Game Information
Cornell at Columbia
Tip Off: Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013; 4:30 p.m.
Location: Levien Gymnasium (New York, N.Y.)
Records: Cornell (9-6, 1-0 Ivy); Columbia (2-13, 0-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 40-23
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 68-54 (Jan. 19, 2013; Newman Arena)
Live Stats: GoColumbiaLions.com
Live Audio: None
Video Webcast: GoColumbiaLions.com

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red will look to earn a season sweep against Columbia when it travels to New York City this weekend to face the Lions in Levien Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4:30 p.m. A win would give Cornell back-to-back season sweeps over Columbia for the first time since the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. Cornell won the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 19, when it handed the Lions a 68-54 loss to improve to 9-6 on the year (1-0 Ivy). Columbia is 2-13 overall and 0-1 in conference play. 

ABOUT COLUMBIA: The Lions are currently riding a five-game losing streak after losing to Cornell last weekend, 68-54, to fall to 2-13 (0-1 Ivy) on the year.  Columbia is averaging 49 points per game and is shooting just 31 percent overall and a mere 25 percent from 3-point range. Ten different Lions have started at least one contest, with only Tyler Simpson and Courtney Bradford starting all 15 games. Simpson is leading the team with 10.0 points per game, and Bradford has a team best 5.9 rebounds per contest. While the Lions have had their share of struggles on offense, their defense has kept them in many contests as they are forcing 20.1 turnovers per game with 10.3 steals per contest. Columbia's opponents are averaging just 59.3 points per game and shooting 39 percent from the floor and 33 percent from beyond the arc.

THE SERIES VS. THE LIONS: 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 the teams have split the 10 meetings since. Despite the current turn, Cornell still holds a 40-23 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 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 14-12, but the Big Red has won the last four outings … Head coach Dayna Smith is 11-10 all-time vs. the Lions.

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA (Jan. 19, 2013 ~ Ithaca, N.Y.):
• The Big Red used an all-around great team effort to overcome a scrappy Columbia team and earn a 68-54 triumph in the Ivy League opener for both squads.
• Four Cornell players scored in double-figures, with Allyson DiMagno posting her seventh double-double of the season (15 points, 15 rebounds) and Clare Fitzpatrick scoring a game-high 18 points.
• Fitzpatrick, connected on 5-of-11 shots from the floor and knocked down 8-of-9 free throws for her 18 points, and chipped in six rebounds, two steals and two assists.
• Spencer Lane came up just short of posting a double-double with 13 points and nine assists to go along with six steals.
• Stephanie Long was also outstanding with 14 points, connecting on 4-of-5 3-pointers, and chipping in two steals, two assists and a career-high three blocks.
• Cornell shot a blistering 49 percent from the floor (26-of-53) and 46 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-13), and assisted on 20 of 26 shots.
• The Big Red also held the significant 44-27 edge in rebounds.
•The Lions forced the Big Red into 20 turnovers with 13 steals, but Cornell registered 13 steals of its own, with Columbia finishing with 15 turnovers.
• Columbia was led by Brittany Simmons and Tyler Simpson with 18 and 13 points, respectively.
• Simmons also had an impressive eight steals and finished with a team-high five rebounds.
• The Lions used some hot shooting in the first 20 minutes to hang with the Big Red, connecting on 44 percent overall and 50 percent from beyond the arc, but cooled significantly in the second stanza to finish at 37 percent overall.
•The Lions went 0-for-6 from 3-point range in the second half.
•The teams battled back and forth throughout the first half and Miwa Tachibana hit a deep trey, her third of the half, with three seconds remaining to send the teams into the intermission deadlocked at 37-37.
•Cornell scrapped its way to a four-point lead (46-42) early in the second half and consecutive treys from Long with just over 11 minutes to play pushed the Big Red to a 56-47 advantage sent all the momentum to the home team.

A CORNELL WIN OVER THE LIONS WOULD:
• improve the Big Red to 10-6 on the season and 2-0 in Ivy League play.
• snap a three-game losing skid in away games.
• give the Big Red back-to-back season sweeps against the Lions for the first time since 2005-06, 2006-07.
• make Cornell 41-23 all-time against Columbia.
• give the Big Red a five-game winning streak in the series.
• improve head coach Dayna Smith to 12-10 against the Lions.

