Boxscore

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell freshman Clare Fitzpatrick scored a career-high 24 points this evening to lead the Big Red women's basketball team to its first Ivy League win of the season over Penn, 59-52, in Newman Arena. In addition to her 24 points, Fitzpatrick also led the team with a game-high eight rebounds.

Outside of Fitzpatrick's offensive explosion, the Big Red got a balanced offensive attack from the rest of the team with Lauren Benson and Allie Fedorowicz both chipping eight points, while Taylor Flynn scored six. Benson handed out a game-high nine assists and grabbed six rebounds, while Fedorowicz had five assists and four rebounds.

Penn (1-19, 0-6 Ivy) was led by Jourdan Banks' 13 points and seven rebounds, while Sarah Bucar scored nine points and handed out five assists.

Cornell overcame a slow start by shooting 40.7 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from 3-point range in the second half to improve to 34.5 percent overall and 40 percent from beyond the arc for the game. The Quakers also improved their shooting in the second half to finish the game at 32.7 percent from the floor, but just 23.5 percent from 3-point range.

The Big Red held the significant advantage on the boards, 44-35, while both teams turned the ball over 14 times.

Neither team could manage much offense in the opening minutes of the game, as a 3-pointer by Sarah Bucar put Penn up, 5-2 at the 15:23 mark. Fitzpatrick answered on Cornell's next possession to cut the Quaker lead to one-point before a 3-pointer by Flynn put the Big Red up, 7-5, with 14:11 remaining in the half.

Penn used a 6-1 scoring run to take a three-point advantage, but a jumper by Fedorowicz and a layup by Fitzpatrick returned the one-point lead to the Big Red.

The Quakers pushed their lead back to three points on a jumper by Banks and a pair of free throws from Caitlin Slover, to make it a 17-14 game with 6:54 to play in the half. Neither team would score again for nearly three minutes but back-to-back layups from Whitney Hagan and Fitzpatrick gave Cornell the 18-17 advantage at the 3:49 mark.

Penn outscored the Big Red, 4-2 over the closing minutes to take the slim 21-20 advantage into the intermission.

A jumper by Slover in the opening seconds of the second half put the Quakers up, 23-20, but six straight points by Cornell put the Big Red up, 26-23, with 15:26 to play. The six points came off a free throw by Fitzpatrick, a jumper by Virginia McMunigal and a trey by Flynn.

Three straight free throws by Kim Adams tied the game for the fourth time and a 3-pointer from Sara Ely gave the visitors a three-point advantage. The lead was short-lived, however, as a trey by Benson knotted the score at 29-29 with 12:50 to play.

The Quakers pushed their lead back to five, scoring on their next two possessions, but back-to-back treys by Fedorowicz and Benson restored the 35-34 lead to Cornell.

The teams exchanged leads again before a free throw by Allie Munson tied the game for the sixth and final time, as the Big Red opened an 11-4 run to take a 50-42 lead with 4:45 to play. Cornell eventually pushed its lead to double-digits, 54-44, on a jumper by Fitzpatrick with 2:58 showing on the clock.

The Quakers turned up the defensive pressure and cut the Big Red's lead to just three points, 55-52, with 1:07 to play, but Cornell made its free throws down the stretch to take the 59-52 victory.

Cornell (6-14, 1-6 Ivy) is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 13, as it plays host to Princeton at Newman Arena at 7 p.m.