Dartmouth at Cornell
Tip Off: Friday, March 8, 2013; 7:00 p.m.
Location: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Records: Cornell (12-14, 4-8 Ivy); Dartmouth (6-20, 4-8 Ivy)
Series Record: Dartmouth leads, 54-14
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 53-45 (March 9, 2013; Leede Arena)
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Audio: www.rlmsports.net
Video Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com

Harvard at Cornell
Tip Off: Saturday, March 9, 2013; 7:00 p.m.
Location: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Records: Cornell (12-14, 4-8 Ivy); Harvard (17-8, 8-3 Ivy)
Series Record: Harvard leads, 58-11
Last Meeting: Harvard won (OT), 69-60 (Feb. 10, 2013; Lavaties Pavilion)
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Audio: www.rlmsports.net
Video Webcast: www.CornellBigRed.com

Game Notes (PDF)

THE MATCHUP: Cornell will tip-off in its final home games of the season and honor its four seniors – Kristina Danielak, Clare Fitzpatrick, Taylor Flynn and Spencer Lane – as it plays host to Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9, respectively. Both games will begin at 7 p.m., with Saturday's Senior Night acknowledgements slated to begin at approximately 6:45 p.m.

THE SERIES VS. DARTMOUTH: Cornell's rivalry with Dartmouth began in the 1976-77 season when the Big Red squeaked out a 50-49 victory, but the Big Green has dominated ever since. Dartmouth holds the advantage in the all-time series, 53-14, but had an 11-game winning streak ended during the 2007-08 season when the Big Red earned a 50-43 victory at Newman Arena. Since that time, the two teams have been even, with the series tied at 6-6- over the past 12 meetings, with five of those games being decided by four or fewer points.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE BIG GREEN:
• It took nearly a month to make up the game at Dartmouth that had been postponed due to winter storm Nemo, but for the Big Red it was worth the wait as Cornell stormed back from a six-point half time deficit to defeat the Big Green 53-45 at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H.
• Allyson DiMagno had a huge game for Cornell as the junior accounted for more than half of the Big Red's points with a 27-point, 10-rebound double-double.
• The career-high 27 points came on an 8-for-12 performance from the floor, including going 3-for-4 from 3-point range, while knocking down 8-of-9 free throws.
• Shelby Lyman also chipped in 11 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Clare Fitzpatrick finished the game with seven points and four rebounds to go along with a block and a steal.
• Spencer Lane was also solid with six assists, six rebounds and two steals, including a crucial one with 1:27 to play that led to a fastbreak layup on the other end to put the Big Red up by seven points.
• Dartmouth  was led by Faziah Steen and Abbey Schmitt with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
• Lakin Roland (11) and Kamala Thompson (10) accounted for half of the Big Green's rebounds as the home team held a slim advantage on the boards (42-40).
• The two teams shot the ball at a nearly identical pace, with Cornell hitting 32 percent overall (19-59) and the Big Green converging 36 percent (19-53).
• The Big Red was at 24 percent from beyond the arc (5-21), while Dartmouth shot 22 percent (4-18). Both teams were just around 50 percent from the free throw line, but Cornell had more opportunities, hitting 10-of-19, as opposed to the Big Green's 3-of-6 performance.
• The Big Red also forced Dartmouth into 17 turnovers, while the visitors turned the ball over a season-low 10 times.
• Trailing 25-19 at the intermission, The Big Red opened the second half on a 9-2 run, with five points coming from DiMagno and two each from Lyman and Fitzpatrick, to put the visitors on top, 28-27.
• A trey by Steen put Dartmouth back up by two points, but back-to-back traditional three-point plays from DiMagno returned the lead to Cornell, 34-30, with 15:38 to play.
• A 6-0 run returned the lead to the home team (36-34) but DiMagno answered once again with a trey to put Cornell up, 37-36 at the 10:40 mark.
• Dartmouth regained the lead on a pair of made free throws by Steen and then slowly pushed its lead to five points once more on a jumper by Nicola Zimmer with 4:34 to play.
• A left-handed finger-roll layup from Lyman opened up what proved to be the decisive run, as the Big Red scored 10 unanswered points, which included back-to-back 3-pointers from DiMagno and Allison Bockrath.

