* Game Notes (PDF)

GAME 14: Cornell at Columbia
TIP OFF: Saturday, Jan. 15, at 4:30 p.m. (New York, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 36-22
LAST MEETING: Columbia won, 68-47 (Jan. 23, 2010)
2010-11 RECORDS: Cornell (3-11, 0-0 Ivy), Columbia (0-13, 0-0 Ivy)
LIVE AUDIO: GoColumbiaLions.com
LIVE STATS: GoColumbiaLions.com
LIVE VIDEO: GoColumbiaLions.com

THE MATCHUP – After winning just one of its first 10 games of the season, the Big Red women's basketball team has won two of its last four outings to improve to 3-11 on the year. This weekend, Cornell will look to carry that momentum into Ivy League play as it travels to New York City to seek its first road win of the season at Columbia. The Lions are winless at 0-13, but will look to build on its current two-game winning-streak against Cornell when it welcomes the Big Red to Levien Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 15 at 4:30 p.m.

IVY OPENERS – Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 15-13 record in conference openers. The Big Red has lost its last two Ivy openers against Columbia, evening head coach Dayna Smith's record at 4-4 in the first game of Ancient Eight play. Cornell has faced the Lions more than any other team, opening the season against Columbia 12 times.

THE SERIES VS. COLUMBIA – Cornell's rivalry with Columbia began in the 1975-76 season when the team represented Barnard College (the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was organized in 1984-85, at which time the team began playing under the name Columbia). The Big Red had a five-game winning streak vs. the Lions snapped during the 2007-08 season at Levien Gym and Columbia has won four of the last five meetings since. Despite the current turn, Cornell still holds a 36-22 record in the all-time series, thanks largely to the fact that it dominated the series throughout the `90s. The teams met 20 times from 1990-91 to 1999-2000, with the Cornell winning 17 of those meetings, including 12 straight from 1993 to 2000. Since the 2000-01 season, Columbia holds the slight edge in the series at 12-9.

SCOUTING THE LIONS – Columbia (0-13) has yet to win a game this season, but had its closest contest of the year in its last outing, falling to Lafayette, 64-63 on Jan. 5. The senior duo of Kathleen Barry and Lauren Dwyer is leading the Lions in both scoring and rebounding, with Barry posting 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while Dwyer is registering 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per outing. Falling just short of double-digits is freshman guard Brianna Orlich with 9.4 points per game.

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA – The Big Red fell to Columbia, 68-47, on Jan. 23, 2010 at Levien Gym in New York City. The Big Red was led by Clare Fitzpatrick's then-career-high 14-point performance. Additionally, Fitzpatrick tallied four rebounds and handed out one assist, while Lauren Benson chipped in nine points and had two assists. Allie Munson had a team-high six rebounds, as Allie Fedorowicz blocked three shots. Columbia (11-5, 2-0) was led by Judie Lomax, who posted a 30-point, 17-rebound double-double. Also in double-digits for the Lions was Melissa Shafer, with 12 points. The Big Red struggled offensively, shooting just 26.1 percent from the floor and going a mere 1-for-11 from 3-point range for a season-low 9.1 percent performance. The Lions, on the other hand, shot a blistering 45.6 percent overall and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. Both teams had 38 rebounds, but Columbia forced 30 Big Red turnovers with 15 steals. The Lions turned the ball over 24 times on the day.

A WIN AGAINST THE LIONS WOULD –
• give the Big Red its first road win of the season.
• snap a two-game skid against the Lions.
• improve Coach Smith to 5-4 in Ivy League openers.
• give Cornell a 37-22 advantage in the all-time series.

