Game Notes in PDF Format

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #14: Princeton at Cornell
TIP OFF: Friday, Jan. 13, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Princeton leads, 42-20
LAST MEETING: Princeton, 71-44 (2/25/11)
2011-12 RECORDS: Princeton (11-4, 1-0 Ivy), Cornell (5-8, 0-0 Ivy)
LIVE AUDIO: www.RLMSports.net
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com

GAME #15: Ithaca College at Cornell
TIP OFF: Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 7:00 p.m. (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Ithaca College leads, 11-9
LAST MEETING: Cornell, 58-55 (1/1/11)
2011-12 RECORDS: Ithaca College (12-)*, Cornell (5-9)
LIVE AUDIO: www.RLMSports.net
LIVE STATS: www.CornellBigRed.com
LIVE VIDEO: www.CornellBigRed.com

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team will open up Ivy League play and close out its non-conference slate over the next week against teams that have combined to go 21-6. Cornell will visit two-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton on Friday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m., before returning home to meet crosstown rival Ithaca College on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at www.CornellBigRed.com, while audio will be available at rlmsports.net.
 
THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: The Cornell and Princeton series has been one of the more competitive Ivy League matchups in recent years, with the Tigers holding the slim 12-10 lead since the 2000-01 season. The series began in 1974-75 with a 51-33 Princeton victory, but the teams wouldn't meet again until the 1979-80 season. The schools have met every year since 1979-80, and the Tigers hold the edge in the all-time series, 42-20. Coach Dayna Smith is 7-11 vs. Princeton.
 
THE SERIES VS. ITHACA: In just the third-ever game in the history of the Cornell women's basketball program, the Big Red took on Ithaca College and dropped a 44-42 squeaker. The Bombers went on to win the next 10 contests before Cornell took its first win with a decisive 61-37 victory during the 1982-83 season. The Big Red has cut Ithaca's lead in the series to 11-9 by winning the last nine games in the series, including a 58-55 victory in 2010-11.
 
CORNELL VS. THE EMPIRE 8:  Cornell is 18-25 all-time vs. the current members of the Empire 8, but has played only three games vs. a member of the conference since the 1987-88 season, all of which were against Ithaca. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Hartwick (9-6), but has a losing mark against Ithaca (9-11), Nazareth (0-3), St. John Fisher (0-1) and Utica (0-4). Cornell has never faced Alfred, Elmira or RIT in women's basketball.
 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS: Two-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton made a statement in opening Ancient Eight play with a convincing 83-48 road win at Penn last weekend. The Tigers, who are 28-1 in conference play over the last three seasons and 61-12 overall, feature junior forward Niveen Rasheed (17.1 ppg., 8.9 rpg., 3.0 apg., 2.3) and senior guard Lauren Edwards (10.5 ppg., 4.2 rpg.,1.7 spg.). Additionally, senior Devona Allgood (9.4 ppg., 6.0 rpg.) is closing in on double figures. The Tigers are 7-2 away from Jadwin Gymnasium in large part due to its dominance on the backboards (+7.0). Head coach Courtney Banghart's team was picked to finish first again in the Ancient Eight preseason media poll.
 
SCOUTING THE BOMBERS: Ithaca College ranks among the top Division III programs in the country and are 10-2 prior to league games against Hartwick (Jan. 13) and Stevens (Jan. 14). The Bombers opened the year 6-0 and haven't looked back, outscoring opponents by nearly 16 points per contest. Ithaca shoots 41 percent from the floor as a team while limiting opponents to 34 percent shooting and outrebounds its foes by nearly eight per game. Sophomore Kathryn Campbell paces three double figure scorers at 14.1 ppg., while junior Devin Shea (11.7 ppg.) and sophomore Jenn Escobido (11.7 ppg.), as well as senior Jessica Farley (9.6 ppg.), also play a big role in the team's balanced offense. Head coach Dan Raymond is in his 12th season as head coach of the Bombers and is the school's all-time winningest coach in women's basketball.
 
