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Coach Smith Postgame Interview

ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a game where neither team led by more than two possessions, it was the little things that counted. Junior Kristina Danielak's putback basket with 29 seconds left, the last of 22 offensive rebounds for the Big Red, keyed Cornell's 59-56 win over Colgate on Tuesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 1-2 on the year, while Colgate slipped to 0-2.

Danielak rebounded Shelby Lyman's missed 3-pointer, wheeled around and banked in a basket to turn a 56-55 deficit into a one-point lead. The offensive rebound, Cornell's 22nd of the evening, helped the Big Red overcome 31 percent shooting overall, including 25 percent from 3-point range, and 17 turnovers. Stephanie Long calmly sank a pair of free throws after the Big Red's ensuing defensive stand, then watched as Colgate missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final five seconds to collect its first win of the year.

Allyson DiMagno led the Big Red with 13 points and added eight rebounds, while Maka Anyanwu finished a rebound short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The senior added three steals. Both Shelby Lyman and Stephanie Long also had nine points apiece.

Colgate's Jhazmine Lynch led all scorers with 17 points and added eight rebounds, four steals and three assists. Tricia Oakes had 11 points and eight rebounds and Mariah Jones scored 10 points. The Raiders blocked seven shots and shot only 35 percent themselves. Colgate, which entered the game shooting 58 percent from 3-point range after hitting 11 treys in the opener, missed eight of its nine shots from beyond the arc for just 11 percent, and also shot itself in the foot by going 7-of-13 from the charity stripe.

DiMagno hit a pair of jumpers in the final 2:30, including tying the game at 53-53 and again at 55-55. The visitors briefly took a lead when Lynch hit the second of two free throws with 1:21 left, but set up Danielak's heroics late.

In a game that featured 11 ties and five lead changes, neither squad could get much going in the first 20 minutes as both teams languished around the 20 percent field goal mark. Oakes had nine points for Colgate, but the Big Red's scrappiness on the offensive from Anyanwu and Clare Fitzpatrick, who tallied five offensive rebounds in the half, kept the home team in the game.

The second half was played with much better flow, with Lynch nearly singlehandedly keeping the visitors in the contest with 15 points. Cornell immediately responded to every Colgate run, including when the Raiders went up a game-high six points (41-35) with just under 11 minutes to play on a layup by Carole Harris. Long hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit in half, then Flitzpatrick got loose for a layup to make it 41-40. A Long free throw tied the game up.

As Colgate tired, Cornell got revved up. Consecutive run-out baskets by DiMagno and Fitzpatrick in a span of 23 seconds gave the Big Red a 48-45 lead with 6:31 to play. Prior to the fastbreak hoops, Cornell had led for just eight seconds in the contest. That lead would go back and forth, with the Raiders answering Cornell's run with an 8-0 one of its own to go up 53-48 with less than four minutes to go. Two straight offensive rebounds, the second a putback by Anyanwu with the foul, got Cornell within 53-51 after the senior's free throw and set up the final scoring by DiMagno, Danielak and Long as Cornell celebrated the win.

The Big Red returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22 against New Hampshire at 7 p.m. at Newman Arena in Bartels Hall.