanding student with a 3.64 grade-point average in economics in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.

PACK THE HOUSE - The Big Red will participate in the 2009-10 NCAA Pack the House Challenge as it plays host to Penn. The Pack the House Challenge is an NCAA initiative in its third year that encourages schools to compete against each other in an effort to set attendance records at women's basketball games. NCAA member schools will compete against schools in their own conference as well as all Division I schools for a chance to be the 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball Pack the House Challenge Champion and win great prizes. Seven of the eight Ivy League schools are participating in this year's event.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK – Freshman forward Clare Fitzpatrick has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Monday, Feb. 1. Fitzpatrick had a pair of solid outings as she opened the weekend with her first career-double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds against perennial Ivy League power Dartmouth. The next night against Harvard, Fitzpatrick led the Big Red with a team- and career-high 15 points, while pulling down nine caroms. She also showed her durability over the weekend, playing a full 40 minutes in both games.

ROOKIES OF THE WEEKEND – A pair of freshman led the Big Red in its games at Dartmouth and Harvard on Jan. 29 and 30, respectively. Taylor Flynn posted a career-high 19 points vs. the Big Green, while Fitzpartick posted her first career-double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. The next night, Fitzpatrick led the Big Red with a career-high 15 points, while Flynn chipped in 11 points.

HOME SWEET HOME – Cornell has turned around its performance at Newman Arena in recent years. During the first four years of Coach Smith's tenure, the Big Red posted an 18-28 record at home. Since the 2006-07 season, however, Cornell has gone 27-16 in front of the Newman Nation. The turnaround in Ivy League play has been even more impressive. During her first four seasons, Cornell was 9-19 at home in conference play. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Big Red has gone 15-7 against the Ancient Eight.

NATIONAL RANKINGS – Cornell is making its mark in the national rankings. As of the rankings on Sunday, Feb. 7, Virginia McMunigal ranked 19th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (43.8 percent), while senior point guard Lauren Benson was 32nd in the country in assists per game (5.2).

SWAT TEAM – Cornell registered seven blocked shots in its first contest vs. Columbia. That is the most blocked shots for the Big Red in a single game since blocking seven against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 30, 2007.

THE HOT HAND –Virginia McMunigal and Allie Fedorowicz both rank third overall in the Ivy League in 3-point field goals made per game. McMunigal is also third overall in 3-point field goal percentage, while Fedorowicz sits in eighth place.

MEETING MILESTONES – Senior Allie Fedorowicz accumulated 700 career points with her 10-point performance vs. Samford at the Marriott Cavalier Classic. Classmate Lauren Benson, who reached the 300-rebound plateau with her 10 caroms vs. Samford, surpassed 700 career points with a seven-point outing vs. Columbia on Jan. 16.

SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE – So far this season, the Big Red has assisted on 67.0 percent of its made shots (250-of-373). That is the best percentage during Coach Smith's tenure, including the 2007-08 season in which Cornell set the school record for assists (436-of-659 – 66.1%).

40-MINUTE WOMAN – Lauren Benson set a new career-high on Feb. 27, 2009 when she played a full 45 minutes in the Big Red's 66-61 overtime victory against Dartmouth. Over the past two seasons, Benson has played a full 40 minutes in 14 contests, not including two contests during her career in which she rode the bench for less than 30 seconds. Benson has racked up 16 complete games during her career. Only Karen Walker '91 (27) and Kacee English '97 (17) have played more 40-minute games than Benson.

COACHING HISTORY — With her victory over Bryant on Nov. 29, 2008, 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 has 77 wins with the Big Red, sitting behind only former coach Marnie Dacko (1995-2002), who ranks first all-time in wins with 80.

FOR THE (ASSIST) RECORD – Lauren Benson set the school record for assists in a single game with 12 vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21, breaking a record that had been held by her and five other former Cornell players. Benson already owns the single season assist record (156 in 2007-08) and is just five helpers away from the Big Red career record.