THE SERIES VS. HARVARD: The Big Red first played Harvard in the 1974-75 season with Cornell winning the contest, 36-20, but from there, the Crimson has controlled the series, leading the Big Red 58-11, including a perfect 33-0 in contests against Cornell played in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red snapped a seven-game skid to the Crimson in the first meeting of the 2007-08 season with an 85-61 victory at Newman Arena, but have dropped the past 10 contests to Harvard, including an overtime heartbreaker earlier this season.

LAST TIME AGAINST THE CRIMSON:
• After sitting in a hotel in Cambridge for three evenings waiting to play its game at Harvard, the Big Red decided to make the most of it, erasing a 10-point deficit over the final 9:02 of the contest to force overtime.
• Harvard jumped out to a quick five-point lead in the opening moments of the extra session and never looked back en route to a 69-60 victory at Lavietes Pavilion.
• Cornell  was led by a trio of players in double-figures, including Allyson DiMagno who led the visitors with a 20-point, 14 rebound double-double while playing all 45 minutes.
• Clare Fitzpatrick was also outstanding, connecting on 6-of-8 baskets and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe for 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.
•Stephanie Long finished with 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.
• Harvard  was led by Victoria Lippert's 19 points, while Christine Clark added 15 points and nine rebounds.
• Temi Fagbenle chipped in 12 points and six rebounds in the victory.
• The Crimson shot 39 percent from the floor but was held to just 17 percent from 3-point range, while Cornell hit 38 percent overall and 21 percent from beyond the arc.
• Harvard outrebounded the visitors 42-36, despite Cornell's outstanding performance on the boards over the final 25 minutes as it outrebounded the Crimson, 24-22.
• Both teams turned the ball over 17 times with Cornell coming up with nine steals.
• Clarke hit a single free-throw and Lippert scored four consecutive points late in the second half to push the Crimson's lead to 10 points (47-37) but Fitzpatrick registered five straight points, including an impressive one-handed put-back while being fouled, to make it a 47-42 game.
• DiMagno then wrapped up a 9-2 run to bring the visitors within three points, 49-46, with 5:50 to play.
• Fagbenle ended the Cornell run but a deep trey by Shelby Lyman made it a 51-49 game with 2:32 to play and with just over two minutes to play, DiMagno knotted the game at 51-51 with a baseline jumper.
• Clarke handed the home team the lead with a layup at the 1:35 mark but after a pair of defensive stops from both teams, Fitzpatrick connected on a put-back off an offensive board to make it 53-53 with 25 seconds to play.
• Harvard called a timeout with 16 seconds to go but never got a shot off as the teams went into overtime.

SENIOR SPOTLIGHTS: The Big Red class of 2013 featured four talented players that all, at one time, started for Cornell during their career.
Kristina Danielak
Danielak has seen action in 104 games, making 21 starts. She has average 14.1 minutes per game over the course of her career and enters the weekend ranking fourth all-time in career field goal percentage. She also ranks 11th all-time in Cornell history with 53 career blocks.

Clare Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick has started a school-record 107 games during her career on East Hill. She enters the weekend ranking  ninth in Big Red history in points, sixth in rebounds, fourth in free throws made, and fifth in blocked shots. One of the team's leading scorers in each of her four seasons, she has averaged nearly 11 points per game and almost six rebounds per contest for her career. Last weekend, she became the fourth player in Cornell history, and first-ever under Head Coach Dayna Smith, to reach 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds.

Taylor Flynn
Flynn has seen action in all 109 games played during her career, making nine starts over the past four seasons. For her career, she has averaged 18 minutes per contest, typically serving as the Big Red's first player off the bench. One of Cornell's best 3-point threats over the years, she ranks 10th all time in 3-pointers made. She's registered at least 20 points in a game three times during her career and earlier this season, she led the Big Red to victory over Manhattan with her 26-point performance.

Spencer Lane
A player that has shown steady improvement each and every year, Lane will go down as one of the best point guards in Cornell history. She has played in 104 career games and has made 63 starts, including each game of the past two seasons. Lane ranks eighth all-time in Cornell history in assists and is 14th overall in career steals. She has handed out at least 100 assists in each of the past two seasons and enters the weekend ranking first in the Ivy League in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio.

REBOUNDING QUEEN: With her 13 rebounds at Yale on March 2, Allyson DiMagno broke the school record for rebounds in a single season, surpassing Rhonda Anderson, who registered 287 rebounds during the 1982-83 season. DiMagno enters this week's games with 298 rebounds.

