Game Notes in PDF Format

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #8: Cornell vs. Bucknell
TIP OFF: Sunday, Dec. 18, at 1:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Bucknell leads, 16-4
LAST MEETING: Bucknell won, 54-45, on Dec. 30, 2010 (Lewisburg, Pa.)
2011-12 RECORDS: Cornell (2-5), Bucknell (2-8)
LIVE AUDIO: www.RLMsports.net
LIVE STATS:  www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com

THE MATCHUP: After at two-week study break for exams, the Big Red women's basketball team will return to action as it plays host to Bucknell at Newman Arena on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. Live stats and live video, with play-by-play provided by RLM Sports, will be available at www.CornellBigRed.com.

THE SERIES VS. BUCKNELL: Cornell and Bucknell have faced off 20 times in the history of the two women's basketball programs, with the Bison holding the series advantage, 16-4. The two teams first met in the 1981-82 season with Bucknell taking the 68-58 victory, the first of a series record six-straight wins. All four of the Big Red's victories (1991-92, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2007-08) have come at Newman Arena, as the Bison lead just 5-4 in Ithaca. Head coach Dayna Smith is 2-6 vs. Bucknell.

SCOUTING THE BISON: After beating St. Peter's in its season-opener, Bucknell went on to lose eight consecutive games before beating Fordham, 49-39, in its last outing on Dec. 6.  The Bison have struggled offensively, averaging just 51.1 points per game, but have used some stingy defense to stay in contests, allowing just 55.1 ppg. Amy Zehner leads the team with 11.1 points per game, but has only played in seven contests this season. Shelby Romine has put up 9.3 ppg, while Lindsay Horbatuck is leading the squad with 8.3 rebounds per contest. 

LAST TIME VS. THE BUCKNELL: The Big Red erased a nine-point halftime deficit and took a late lead, but could not hold on as it fell to Bucknell, 54-45, on Dec. 30, 2010 at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa. The Big Red took a one-point lead with just over five minutes to play, but the Bison closed the game on a 10-0 run to deny Cornell the victory. The duo of Clare Fitzpatrick and Kristina Danielak each finished with 11 points and five rebounds while Stephanie Long and Taylor Flynn finished with six points apiece. Allyson DiMagno ended the game with a team-high six rebounds. Bucknell was led by Rachel Voss' 13 points, while Joyce Novacek finished with a game-high 12 rebounds. Shelby Romine and Taylor Phillips chipped in nine and eight points, respectively. After a slow start, Cornell improved its shooting significantly in the second half to finish at 31 percent overall, while the Bison shot 34.4 percent for the game. Both teams finished with an identical 3-of-16 performance from beyond the arc (18.8 percent). Cornell forced 22 Bucknell turnovers with 12 steals, including three each from Fitzpatrick and Shelby Lyman, while turning the ball over just 16 times. The Big Red also shared the ball particularly well, assisting on 15-of-18 baskets.

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Cornell is 37-52 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League. The Big Red owns the advantage in the series with Lafayette (8-7) and Colgate (17-15) but holds a losing mark against American (1-2), Army (5-6), Bucknell (4-16), Lehigh (2-4) and Navy (0-2). Holy Cross is the only member of the Patriot League that Cornell has never faced in women's basketball ... Coach Smith's record vs. the conference stands at 12-13 after defeating Colgate earlier this season.

A CORNELL WIN WOULD:
• improve the Big Red's record to 3-5.
• snap a three game skid against the Bison.
• give the Big Red two straight victories over Patriot League teams (Colgate on Nov. 15).
• even Coach Smith's record at 13-13 against the Patriot League.
• make Coach Smith 7-3 in the first game following the Cornell study break.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?:
• Binghamton held off Cornell's second half charge en route to a 61-48 win on Nov. 30 at Newman Arena.
• The Bearcats controlled the backboards in the first half to build a 15-point lead, watched the Big Red get back within three midway through the second half, then pulled away late to pick up the victory.
• Clare Fitzpatrick had 14 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots to lead Cornell.
• Shelby Lyman notched 11 points.
• Allyson DiMagno had seven points and a season-high 11 rebounds.
• Cornell shot just 30 percent for the game and 19 percent (3-of-16) from beyond the arc.
• Viive Rebane had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the visitors.
• Jasbriell Swain chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds, while Andrea Holmes notched 10 points for BU.

STUDYING THE OPPONENTS – Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 12-19 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a record of 6-3 in the first game back from exams.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Five of Cornell's seven games so far this season have come against teams that the Big Red faced last year – Colgate, Longwood, Eastern Michigan, Cleveland State and Binghamton. In addition to going 2-3 against those opponents this year, as opposed to the 1-4 record it posted last year, the Big Red also increased its points per game (59.8/53.4), scoring margin (+0.2/-11.8), shooting percentage (.383/.366), free throw percentage (.747/.696), rebounds (40.6/35.0), assists (13.0/12.2), steals (7.4/7.0) and blocks (3.4/2.8). Cornell also dramatically reduced its turnovers (16.6/21.8) while significantly cutting opponents' field goal percentage (.363/.413) and 3-point field goal percentage (.284/.354).  

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 seven 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 registered double-digit points in the Big Red's first five games this season, extending her streak to 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.

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. Senior Maka Anyanwu has also shown great decision making, shooting 51.9% on the season (27-52).

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.

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.

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-7 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. So far this season, Cornell is averaging 7.6 steals per game.

HELPING HAND: So far this season, Cornell has assists on 93-of-149 baskets (62.4 percent).

STARTING STREAK: Clare Fitzpatrick has started the last 48 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 30 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.

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 opens up a six-game road stand later this week when it travels to Riverdale, N.Y., to take on MAAC foe Manhattan on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m.