Game Notes in PDF Format

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #7: Cornell vs. Binghamton
TIP OFF: Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Binghamton leads, 7-4
LAST MEETING: Binghamton won, 65-55, on Jan. 3, 2011 (Binghamton, N.Y.)
2011-12 RECORDS: Cornell (2-4), Cleveland State (3-2)
LIVE AUDIO: www.RLMsports.net
LIVE STATS:  www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com

THE MATCHUP: After travelling to Ohio and blowing out Cleveland State on Nov. 27, the Big Red women's basketball team will play its final game before the two-week study break as it plays host to instate rival Binghamton at Newman Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. Live stats and live video, with play-by-play provided by RLM Sports, will be available at www.CornellBigRed.

THE SERIES VS. BINGHAMTON: Cornell and Binghamton have met 11 times in women's basketball history with the Bearcats winning the last three outings to take the 7-4 advantage in the series. The Big Red won the first two meetings, which occurred in the late 1970's, when the Binghamton squad played on the Division III level. Cornell renewed its rivalry with the Bearcats during the 2001-02 campaign, the same season that Binghamton transitioned to Division I status. The Bearcats won that meeting, 66-61, and defeated the Big Red again the following season, 66-48, but Cornell reclaimed the edge in the series history with a 50-43 victory during the 2004-05 season. Binghamton took the temporary lead in the series with two straight victories during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, before Cornell evened the series at 4-4 during the 2007-08 campaign.

SCOUTING THE BEARCATS: Binghamton opened the year with back-to-back wins, but has dropped two of its last three outings, including its last game at Syracuse, to fall to 3-2 on the season. BU was picked to finish fourth in the America East preseason poll, while first-team all-league selection Andrea Holmes was named to the preseason all-conference team. The Bearcats are led by Orla O'Reilly, who is averaging 17.0 points per game, while Viive Rebane and Holmes are chipping in 13.0 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. While that trio is accounting for an impressive 41.4 points per game, the rest of the Bearcats are combining for an average of just 16.6 points per game. Rebane also has a team-high 9.2 rebounds per contest, while Holmes is handing out a team-best 3.4 assists per game.

LAST TIME VS. THE BINGHAMTON: Binghamton used a 15-3 run to close the first half and open the second half of play, blowing open what had been a two-point game, as it rallied for a 65-55 victory over the Big Red at the Events Center in Binghamton, N.Y. Clare Fitzpatrick and Allyson DiMagno led Cornell with 18 and 13 points, respectively. Fitzpatrick also tallied a team-high six rebounds to go along with two steals and one block, while DiMagno grabbed four rebounds and handed out two assists. Stephanie Long also had a solid game with five points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and one blocked shot. Binghamton was led by Andrea Holmes' 19 points. Jasbriell Swainn had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Vive Rebane (12) and Jackie Ward (10) both scored in double figures. Kara Elofson pulled down 12 rebounds as the Bearcats held the significant 47-32 edge on the boards. In the end, Binghamton's 3-point shooting was the difference, as the Bearcats hit 8-of-20, as opposed to Cornell's 3-of-12 performance from beyond the arc.

CORNELL VS. THE AMERICAN EAST: Cornell slipped to 15-19 all-time vs. the current members of the America East Conference, after dropping a 63-62 heartbreaker on a buzzer-beater against New Hampshire last week. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Albany (5-1) and UMBC (2-0), while its series record with Stony Brook (1-1) is tied. Cornell holds a losing mark vs. Binghamton (4-7), Maine (0-1), New Hampshire (0-3) and Vermont (3-6), but has never faced Boston University or Hartford ... Coach Smith is 4-9 all-time vs. the America East.

A CORNELL WIN WOULD:
• improve the Big Red's record to 3-4.
• snap a three game skid against the Bearcats.
• cut Binghamton's lead to 7-5 in the all-time series.
• end a five-game losing streak to America East teams, dating back to a 50-46 victory over Albany on Nov. 19, 2008.
• improve Coach Smith to 5-9 against the America East.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?:
• After seeing its last three contests come down to the final possession of the game, the Big Red had an offensive explosion, defeating Cleveland State, 79-59, on Nov. 27.
• Clare Fitzpatrick led Cornell with team highs in points (19) and rebounds (9). She also added three blocked shots and one steal to the cause.
• Maka Anyanwu and Taylor Flynn both chipped in 11 points apiece, with Anyanwu grabbing six rebounds and Flynn handing out three assists.
• For the first time this season, Allyson DiMagno didn't reach double-digits, but the sophomore guard had a solid game overall, finishing with seven points, seven rebounds and four steals.
• Cleveland State, which returns four starters from last season's team that went 21-12, was led by Destinee Blue's 26 points, while Sholanda Winton and Tamika Keane finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
• The rest of the Vikings combined for just eight points.
• Blue also tallied a team-high nine rebounds, while Winton collected seven, helping CSU to a slim 38-36 advantage on the boards.
• The Big Red shot a blistering 53.7 percent from the floor (29-54) and 54.5 percent from 3-point range (6-11).
• Cornell held the Vikings to 33.8 percent overall (23-68) and just 20.8 percent from beyond the arc (5-24).
• In a game that saw similar numbers across the board in points in the paint, points off turnovers and second chance points, the big difference came in Cornell's favor with points off the bench (28-4) and fast break points (8-2).
• A back-and-fourth contest was broken open when the Big Red closed the first half with a 13-5 run to take the 29-21 lead into the intermission.
• During that span, Fitzpatrick accounted for eight of Cornell's 13 points.
• The Big Red led by at least nine points throughout the second half as it rolled to the 79-59 final.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Four of Cornell's six games so far this season have come against teams that the Big Red faced last year – Colgate, Longwood, Eastern Michigan and Cleveland State. In addition to going 2-2 against those opponents this year, as opposed to the 1-3 record it posted last year, the Big Red also increased its points per game (62.8/53.0), scoring margin (+3.5/-12.2), shooting percentage (.403/.363), 3-point field goal percentage (.264/.246), free throw percentage (.761/.722), rebounds (41.0/35.8), assists (13.8/12.8), steals (8.0/7.3) and blocks (3.5/2.8). Cornell also dramatically reduced its turnovers (17.3/24.5) while significantly cutting opponents' field goal percentage (.359/.414) and 3-point field goal percentage (.262/.342).  

