Game Notes (PDF)

GAME INFORMATION
GAME #16: Cornell at Columbia
TIP OFF: Saturday, Jan. 21, at 4:30 p.m. (New York, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 37-23
LAST MEETING: Cornell, 53-50 (1/22/11)
2011-12 RECORDS: Cornell (6-9, 0-1 Ivy), Columbia (2-13, 0-1 Ivy)
LIVE AUDIO: None
LIVE STATS: www.GoColumbiaLions.com
LIVE VIDEO: www. GoColumbiaLions.com
 
THE MATCHUP: The Cornell women's basketball team will look to even its Ivy League record when it visits Columbia on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4:30 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium. The Big Red and the Lions will each be looking for their first Ancient Eight wins of the season when the two teams meet in the first game of a doubleheader that will also include the men's teams squaring off at 7 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at www.GoColumbiaLions.com.
 
THE SERIES VS. COLUMBIA: Cornell's rivalry with Columbia began in the 1975-76 season when the team represented Barnard College (the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was organized in 1984-85, at which time the team began playing under the name Columbia). The Big Red had a five-game winning streak vs. the Lions snapped during the 2007-08 season at Levien Gym and Columbia has won five of the last seven meetings since. Despite the current turn, Cornell still holds a 37-23 record in the all-time series, thanks largely to the fact that it dominated the series throughout the `90s. The teams met 20 times from 1990-91 to 1999-2000, with the Cornell winning 17 of those meetings, including 12 straight from 1993 to 2000. Since the 2000-01 season, Columbia holds the slight edge in the series at 14-9.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS: Columbia enters this weekend's Ivy League matchup with its travel partner sporting a 2-13 overall record (0-1 Ivy) after dropping a 94-35 contest at Princeton on Jan. 15. The loss, Columbia's third straight after a 77-74 win over Bryant to close out 2011, was the third by the team of 20 points or more this year. Melissa Shafer is the team's lone double figure scorer at 11.0 ppg. Amara Mbionwu paces the Lions in rebounding at 6.4 rpg., while Taylor Ball is the leader in assists (3.0). Columbia is shooting just 33 percent from the field overall and 26 percent from 3-point range and is being outrebounded by -5.5. Opponents have jumped out quickly against Columbia, outscoring the Lions by 8.7 points in the first half. Seventh-year head coach Paul Nixon has had Columbia in the top half of the Ivy League four straight years and is the school's all-time winningest coach in women's basketball.
 
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?:
• 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 at Newman Arena.
• Cornell scored the game's first 11 points and never looked back, leading by as many as 20.
• 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, five rebounds and five assists, 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.
 
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: Eleven of Cornell's 15 games so far this season have come against teams that the Big Red faced last year – Longwood, Colgate, Eastern Michigan, Cleveland State, Binghamton, Bucknell, Manhattan, Canisius,South Dakota, Princeton and Ithaca. In addition to going 4-7 against those opponents this year, as opposed to the 2-9 record it posted last year, the Big Red also increased its points per game (55.4/51.0), scoring margin (-4.7/-12.5), shooting percentage (.375/.360), 3-point shooting percentage (.265/.264), free throw percentage (.710/.661), rebounds (38.0/33.9), blocks (3.5/2.9) and steals (8.4/6.7). Cornell also dramatically reduced its turnovers (17.0/20.0) while significantly cutting opponents' scoring (60.1/63.5), field goal percentage (.384/.407) and 3-point field goal percentage (.358/.380).  
 
BIG WINS: So far this season, the Big Red has defeated three opponents – Cleveland State, Bucknell and Ithaca – by 20 points. The last time Cornell beat at least three 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-15 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 41 for her career … Juniors Kristina Danielak tied Munson for 10th on the list with her two blocks against Ithaca, while Clare Fitzpatrick is hovering just outside the top 10 with 40.
 
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 8.5 steals per game.
 
HELPING HAND: So far this season, Cornell has assists on 201-of-305 baskets (65.9 percent).
 
STARTING STREAK: Clare Fitzpatrick has started the last 56 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 38 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, ALMOST TO 700/400: 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. Since then, Fitzpatrick has moved to the brink of joining the 700/400 club with her 715 points and 396 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.
 
LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: Cornell's opponents have shot under 40 percent from the floor in four of the last five games and nine times in 15 contests this season. Big Red opponents are shooting just 38 percent from the floor for the season.
 
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 12 of the team's 15 games and has averaged 15.8 assists per game (63 assists on 84 baskets, 75 percent) over the last four contests. The Big Red has 18 or more assists in three of its last four contests.
 
IVY OPENERS: Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 15-15 record in conference openers. The Big Red has lost its last three Ivy openers against Columbia and this year's to Princeton, making coach Dayna Smith's record 4-6 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 4.5 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: The Big Red remains on the road to face Penn on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 1 p.m. at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.