Box Score
Photo Gallery (Darl Zehr)
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Big Red women's basketball team opened up a nine-point lead early in the second half and held off a late comeback by Columbia, including a wild final second, to defeat the Lions, 53-51, this afternoon at Newman Arena. Cornell avenged last weekend's loss to Columbia and improved to 4-12 on the year and 1-1 in the Ivy League.
Clare Fitzpatrick posted her second double-double of the season with a 14-point, 11-rebound performance. The sophomore forward also added three assists, one block and one steal. Her frontcourt companions Kristina Danielak finished with 10 points and four rebounds, while freshmen guards Allyson DiMagno and Stephanie Long tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively. Long also led the team with four assists.
Columbia (2-14, 1-1) had just two players in double-figures, led by Kathleen Barry (14) and Taylor Ward (12). Barry also posted a double-double with a game-high 15 rebounds, while Ward had six steals.
Cornell shot 41.5 percent for the game, including a mark of 55 percent in the crucial second half, while holding the Lions to just 33.9 percent from the field. Columbia finished the game shooting 23.8 percent from beyond the arc, while the Big Red connected on just 20 percent.
One week after being dominated on the boards, the Big Red turned that effort around and held the 40-37 edge on the glass. Cornell did have more turnovers, however, with 19 to Columbia's 16.
"I'm proud of our effort today," said head coach Dayna Smith. "We battled for every posession and it showed. We have a very young team, but we weren't overwhelmed by the moment and we'll take that and build on it. If anything, today's game showed that if we play with toughness we can win games."
After going into the intermission tied, 25-25, the Big Red opened the second half on an 11-2 run, thanks in large part to six points by the frontcourt pair of Fitzpatrick and Danielak. That lead proved to be the largest of the game for either team and over the next nine minutes, Columbia erased the advantage, using a trey from Ward to go up by one, 43-42.
DiMagno answered with a 3-pointer of her own on Cornell's next possession and back-to-back layups from Danielak extended the Big Red's lead back to 49-43.
A pair of made free throws by Barry made it a one-point game with 1:02 to play, setting up a wild finish, which included missed free throws, turnovers and two instances in which the buzzer sounded signifying the end of the game, only to see time put back on the clock.
The final minute began with Fitzpatrick missing the front end of a one-and-one, but Columbia could not capitalize as Brianna Orlich turned the ball over.
On the ensuing possession, still holding the lead, Cornell tried to run the clock down but missed the shot. Thankfully, Long pulled down the crucial offensive board. The buzzer sounded, but officials huddled at the TV monitors and determined that Long was fouled with .8 seconds on the clock.
Long also missed the front end of a one-and-one and Melissa Shafer grabbed the rebound and called time out with .6 to play.
The Lions inbounded the ball looking for a miracle, but Fitzpatrick broke up the pass. The buzzer sounded, but once again, the Big Red's celebration would have to wait, as officials determined that she was fouled by Orlich with.6 still to play.
Fitzpatrick stepped to the line and sank both and then stole Orich's ensuing inbounds pass to finally end the game.
The Big Red trailed by as many as five points late in the first half, but used a pair of buckets in the final minute, including a three-point play by Long, to send the game into the break tied 25-25. Despite allowing just 33 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes and not allowing a Big Red 3-pointer, the Lions could never pull away from the home team. Cornell's eight offensive rebounds proved key to a 9-2 advantage in second chance points.
Fitzpatrick led the way in the first half with eight points and four rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. Long added five points, two rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes and DiMagno also notched four points. Cornell entered halftime with a 22-18 edge on the backboards and turned the Lions over 12 times. Columbia, meanwhile, got six points and eight rebounds from Barry and six points and three boards from Courtney Bradford.
Cornell continues its five-game homestand next weekend as it welcomes Dartmouth and Harvard to Newman Arena on Friday, Jan. 28, and Saturday, Jan. 29, respectively. Both games are slated to tip-off at 7 p.m.