BEST BOARDS: As of the national rankings on March 4, Allyson DiMagno led the Ivy League and ranked 12th in the nation in rebounds per game (11.5).

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 sits in eighth place with 272 assists and needs 22 more to surpass Breean Walas (1998-2002), who sits in seventh place.

800/600: Over the Yale/Brown weekend (Feb. 15-16), Allyson DiMagno surpassed the 800-point, 600-rebound plateau, becoming the only player under head coach Dayna Smith to register at least 800 points and 600 rebounds. She is the fourth player in Cornell history to reach those marks, and is the first since Patti Froehlich finished her career with more than 1,000 points and 900 rebounds in 1989 – three years before DiMagno was born … After going 24 years without having a player reach 800 career points and 600 career rebounds, the Big Red has had two players do it in the same season, as senior Clare Fitzpatrick has 1,188 points and hit 603 rebounds at Dartmouth on March 5. 

5-11 STANDING TALL: Standing at just 5-11, Allyson DiMagno is one of only three players ranked in the top 15 in the NCAA in rebounding to be shorter than 6-0.

TOP TEN POINTS: With her 17 points at Harvard on Feb. 10, senior Clare Fitzpatrick moved into the top 10 for points in a career at Cornell. She sits in ninth place overall with 1,188 and needs one more points to move into seventh place.

TOP TEN REBOUNDS: Allyson DiMagno and Clare Fitzpatrick have both moved into Cornell's top 10 for career rebounds. DiMagno made the jump after pulling down 15 against Columbia on Jan. 19 and Fitzpatrick did it with seven boards the very next weekend at Columbia on Jan. 26. DiMagno currently sits in fourth place with 672 and needs 50 more to surpass Karin Dwyer (1982-86). Fitzpatrick is sixth overall with 603 and needs 14 more to surpass Lynell Davis (617).

NUMBER ONE STARTER: Earlier this season vs. Princeton, senior Clare Fitzpatrick set the school record for games started in a career, surpassing Lauren Benson (97; 2006-10). Fitzpatrick has currently made 107 career starts for the Big Red.

TOP 10 SHOTS: Clare Fitzpatrick and Taylor Flynn have moved into the top 10 in Cornell history for field goals made and three point field goals made, respectively. Fitzpatrick eighth eighth overall (431) and needs seven more to move into seventh place, while Flynn ranks 10th (106) and needs just two more treys to move into ninth place.

IVY LEADERS: In addition to Allyson DiMagno leading the Ivy League in rebounding (11.5 rpg.), several Big Red players are ranked among the top 10 in various categories in the Ivy League, including:
*Allyson DiMagno – third in scoring (14.6 points per game)
*Clare Fitzpatrick – eighth in scoring (12.7 points per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – second in field goal percentage (.485)
*Clare Fitzpatrick – fourth in field goal percentage (.470)
* Spencer Lane – first in assists (4.0 assists per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – third in free throw percentage (.846)
*Clare Fitzpatrick – eighth in free throw percentage (.758)
*Allyson DiMagno – fourth in steals (1.7 steals per game)
* Spencer Lane – sixth in steals (1.7 steals per game)
*Shelby Lyman – eighth in 3-point field goals made (1.4 per game)
* Stephanie Long – ninth in 3-point field goals made (1.3 per game)
* Clare Fitzpatrick – eighth in blocked shots (0.7 blocks per game)
* Spencer Lane – first in assist/turnover ratio (1.4 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – first in offensive rebounds (4.4 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – first in defensive rebounds (7.0 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – second in minutes played (35.8 per game)
* Spencer Lane – fourth in minutes played (32.8 per game)
* Shelby Lyman – eighth in minutes played (30.7 per game)

SURE SHOTS: Allyson DiMagno and Clare Fitzpatrick rank second and fourth, respectively in the Ivy League in field goal percentage, helping the Big Red to fourth place ranking in the Ivy League as a team (.377).

100 THREES: With Cornell's seven 3-pointers at Brown on March 1, the Big Red has extended its streak to six consecutive seasons with 100 3-pointers made. With three games to play, the Big Red currently stands at 111 3-pointers. 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.

