* Game Notes (PDF)

GAME 17: Cornell vs. Dartmouth
TIP OFF: Friday, Jan. 28, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Dartmouth leads, 52-11
LAST MEETING: Dartmouth won, 64-61 (Feb.20, 2010)
2010-11 RECORDS: Cornell (4-12, 1-1 Ivy), Harvard (4-11, 0-1 Ivy)
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com

GAME 18: Cornell vs. Harvard
TIP OFF: Saturday, Jan. 29, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Harvard leads, 53-11
LAST MEETING: Harvard won, 74-53 (Feb. 19, 2010)
2010-11 RECORDS: Cornell (4-12, 1-1 Ivy), Harvard (9-6, 1-0 Ivy)*
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com

* records prior to Friday night's contests

THE MATCHUPS – Coming off its first Ivy League win of the season, the Big Red women's basketball team 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. Cornell defeated Columbia last weekend to improve to 4-12 on the year and 1-1 in the Ivy League. The Big Green is currently riding a two-game losing streak, but was idle last weekend, after losing to Harvard in its Ivy League opener to fall to 4-11 on the season. The Crimson is on a three-game winning streak, including a non-conference victory at Seattle last weekend to improve to 9-6 on the year.

THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH – Cornell's rivalry with Dartmouth began in the 1976-77 season when the Big Red squeaked out a 50-49 victory, but the Big Green has dominated ever since. Dartmouth holds the advantage in the all-time series, 52-11, but had an 11-game winning streak ended during the 2007-08 season when the Big Red earned a 50-43 victory at Newman Arena. Dartmouth responded by winning the next meeting, 46-44, at Leede Arena before Cornell won the Ivy League playoff game against the Big Green two weekends later to earn the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. The teams split the series in 2008-09 but Dartmouth pulled out two nail biters last season. The last three match-ups have been incredibly close, with a 3.3 average margin of victory.

SCOUTING THE BIG GREEN – Dartmouth (4-11, 0-1) suffered a set-back when its best player, Brittany Smith, suffered a season-ending injury. Smith was leading the team with 13.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Leading the team in her absence is sophomore guard Faziah Steen with 10.7 points per game. Cassie Cooper and Janelle Ross are each averaging a team-high 5.9 rebounds per game, while Sasha Dosenko is a stopper in the lane with 2.0 blocks per game.

LAST TIME VS. DARTMOUTH – Virginia McMunigal had 19 points and Taylor Flynn added 12, but the Big Red dropped a heartbreaking 64-61 contest to visiting Dartmouth. With Dartmouth leading by five late in the second half, McMunigal hit a jumper and Clare Fitzpatrick put back her own miss with seven seconds left, cutting the deficit to just one, 62-61. Cornell's Lauren Benson fouled Dartmouth's Margaret Smith on the inbounds play, sending Smith to the line, where she hit both ends of a one-and-one, putting the Big Green back up by three, 64-61. Cornell had two chances to knot the game, but couldn't get off a shot. For Dartmouth, Margaret Smith and Brittney Smith tied for team high honors with 14 points apiece, while Sasha Dosenko and Faziah Steen both had 10 points, with Dosenko leading all Big Green players with 10 boards. The Big Green shot 39 percent from the floor for the game and 33 percent from three-point range. Cornell also got eight points apiece from Fitzpatrick, Allie Munson and Kristina Danielak, with Munson pulling down 12 rebounds. Lauren Benson added 11 assists on the night for the Big Red, which shot 45 percent from the field and 53 percent from beyond the arc.

THE SERIES VS. HARVARD – The Big Red first played Harvard in the 1974-75 season with Cornell winning the contest, 36-20, but from there, the Crimson has controlled the series, leading the Big Red 53-11, including a perfect 31-0 in contests against Cornell played in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red snapped a seven-game skid to the Crimson in the first meeting of the 2007-08 season with an 85-61 victory at Newman Arena, but have dropped the past five contests to Harvard.

SCOUTING THE CRIMSON – Harvard (9-6, 1-0) has an extremely balanced scoring attack with four players averaging double-figures. Junior guard Brogan Berry leads the way with 14.5 points per game, while sophomore guard Victoria Lippert and senior forward Emma Markley are each averaging 12.9 points per game. Rounding out the double-digit scorers is freshman guard Christine Clark with 11.3 points per game. Markley also leads the team with 5.9 rebounds per game, while Berry is averaging 4.3 assists per contest.