SCORES A LOT – Cornell racked up 92 points vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 22. That is the highest point output by the Big Red during Coach Smith's tenure and is the most since Cornell scored 90 at Canisius in a two-point loss on Sept. 27, 1998.

HALFTIME HIGH – The Big Red registered 54 points in the opening half of play vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 22, the most points scored in a single half during Coach Smith's time at Cornell. The previous high of 50 points occurred vs. Yale on Feb. 20, 2008.

WELCOME HOME – For the first time since coming to East Hill, senior Lauren Benson returned to her home state as the Big Red traveled to Chicago, Ill., to take part in DePaul's Maggie Dixon Classic. Benson made the consolation game vs. Tennessee State a memorable one for her many fans in the stands, as she set the Cornell record for assists in a single game with 12.

DOUBLE-DIGIT ROOKIES – In the first games of their collegiate careers vs. Duquesne, both Clare Fitzpatrick and Taylor Flynn registered 11 points for the Big Red. The last time Cornell had two freshman reach double-digits in the same game came on March 3, 2006 vs. Harvard when Kayleen Fitzsimmons and Jeomi Maduka tallied 23 and 15 points, respectively.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM TIMES TWO – Allie Fedorowicz was named to the All-Tournament teams of both the Marriott Cavalier Classic and the Maggie Dixon Classic.

COME BACK KIDS – When Cornell beat Manhattan, 71-67, it marked the first and only time this season that the Big Red has come back to defeat an opponent after trailing at the half.

STUDYING THE OPPONENTS – With the victory over Manhattan on Dec. 19, Coach Smith's record following the annual Cornell two-week study break improved to 6-2 overall. Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is just 12-18 coming out of the study break.

FREE THROW FIENDS – The Big Red managed to defeat Manhattan, 71-67, on Dec. 19, despite the fact that Cornell did not hit a field goal for the final 6:54 of the game. A layup by Allie Munson put the Big Red up, 60-50, with 6:54 to play, but from there, Cornell's only scoring came at the foul line, where it converted 11-of-14 to hold on for the victory. During the stretch, Allie Fedorowicz came up big, scoring Cornell's final seven points as she went 7-for-8, including making three free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

SENIOR STORM – Cornell's three seniors – Lauren Benson, Allie Fedorowicz and Virginia McMunigal – all scored in double-digits vs. Colgate on Dec. 3. The last time the Big Red had three seniors score in double-digits came on March 5, 2004, when Tanya Karcic, Katie Romey and Lauren Kilduff did so in an 83-60 loss to Yale. Just two games later vs. Miami, the three seniors all scored double-digits again.

20 POINT PERFORMANCES – In its three straight games vs. Tennessee State, Albany and Colgate, Cornell had at least one player reach the 20-point plateau. The last time the Big Red had a stretch like that came during the 2005-06 season when Cornell had at least one player reach 20 points in four straight games. The streak began with Clare Perry (22 vs. Penn) on Jan. 13, 2006. The next night, Shannan Scarselletta (20 vs. Princeton) led Cornell. The streak concluded in back-to-back games vs. Columbia on Jan. 21 (Jeomi Maduka – 22 points) and Jan. 28 (Clare Perry – 23 points).

RAINING THREES – With her seven 3-pointers vs. IUPUI on Nov. 24, senior Virginia McMunigal etched her name in the Cornell record books, with the second-most 3-pointers in a single game for the Big Red. The record was set by Keri Farley, who connected on nine treys at Georgetown on Dec. 20, 1993. McMunigal joins Kayleen Fitzsimmons (vs. Harvard on March 3, 2006), as well as Suzy Onze (at Princeton on March 5, 1994 and vs. Brown Feb. 18, 1994), who have both registered seven 3-pointers in a game.

STANDING TALL – Standing at 6-4, sophomore Christine Vlasic is the tallest player in Cornell women's basketball history. Prior to Vlasic's arrival, the Big Red had three players that came in at 6-3 – Megan Fannon (2002-04), Christine McMillan (1997-2000) and Karen Lauster (1988-89).