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?:
• South Dakota shot 55 percent from the floor as a team to help the Coyotes to a 79-56 victory over Cornell on Jan. 9 at the DakotaDome.
• Clare Fitzpatrick had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Allyson DiMagno notched 15 points and seven rebounds to lead the Big Red.
• Kristina Danielak hit 4-of-6 shots for eight points and added four rebounds and four assists, while Taylor Flynn scored seven and had three steals.
• The Big Red turned the ball over a season-low 10 times.
• The Coyotes were led by Amber Hegge's 22 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead four double figure scorers.
• McKayla Knudson and Annie Roche had 11 points, with Tempestt Wilson chipping in 10 points.
• Alexis Yackley had eight points, eight assists and four rebounds against the Coyotes.
• USD made 32-of-58 shots from the floor and connected on 8-of-19 from beyond the 3-point arc.
• The home team gradually and methodically built the lead into double figures in the first half and essentially sealed the game by opening the second half with a 7-0 run.
 
BIG SHOT: Sophomore Allyson DiMagno hit the game-winning shot with three seconds to play against Fordham, handing the Big Red the 40-39 victory.
 
BIG BOARDS: Clare Fitzpatrick grabbed 15 rebounds against Fordham on Jan. 2, becoming the first Big Red player to pull down 15 boards since Jeomi Maduka did so against Binghamton on Jan. 7, 2008, a span of 107 games.
 
SMALL WIN: The Big Red defeated Fordham, 40-39, on Jan. 2. The 40 points are the lowest scored by Cornell in a victory under head coach Dayna Smith. The previous mark was set during a 41-36 victory over Brown on Feb. 24, 2007 … The last time the Big Red won a game despite scoring 40 or fewer points came in a 36-20 victory over Radcliff during the 1974-75 season.
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Nine of Cornell's 13 games so far this season have come against teams that the Big Red faced last year – Colgate, Longwood, Eastern Michigan, Cleveland State, Binghamton, Bucknell, Manhattan, Canisius and South Dakota. In addition to going 3-6 against those opponents this year, as opposed to the 1-8 record it posted last year, the Big Red also increased its points per game (57.1/51.9), scoring margin (-4.8/-13.0), shooting percentage (.383/.365), 3-point shooting percentage (.279/.256), free throw percentage (.713/.656), rebounds (38.0/33.6) and blocks (3.4/3.0). Cornell also dramatically reduced its turnovers (16.9/20.9) while significantly cutting opponents' scoring (61.9/64.9), field goal percentage (.396/.411) and 3-point field goal percentage (.364/.373).  
 
BIG WINS – So far this season, the Big Red has defeated a pair of opponents – Cleveland State and Bucknell – by 20 points. The last time Cornell beat at least two opponents by 20 points came during the 2007-08 season when the Big Red won five games by at least 20 points.
 
PRESSURE FREE THROWS – Cornell is shooting 69.0 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 80.0 percent (8-of-10) from the foul line and 2-of-3 (66.6) 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 5-of-13 games decided by eight points or less and sporting a record of 2-3 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 … Juniors Kristina Danielak and Clare Fitzpatrick are hovering just outside the top 10 with 39 each.
 
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 7.8 steals per game.
 
HELPING HAND: So far this season, Cornell has assists on 174-of-267 baskets (65.2 percent).
 
STARTING STREAK: Clare Fitzpatrick has started the last 54 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 36 straight starts ranking second.
 
IVY HONORS – After one of its most impressive wins of the season against Bucknell, a pair of Big Red players were honored with freshman Marissa Rakestraw earning Co-Ivy League Rookie of the Week honors by the conference office, while Clare Fitzpatrick was named the College Sports Madness Ivy Player of the Week.
 
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 7-3 in the first game back from exams.
 
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 had registered a steal in each of the Big Red's first seven games of the 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.
 
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.
 
MORE ASSISTS: Cornell has recorded double figures in team assists in 11 of the team's 13 games and has averaged 18.0 assists per game (36 assists on 46 baskets, 78 percent) over the last two contests.
 
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.
 
FIRST MINUTES: Freshman Sarah Poland has seen action in seven-of-13 games this season, averaging 4.7 minutes of action. Sarah Talamantes saw her first collegiate playing time at Cleveland State on Nov. 27, while Marissa Rackstraw and Tyler Kim both saw the first minutes of their careers vs. Bucknell.
 
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: All but two 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.
 
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: Cornell returns to action when it visits Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.