Box Score * Box Score (PDF)
* Kevin Mooney's Postgame Interview with head coach Dayna Smith
* Photo Gallery (photos by Patrick Shanahan)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's basketball team closed out its non-conference with a dominant effort on the backboards, controlling from the tip in a 60-40 victory over Ithaca College on Tuesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 6-9, while the Division III Bombers fell to 12-3.

Cornell scored the game's first 11 points and never looked back, leading by as many as 20 and never looking back. The Big Red outrebounded the Bombers by a dominant 52-30 margin, dished out 19 assists on 26 baskets, limited its opponent to 29 percent shooting overall and collected 13 steals in the victory.

Allyson DiMagno had 16 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year and was the lone double figurer scorer in an otherwise balanced attack. Shelby Lyman added nine points, Clare Fitzpatrick added eight points and nine rebounds and Taylor Flynn scored seven points and had three steals. Spencer Lane played a solid floor game with six points and a career-high 10 assists in directing the offensive effort.

Kathryn Campbell scored 15 points to lead Ithaca, while Mary Kate Tierney added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. No other player had more than six points, and the Ithaca bench was able to produce just one point and five rebounds in 45 minutes.

The Big Red jumped all over the Bombers from the tip, and though it missed its first four shots from the floor, finally broke through when Shelby Lyman came off a screen and hit a 15-foot jumper to break the ice less than two minutes in. That triggered a game-opening 11-0 run that Ithaca would never recover from. A DiMagno 3-pointer and a pair of layups by Fitzpatrick sandwiched around a fastbreak score by Lane essentially were the knockout punch. Mary Kate Tierney hit a rainbow runner at the 13:47 mark to finally get the crosstown visitors on the board.

Ithaca wouldn't be able to cut the deficit below eight the rest of the half, though the Bombers found their footing only to watch Cornell consistently limit them to one shot on the offensive end. A steal by Lyman triggered a fastbreak and DiMagno finished on the other end with six minutes to play before halftime, and freshman Marissa Rakestraw connected on a pair of jumpers from just inside the arc to extend the lead to 30-14 three minutes later. By the time the halftime buzzer went off, the Big Red had a solid 32-18 advantage.

Cornell assisted on 11 of its 14 baskets, with Lane picking up seven helpers, and the Big Red had nine team steals from eight different players. By themselves, DiMagno and Fitzpatrick, with 12 total rebounds, had as many as the entire Bombers' roster after 20 minutes.

DiMagno scored Cornell's first six points of the second half to make sure Ithaca didn't seize the momentum, and only briefly, during an 8-0 run midway through the half to cut an 18-point lead to 10 (47-37), did the game ever feel up for grabs. Lane hit an elbow jumper and then found DiMagno for a dagger 3-pointer that put away the Bombers, The lead never dipped below 13 again and the visitors were held to one point in the final eight minutes and scoreless for the final 4:20 as the Big Red cruised to its sixth non-conference win of the year.

Cornell returns to Ivy play on Saturday, Jan. 21 when it faces Columbia at 4:30 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.