NOTING THE CLEVELAND STATE GAME: Cornell's 79-59 victory over Cleveland State was significant for the Big Red offense. It was the first time Cornell has scored at least 70 points since defeating Tennessee State on Nov. 21, 2009. It was also the first time the Big Red has shot 50 percent from the floor, or registered 50 points in a half since that game against Tennessee State. Finally, it was the first time Cornell defeated a team by 20 points since beating Ithaca College on Nov. 15, 2009. 

FITZPATRICK JOINS 600/300 CLUB: With her 19 points against Cleveland State, Clare Fitzpatrick surpassed the 600-point plateau for her career. In the game prior to that, against Eastern Michigan, the junior forward pulled down her 300th career rebound. She becomes the 26th player in Cornell history, and the 11th under Head Coach Dayna Smith, to record at least 600 points and 300 rebounds.

LYMAN STEAL STREAK: Shelby Lyman has registered a steal in each of the Big Red's six games so far this season. That is the longest streak by any Cornell player since Lyman came up with at least one steal in seven consecutive games last year from Jan. 6 through Feb. 4. Prior to Lyman, Allie Fedorowicz '10 registered a steal in eight straight games from Dec. 29, 2009 to Feb. 5, 2010.

LAST POSSESSION: From Nov. 15 to Nov. 25, Cornell played in three games that came down to the final possession of the game, with the Big Red defeating Colgate (59-56) before falling to New Hampshire (62-63) and Eastern Michigan (52-54). The last time Cornell played three games in a row that were decided by the final possession was during the 1996-97 season when the Big Red lost to Brown (63-65) before closing out the season with victories against Penn (65-63) and Princeton (58-57).

DOUBLE-DIGIT STREAK: Sophomore Allyson DiMagno had registered double-digit points in the Big Red's last seven games, dating back to the final two games of the 2010-11 season before scoring just seven points in Cornell's victory over Cleveland State. Prior to DiMagno, Clare Fitzpatrick was the last Cornell player to score 10+ points in seven consecutive games, doing so during her rookie year in 2009-10.

HOME SWEET HOME: The game vs. Cleveland State was a homecoming for rookie Sarah Poland, who is a native of Valley View, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. She played seven minutes, blocked one shot and handed out one assist.

SELECTIVE SHOOTER: Junior Kristina Danielak hasn't taken many shots this year, but she's made the ones she's taken count, going 12-of-17 for a team high 71 percentage ... Over the last three games, senior Maka Anyanwu has also shown great decision making, shooting 64% (16-of-25) against New Hampshire, Eastern Michigan and Cleveland State.

SHARP SHOOTERS: The Big Red hit 46 percent from the floor (23-50) against New Hampshire, its best shooting percentage since last season when it connected on 48.9 percent against Longwood on Jan. 9, 2011. Cornell followed that up with a 53.7 performance (29-54) from the floor at Cleveland State, as well as a mark of 54.5 (6-11) from 3-point range against the Vikings.

CAREER ASSISTS: A pair of Cornellians tallied a career-high in assists against New Hampshire with Spencer Lane handing out six helpers, while Allyson DiMagno registered five assists.

PRESSURE FREE THROWS – Cornell is shooting 71.0 percent from the foul line for the season, but that number is helped dramatically by the fact that the Big Red is nearly perfect from the charity stripe at the end of close games. In the final five minutes of games decided by 10 or fewer points, Cornell has hit 88.8 percent (8-of-9) from the foul line and is a perfect 2-of-2 in the final two minutes of games decided by 10 or fewer points.

CLOSE CALLS: The Big Red was in many close games during the 2010-11 season, with more than one-third of its contests being decided by eight points or less. In those games, Cornell posted a 5-5 record. So far this year the trend of close games has continued with the Big Red seeing 4-of-6 games decided by eight points or less and sporting a record of 1-3 in those games.