LAST TIME OUT –
• Cornell closed out non-conference play with a 69-65 victory over Longwood on Jan. 9 at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
• Freshman Allyson DiMagno scored a career-high 15 points and added a team-high nine rebounds, including a put-back bucket with eight seconds remaining to register the game-winner.
• Four Big Red players – Allyson DiMagno, Kristina Danielak, Clare Fitzpatrick and Stephanie Long – scored in double figures.
• The forward duo of Kristina Danielak (13 points, seven rebounds) and Clare Fitzpatrick (14 points) combined to hit 11-of-13 shots from the floor in combining for 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
• Cornell held a decisive 37-28 advantage on the glass to help overcome 26 turnovers.
• The Big Red shot a season-high 48.9 percent from the floor, connecting on 23-of-47 attempts.

TURNOVER TURN AROUND – Through the first six games of the season, the Big Red had turned the ball over more than 20 times in 5-of-6 games and averaged 23.3 turnovers per game. Since, Cornell has had more than 20 turnovers in just 2-of-8 games and has averaged 18.8 turnovers per game.

STARTING STABILITY – With so many new players on the roster, the Cornell starting line-up saw some fluctuation early on, resulting in four different sets of starters in the first seven games. In the seven games since, the Big Red has started the same line-up in each contest.

OFFENSIVE BOARDS – Freshman guard Allyson DiMagno has a knack for coming up with offensive boards, with an impressive 39 percent of her rebounds (28-of-72) coming on the offensive glass.

A LONG SHOT – Stephanie Long is leading the Big Red in 3-pointers made (1.4 per game) and is also the team's most consistent threat from beyond the arc, connecting on .358 percent of her attempts.

DANIELAK RISING – Through the first seven games of the season, Kristina Danielak was averaging just 7.6 minutes per game and ranked 10th on the team with 1.0 points per game, while registering 1.4 rebounds per game. Since moving into the starting lineup after the study break, she has averaged 28.6 minutes per game and ranks fourth on the team in points (8.1) and first overall in rebounds (5.6) per game.

SUDDEN IMPACT – Three of the Big Red's top five scorers so far this season are freshmen. Rookie Allyson DiMagno ranks second on the team with 8.1 points per game, while Stephanie Long (7.8) and Shelby Lyman (4.8) third and fifth, respectively.

I'LL TAKE THAT – The Big Red is averaging 7.0 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 184-of-266 baskets (69.1 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.

STARTING STREAK – Clare Fitzpatrick has started the last 27 games for the Big Red, dating back to Jan. 29, 2010. That is by far the longest current active streak on the team, surpassing freshman Allyson DiMagno's nine-straight starts.

BLOCK PARTY – The Big Red is averaging 2.5 blocks per game, putting the squad on pace to finish in the top-10 in program history for blocks in a single season. Leading the charge is sophomore Clare Fitzpatrick, who has already doubled her block total from a season ago with nine. Of the 12 players on the roster, eight have registered at least one block, with six tallying three or more.

FITZPATRICK LEADING THE WAY – Sophomore forward Clare Fitzpatrick has led the Big Red in scoring in 7-of-14 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 in 7-of-14 games.

COACHING HISTORY — With the victory over Ithaca, head coach Dayna Smith became the all-time winningest head coach in Cornell women's basketball history with her 81st career win. Smith surpassed Marnie Dacko (1995-2002) to take the record.

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 percent of the roster. That makes Cornell the youngest team in the Ivy League by percentage with Brown (73 percent) and Columbia (70 percent) 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.

CLEAR THE BENCH – In 7-of-14 games this season, Coach Smith has used all seven members of the Big Red bench.

DANIELAK DOUBLE-DOUBLE – Kristina Danielak had a career day against Ithaca College, registering a career-high 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Big Red to a 58-55 victory.

RING IN THE NEW YEAR – The win over Ithaca on Jan. 1 gave the Big Red a victory to ring in the New Year for the first time in three seasons.

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.

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 – Cornell returns to Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 22 to complete the home-and-home series with the Lions. The game will be part of a double header, as the Big Red men's basketball team will also face Columbia. The women's game will tip-off at 2 p.m., with the men's game beginning at 4:30 p.m.