SIX-FOOTERS – For just the second time in program history, the Big Red has seven players on its roster that stand 6-0 or taller. The only other time Cornell had seven six-footers was in 1999-2000.

BACK ON THE ATTACK – The Big Red returns 72.9% of its scoring from last season, including five of its top six scorers.

TOP HALF – With three top-four finishes in her seven seasons, head coach Dayna Smith has equaled the number of top-half finishes achieved by Cornell in the 20 years prior to her arrival.

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.

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.

FOR OPENERS – The Big Red owns a 17-22 all-time record in season openers. Coach Dayna Smith has posted a 1-7 record in season openers during her time with Cornell.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN – Seniors Lauren Benson, Allie Fedorowicz and Virginia McMunigal will serve as team captains for this season.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK – The Big Red added six players to this year's squad: Caitlin Costello (Levittown, N.Y.), Kristina Danielak (Georgetown, Texas), Clare Fitzpatrick (Southbury, Conn.), Taylor Flynn (Floral Park, N.Y.), Whitney Hagan (Atlanta, Ga.) and Spencer Lane (W. Bloomfield, Mich.). The class hails from five different states and consists of three guards and three forwards.

HI, MY NAME IS – Cornell has a new face on the bench, as Julious Coleman has joined the women's basketball staff as an assistant coach. Coleman came to the Big Red with nearly 15 years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, including stops at Northwest Nazarene, Boise State and Northern Arizona University. Before beginning his professional coaching career at Northwest Nazarene, Coleman spent three seasons as a graduate assistant at Kansas State. Prior to that, Coleman played at Point Loma Nazarene for three seasons, starting two, after spending one year at Pasadena City College.

AROUND THE WORLD – Each summer, Lauren Benson has done something to improve her game, and this summer was no different. The All-Ivy point guard kicked off her vacation by participating in a European tour with USA Athletes International. She was chosen for a team comprised of other Division I women's basketball players and traveled to Vienna, the Czech Republic, Southern Austria, and Italy to play seven games against foreign competition. Benson, who was recommended for the team by Coach Smith, teamed up with Angel Chan (Central Michigan), Sharonda Hurd (Central Michigan), Latisha Luckett (Central Michigan), Jence Rhoads (Vanderbilt), Bianca Smith (Colorado), Gaati Werema (Prairie View A&M), Breynna Winkler (Gardner-Webb) and Jordan Zuppe (IPFW).

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS — Cornell was chosen to finish tied with Yale for fifth-place in the Ivy League, according to the preseason media poll. Dartmouth was selected to finish first with 11-of-16 possible first-place votes (123 points total), with Harvard earning the other five to come in second with 115 points. Princeton was tabbed to finish third (86), edging out fourth-place Columbia by three votes. Yale was tied with the Big Red for fifth with 57 points, while Penn (36) and Brown (19) round out the poll.

THE 2008-09 SEASON – The Big Red closed the 2008-09 season with a fourth-place finish in the Ivy League after finishing the year with a 10-16 record overall and a mark of 6-8 in the conference. It marked the third straight season in which Cornell finished in the top half of the league.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE – Lauren Benson registered the first double-double of her career against Dartmouth on Feb. 27, 2009, doing it the hard way with 12 points and 10 assists to lead the Big Red. The last time a Big Red player registered a point-assist double-double came nearly 12 years prior when Kim Ruck scored 14 points and handed out 11 assists on Feb. 7, 1997 against Brown.

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY – Three members of the Big Red earned All-Ivy honors following the 2008-09 season, highlighted by Lauren Benson's second-team selection. Joining Benson was honorable mention selection Shannan Scarselletta '09 and All-Rookie team pick Allison Abt.

UP NEXT – Cornell stays at home next weekend as it welcomes Harvard and Dartmouth to Newman Arena on Friday, Feb. 19 and Saturday, Feb. 20, respectively. Both games are slated to tip-off at 7:00 p.m.