LAST TIME VS. HARVARD – Taylor Flynn had a game-high 25 points, but the Big Red fell to Harvard, 74-53 at Newman Arena. Flynn was the only scorer in double figures for the Big Red on the night. Lauren Benson was second with seven points, with Allie Fedorowicz and Spencer Lane both adding five points. Clare Fitzpatrick had a team-high seven rebounds to go along with a pair of points. For Harvard, Victoria Lippert had 20 points and 10 rebounds, with Emma Markley adding 10 points and eight boards. Jackie Alemany nearly had a double-double of her own with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT –
• The Big Red 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, last weekend at Newman Arena.
• With the win, Cornell 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.
• Fitzpatrick scored the final four points of the game for the Big Red and stole Columbia's in-bounds pass with .6 seconds to play to seal the victory.
• Allyson DiMagno tallied 13 points, while both Kristina Danielak and Stephanie Long finished with 10 points.
• 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.
•One week after being dominated on the boards, the Big Red turned that effort around and held the 40-37 edge on the glass.

HELLO OLD FRIEND – A pair of Big Red teammates, Spencer Lane and Joelle Davidson, will each see a pair of former high school teammates this weekend. Lane was classmates at Detroit Country Day School with Dartmouth's Faziah Steen and Harvard's Emma Golen, while Davidson attended St. John's College High School with the Big Green's Nicola Zimmer and the Crimson's Marissa Brock.

CLOSE CALLS – The Big Red has been very successful in close games this season, posting a 4-1 record in games decided by eight points or less.

PRESSURE FREE THROWS – Cornell has seen its free throw percentage improve significantly at the end of close games. Overall on the season, the Big Red is connecting on just 64.8 percent of its free throws. However, in the final five minutes of games decided by 10 or fewer points, Cornell has shot 71 percent (24-of-34) from the foul line. Even more impressive is that in the final two minutes of games decided by 10 or fewer points, the Big Red has shot 76 percent (16-of-21) from the charity stripe.

GOOD RIDDANCE 2010, HELLO 2011 – After going 1-9 through the first two months of the season, including an 0-4 record in December, the Big Red has posted a 3-3 record since its victory over Ithaca College on New Year's Day.

20 POINT PERFORMANCE – Freshman Stephanie Long became the first Big Red player this season to rack up 20 points as she registered a career-high against Columbia on Jan. 15.

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 nine games since, the Big Red has started the same line-up in each contest.

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-10 games and has averaged 17.9 turnovers per game.

OFFENSIVE BOARDS – Freshman guard Allyson DiMagno has a knack for coming up with offensive boards, with an impressive 41 percent of her rebounds (33-of-81) coming on the offensive glass.

A LONG SHOT – Stephanie Long is leading the Big Red in 3-pointers made (1.5 per game) and is also the team's most consistent threat from beyond the arc, connecting on .375 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 29.2 minutes per game and ranks fourth on the team in points (8.3) and second overall in rebounds (5.3) per game.

SUDDEN IMPACT – Three of the Big Red's top five scorers so far this season are freshmen. Rookie Stephanie Long ranks second on the team with 8.7 points per game, while Allyson DiMagno (8.2) and Shelby Lyman (4.5) are third and fifth overall, respectively.

I'LL TAKE THAT – The Big Red is averaging 7.3 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 206-of-308 baskets (66.9 percent). That is just down 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 29 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 11-straight starts.

BLOCK PARTY – The Big Red is averaging 2.6 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 sophomores Kristina Danielak and Clare Fitzpatrick, with 11 and 10 blocks, respectively. 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 8-of-16 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 8-of-16 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.

CLEAR THE BENCH – In 7-of-16 games this season, Coach Smith has used all seven members of the Big Red bench.

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 … On Dec. 19 against Canisius, freshman Stephanie Long also played a full 40 minutes.

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.

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.

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.

IVY OPENERS – Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 15-14 record in conference openers. The Big Red has lost its last three Ivy openers against Columbia, making coach Dayna Smith's record 4-5 in the first game of Ancient Eight play. Cornell has faced the Lions more than any other team, opening the season against Columbia 13 times.

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 wraps up its five-game homestand next weekend as it welcomes Yale and Brown to Newman Arena on Friday, Feb. 4, and Saturday, Feb. 5, respectively. Both games are slated to tip-off at 7 p.m.