Box Score Box Score

NEW YORK – A 10-2 scoring run in the early moments of the second half gave Columbia control of what had been an otherwise evenly matched contest, as the Lions defeated the Cornell women's basketball team, 61-54, at Levien Gym in the Ivy League opener for both teams. The rematch will happen next weekend at Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 22 as the two teams complete the home-and-home series.

Cornell (3-12) was led by freshman Stephanie Long's career-high 20 points, while Maka Anyanwu came off the bench and finished with 10 points and four rebounds. Sophomore forwards Clare Fitzpatrick and Kristina Danielak ended with nine and eight points, respectively, and five rebounds apiece. Fitzpatrick also tallied three steals and Danielak chipped in three blocks.

Columbia (1-13) was led by Brianna Orlich's game-high 21 points, while Kathleen Barry finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double. Courtney Bradford and Lauren Dwyer pulled down 10 and seven boards, respectively, as the Lions held the commanding 50-33 edge in rebounds.

The Big Red had an uncharacteristically poor shooting day, connecting on just 29 percent from the field (20-of-68), but stayed in the game thanks 23 Columbia turnovers, more than half of which (12) came off Cornell steals, giving the Big Red 17 points. Conversely, the visitors committed a season-low 10 turnovers, which accounted for just four Lions' points.

Columbia finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field and 47 percent from beyond the arc.

After a game-opening jumper from Danielak, the Lions reeled off eight unanswered points to go up, 8-2, at the 14:30 mark. Four straight free throws, two each from Anyanwu and Allyson DiMagno got the Big Red back into the game.

Orlich answered with a trey to put the home team up by five points, but a 10-2 run put the Big Red up, 16-13, with just over nine minutes remaining in the opening half. All 10 points came from Anyanwu and Long, with Long connecting on back-to-back treys.

A fastbreak layup from Taylor Ball ended the Cornell spurt and a pair of free throws from Barry put Columbia up, 17-16. Fitzpatrick answered with a layup to put the Big Red back up by one-point, but four unanswered points gave the Lions a 21-18 advantage.

Anyanwu ended the run with a hard-fought layup and Long connected on a deep trey on Cornell's next possession to put the visitors up, 23-21, with just under three minutes showing on the clock.

Columbia tied the game moments later with a layup from Dwyer and a basket from Barry with 22 seconds remaining sent the Lions into the intermission with the 25-23 lead.

The second half began as a defensive struggle before a 10-foot jumper by Long knotted the score at 25-25. Barry answered with a trey, but Anyanwu fought her way to the basket for a layup on Cornell's next possession. Orlich accounted for the next five points of the game, opening a 10-2 run that put the Lions up, 37-29, with just under 14 minutes to play.

The Big Red fought back and an elbow jumper from Long as the shot clock expired and a 3-pointer from Shelby Lyman from the left corner made it a 37-34 contest.

An offensive putback by Orlich opened another 8-2 scoring run to put her team up by double-digits, 46-36, with 8:27 to play. Moments later, the Big Red nearly erased the lead as Fitzpatrick and Danielak combined for seven points, with Fitzpatrick hitting two free throws and converting a traditional three-point play to make it a 46-43 game.

Columbia extended its lead back to 10 points with just over two minutes to play and made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to account for the 61-54 final.