IVY OPENERS: Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 16-15 record in conference openers. The Big Red snapped a four-game losing streak in Ivy openers when it defeated Columbia, 68-54, earlier this season, making Coach Dayna Smith's record 5-6 in the first game of Ancient Eight play. Cornell has faced the Lions more than any other team, opening the season against Columbia 15 times.

RECORD WATCH: Senior Clare Fitzpatrick is on pace to set the school record for games started in a career, needing just two more starts to surpass the all-time leader Lauren Benson (97 starts from 2006-10). Fitzpatrick currently sits in second place with 96 career starts.

TOP TEN ASSISTS: With her seven assists vs. Daemen College (N.Y.) on Jan. 13, Spencer Lane jumped into the top 10 in Cornell history for career assists. She currently has 228 assists and needs 17 more to surpass Mary LaMacchia (1992-96), who sits in ninth place.

TOP TEN BOARDS: Allyson DiMagno moved into 10th place in Cornell history for career rebounds after pulling down 15 against Columbia on Jan. 19. She currently has 543 and needs just four more to surpass Heidi Johnson (1992-96), who sits in 9th place.

MORE MILESTONES: Several Big Red players are on the verge of jumping into the top 10 in various Cornell career statistical categories. To move into the top 10, Clare Fitzpatrick needs just 62 more points, eight more field goals, five more rebounds and 131 more minutes. Taylor Flynn needs just four more 3-pointers to crack the top 10, while Kristina Danielak needs just two more blocked shots.

SURE SHOTS: Allyson DiMagno and Clare Fitzpatrick rank third and fourth, respectively in the Ivy League in field goal percentage, helping the Big Red to a .405 shooting percentage on the season.

BEST BOARDS: As of the national rankings on Jan. 13, Allyson DiMagno led the Ivy League and ranked 11th in the nation in rebounds per game (11.3).

IVY LEADERS: In addition to Allyson DiMagno leading the Ivy League in rebounding (11.3 rpg.), several Big Red players are ranked among the top 10 in various categories in the Ivy League, including:
*Allyson DiMagno – fifth in scoring (13.9 points per game)
*Clare Fitzpatrick – ninth in scoring (12.3 points per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – third in field goal percentage (.493)
*Clare Fitzpatrick – fourth in field goal percentage (.474)
* Spencer Lane – first in assists (3.9 assists per game)
* Stephanie Long – ninth in assists (2.5 assists per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – fourth in free throw percentage (.824)
*Clare Fitzpatrick – sixth in free throw percentage (.764)
*Allyson DiMagno – fifth in steals (1.8 steals per game)
* Spencer Lane – fifth in steals (1.8 steals per game)
*Shelby Lyman – sixth in 3-point field goals made (1.5 per game)
* Spencer Lane – first in assist/turnover ratio (1.4 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – first in offensive rebounds (3.9 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – first in defensive rebounds (7.4 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – third in minutes played (34.7 per game)
* Shelby Lyman – sixth in minutes played (30.7 per game)
* Spencer Lane – ninth in minutes played (30.3 per game)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Twice this season, Allyson DiMagno has been named the Ivy League co-Player of the Week, earning the honor on Dec. 3 and Jan. 21. DiMagno becomes the first Cornell women's basketball player to earn two Player of the Week honors since Jeomi Maduka won the award three times during the 2007-08 season.

HITTING 1,000/500: With her 15 points vs. Buffalo on Jan. 5, senior Clare Fitzpatrick became the 12th player in Cornell history to score 1,000 career points. She is also the seventh player in Cornell history, and second ever under head coach Dayna Smith, to register at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for her career. She hit the 500-rebound plateau with 12 boards against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Dec. 18. 

HELPING HAND: Cornell assisted on 24-of-30 shots vs. Daemen College. The 24 assists were the most in a game for the Big Red since recording 20 assists against Dartmouth on Jan. 28, 2011.

100 WINS AND COUNTING: Head Coach Dayna Smith is already the winningest coach in Cornell history, and she reached the 100-win mark for her career with the team's victory over Manhattan. She has since added to that and has 106 career coaching wins.

FIRST ACTION: Freshman Jen Wahleithner became the first member of the rookie class to see action this season, playing one minute in the Big Red's first game at Colgate. Since then, both other members of the class of 2016 – Allison Bockrath and Molly Meriggioli – have seen the court for the Big Red, with Bockrath getting her first playing action vs. Syracuse, while Meriggioli saw her first minutes vs. Buffalo. 

CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 27-of-70 games (39%) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 14-13 record.