BLOCKS A LOT: With her block against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 27, senior Allie Munson moved into Cornell's all-time blocks leader list with 40 for her career … Junior Kristina Danielak is hovering just outside the top 10 with 37 blocks during her career.

I'LL TAKE THAT: Last year, the Big Red averaged 6.3 steals per game. That was the best average since the 2007-08 team registered 6.8 steals per game. Through the first six games of the 2011-12 season, Cornell is averaging 8.0 steals per game.

HELPING HAND: So far this season, Cornell has assists on 83-of-132 baskets (62.8 percent).

STARTING STREAK: Clare Fitzpatrick has started the last 47 games for the Big Red, dating back to Jan. 29, 2010. That is by far the longest current active streak on the team, with sophomore Allyson DiMagno's 29 straight starts ranking second.

FIRST MINUTES: Freshman Sarah Poland has seen action in five-of-six games this season, averaging 5.6 minutes of action, while Sarah Talamantes saw her first collegiate playing time at Cleveland State on Nov. 27.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: All but one of Cornell's victories since the beginning of the 2010-11 season have come at Newman Arena.

HOME OPENER VICTORY: Cornell's 59-56 win over Colgate on Nov. 15 gave the Big Red a victory in its home opener for the first time since beating Albany, 50-46, on Nov. 19, 2008.

FOR OPENERS: With its loss to William & Mary to start the season, the Big Red fell to 17-24 all-time in season openers. Coach Dayna Smith has posted a 1-9 record in season openers during her time with Cornell.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: Sophomore Shelby Lyman saw her consecutive free throw streak come to an end in the season opener against William & Mary. Lyman hit all 14 of her free throw attempts last season but missed her first attempt against the Tribe to end the streak. 

COACHING HISTORY: With the victory over Ithaca on Jan. 1, 2011, 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.

100 THREES: For the fourth straight season, Cornell reached the century mark for 3-pointers, with 121 during the 2010-11 campaign. The Big Red has registered at least 100 3-pointers in all but one season under head coach Dayna Smith, with the 2006-07 squad coming up just short with 98 treys.

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.

UMPQUA COMMUNITY CONNECTION: Junior college transfer Maka Anyanwu came to the Big Red last year 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.

BASKETBALL PEDIGREE: Sophomore Stephanie Long isn't the only member of her family to play collegiate basketball. Her father Dennis played basketball for three seasons at UConn.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Sophomore 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 plays football for the University of Wisconsin and her grandfather Wayne Long ran track and field in college.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red adds five players to the 2011-12 squad: Christine Kline (Staten Island, N.Y.), Tyler Kim (Los Angeles, Calif.), Sarah Poland (Valley View, Ohio), Marissa Rakestraw (Beaverton, Ore.) and Sarah Talamantes (Broomfield, Colo.). The class of five players comes from five different states and consists of two forwards and three guards.

HI, MY NAME IS: Cornell has two new faces on the bench for the 2011-12 season, as Kharmen Wingard and Katie Schlein join the women's basketball staff as an assistant coaches. Wingard comes to East Hill after four seasons as the assistant men's basketball coach at nearby Cortland, while Schlein spent the past season working as the assistant director of women's basketball operations at the University of Denver. While with the Red Dragons, Wingard helped Cortland to a 59-50 record overall (38-30 SUNYAC) and two consecutive SUNYAC semifinal games, as well as a trip to the ECAC finals in 2007-08. He played collegiately at Gannon University and Daemen College. While at Daemen, he earned first-team All-American Mideast Conference (AMC) honors as a sophomore and second team All-AMC honors as a junior and senior. He graduated seventh in career scoring and second in career three-point field goals and helped lead the Wildcats to an appearance in the NAIA Division II elite eight game during his sophomore season.  At Denver, Schlein's responsibilities included coordinating all the recruiting technology and film exchange, while also managing the operations of the Super Hoopers Kids Club. In her one season with Denver, the Pioneers finished with a 19-12 record overall and 11-5 mark in the Sun Belt Conference to finish second in the West Division and earned a bid to the WNIT, Denver's first post-season berth since 2000-01. Schlein lettered in basketball and softball at Claremont McKenna College, helping the Athenas' women's basketball team to a SCIAC tournament appearance during her senior season and helping the softball team to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and an SCIAC title.

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY: Clare Fitzpatrick was named All-Ivy honorable mention following the 2010-11 season. She led Cornell and ranked 12th in the conference in scoring (11.4 ppg.) and was second overall on the team and 14th in the league in rebounding (5.2 rpg.). She also averaged 1.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game and finished with 17 blocks on the season. In 28 games, she scored in double-digits 20 times. She was the Big Red's leading scorer in 15 games and grabbed a team-high in rebounds in nine contests. Fitzpatrick was also the model of consistency as the only player on the team to start every game last season.

UP NEXT: The Big Red enters the annual two-week study break and won't return to action until Sunday, Dec. 18, when it welcomes Bucknell to Newman Arena for a contest at 1 p.m.