BLOCKS A LOT: Senior Clare Fitzpatrick currently sits in ninth place in Cornell history for career blocks (57), having surpassed classmate Kristina Danielak, who is now sitting in 11th place with 52 blocks.

I'LL TAKE THAT: So far this season, Cornell has averaged 8.9 steals per game, up slightly from last year when the Big Red averaged 8.4 steals per game. Last season's total was the best team average since the 2001-02 team finished the year with 11.0 steals per game.

MAY I ASSIST YOU?: So far this season, the Big Red has assisted on 223-of-316 baskets (71%), which is up significantly from last year when Cornell had assists on 366-of-576 baskets (64%).

STARTING STREAK: Junior Allyson DiMagno has a 66-game starting streak, which is by far the longest current active streak on the team. Senior Spencer Lane's 45-game streak ranks second.

LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: So far this season, Cornell has held 10 of its 15 opponents to below 40 percent shooting from the floor. The Big Red closed the 2011-12 season by holding its opponents to 40 percent or below from the floor in 12 of its final 18 games.

100 THREES: For the past five seasons, Cornell has hit at least 100 3-pointers as a team, and is on pace to extend that streak this year. With an average of 4.9 3-pointers made per game, the Big Red should reach 136 by season's end. Cornell 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.

STUDYING THE OPPONENTS: Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 12-20 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a record of 7-4 in the first game back from exams … This season, the Big Red was edged by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 52-49 in its first game following the break.

FOR OPENERS: The Big Red is 18-24 all-time in season openers. Coach Dayna Smith improved her record to 2-9 in season openers after defeating Colgate, 69-65 on Nov. 11, 2012. It was the first season-opening victory since the 2004-05 campaign.

WHAT WAS LOST: The Big Red graduated two players from the 2011-12 squad – Maka Anyanwu and Allie Munson. A junior college transfer, Anyanwu earned two varsity letters and finished her senior season with 211 points (7.8 ppg.) and 118 rebounds (4.4 rpg.). Munson was a four-year letter winner for the Big Red and played in 93 career games (13.3 mpg.). She averaged 3.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game for her career and ranks 12th all-time in Cornell history for career blocked shots (42). 

WHAT REMAINS: Cornell returns four starters and nine letter winners from last season's squad. The Big Red returns 84% of its scoring (1,298-of-1,554 points) and 83% of its rebounding (813-of-975) from a year ago.

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

HOME SWEET HOME: The games against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and the University of Texas served as a home coming for Lone Star State natives Kristina Danielak (Georgetown, Texas) and Aspen Chandler (Dallas, Texas).

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Junior 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.

PRESEASON HONORS: Clare Fitzpatrick and Allyson DiMagno were both named to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-Ivy team, with Fitzpatrick earning first-team honors and DiMagno snagging a place on the second-team.

TICKLE THE (ALL) IVY: Clare Fitzpatrick and Allyson DiMagno were each named honorable mention All-Ivy League following the 2011-12 season. Fitzpatrick ranked 12th in the Ancient Eight in scoring (10.8 ppg.) and was fourth in rebounding (6.9 rpg.). She also ranked third in the circuit in blocked shots and registered five double-doubles. Her basket with less than four seconds to play helped down Brown. DiMagno was 13th in scoring (10.7 ppg.) and second in rebounding (7.3 rpg.). She also ranked 10th in the Ivy in assists and seventh in steals and was just outside the top 10 in blocked shots. Her basket with three seconds left pushed the Big Red over Fordham.

HI, MY NAME IS: Cornell has a new face on the bench for the 2012-13 season, as Daan de Heus joins the women's basketball staff as an assistant coach. A native of Eindhoven, The Netherlands, de Heus played for the Dutch national youth basketball teams before going on to serve as an assistant coach for the Netherlands at the 2009 high school basketball world championships, held in Istanbul, Turkey. He was also the head basketball coach of a variety of youth and senior basketball teams at Almonte, from 2005-2011, wining two championships at the U16 and U18 level.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red added three players to the 2012-13 squad: Allison Bockrath (Dayton, Ohio), Molly Meriggioli (Waunakee, Wisc.) and Jen Wahleithner (Highlands Ranch, Colo). The class of three come from three different states and consists of two guards and one forward.

UP NEXT: Cornell returns to Ithaca to play its first full Ivy League weekend as it welcomes Princeton and Penn to Newman Arena on Friday, Feb. 1 and Saturday, Feb. 2, respectively. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.