I'LL TAKE THAT: So far this season, Cornell has averaged 8.2 steals per game, down 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 351-of-534 baskets (66%), which is up slightly from last year when Cornell had assists on 366-of-576 baskets (64%).

STARTING STREAK: Junior Allyson DiMagno has a 77-game starting streak, which is by far the longest current active streak on the team. Senior Spencer Lane's 56-game streak ranks second.

ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END: Prior to Cornell's 69-60 overtime loss to Harvard on Feb. 10, head coach Dayna Smith was undefeated in three previous overtime contests at the helm of the Big Red program, having guided Cornell to victory against Harvard in 2003-04, Niagara in 2005-06, and Columbia earlier this season. 

CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 30-of-79 games (38%) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 18-15 record.

EVERYBODY'S (ACADEMIC) ALL-AMERICAN: Junior Allyson DiMagno has been named a Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District first-team selection for the first time of her career. She is now among 40 players to vie for a spot on the prestigious Capital One Academic All-America squad. A biological sciences major with a3.79 grade-point average, she becomes just the second Academic All-District selection in the history of the Big Red women's basketball program, joining Virginia McMunigal '10, who was a second-team selection during her senior season.

A LEGEND IN THE MAKING: The Atlantic 10 Conference recently announced its Inaugural Women's Basketball Legends list and Cornell head coach Dayna Smith has been selected to represent her alma mater, the University of Rhode Island. Smith was one of the top point guards in Atlantic 10 history while starring for Rhode Island from 1992-96. One of just 11 players at the NCAA Division I level to record more than 1,000 points and 750 assists, Smith was a key component of the Rams' run to the 1996 NCAA Tournament. The Women's Basketball Legends will be honored on March 16 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., the morning of the 2013 A-10 Women's Basketball Championship finals. Each honoree will be recognized during an awards brunch in the 40/40 Club, beginning at 11 a.m.

THRICE AS NICE: Three times this season, Allyson DiMagno has been named the Ivy League co-Player of the Week (Dec. 3, Jan. 21, and Jan. 28). The three weekly honors in a single season ties the school record and DiMagno becomes the first Cornell women's basketball player to accomplish that feat since Jeomi Maduka won the award three times during the 2007-08 season.

STREAKING: Earlier this season, Cornell had a four-game winning streak, as well as a posting six consecutive victories at Newman Arena. Those streaks were the longest since the Big Red won eight consecutive games during the 2007-08 season, and posted 10-straight victories at Newman Arena over the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

SEASON SWEEP: With its double overtime victory at Columbia on Jan. 26, the Big Red posted back-to-back season sweeps against the Lions for the first time since 2005-06, 2006-07.

FIFTY IS FINE: Junior Allyson DiMagno set a school record for minutes played in a contest when she played all 50 minutes during Cornell's double overtime game at Columbia on Jan. 26. The previous record had been held by Do Stevens, who played 46 minutes of a double overtime game vs. Harvard on Feb. 22, 2002.

DOUBLE THE OT: Cornell has played in two overtime contests this season (Columbia on Jan. 26, Harvard on Feb. 10), a feat that hasn't occurred since the Big Red played three overtime games during the 1997-98 campaign.

DOUBLE OT: When Cornell's game at Columbia went into double overtime, it became just the third double-overtime game in Cornell women's basketball history (1979-80 vs. Colgate; 2001-02 vs. Harvard).The Big Red lost both previous games by the identical score of 77-75.



BLOCKS A LOT: Senior Clare Fitzpatrick currently sits in fifth place in Cornell history for career blocks (67) … Classmate Kristina Danielak sits in 11th place with 53 blocks.

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. 

LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: So far this season, Cornell has held 16 of its 26 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.

22 BOARDS: Junior Allyson DiMagno registered a career- and team-season high 22 rebounds at Columbia on Jan. 26. The 22 rebound effort is the fifth-best single-game performance in the NCAA this season and ranks fourth all-time in Cornell history, matching Patti Froehlich (vs. St. Francis (Pa.) on Jan. 9, 1989) and Rhonda Anderson's (vs. Oneonta State on Dec. 2, 1980) 22-rebound efforts.

COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS POW: Clare Fitzpatrick was named the College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the Week on Jan. 28 following her performance in Cornell's double-overtime victory at Columbia. Fitzpatrick scored 23 points, including seven in the two overtime sessions, to go along with four assists, two blocks and two steals. Fitzpatrick sunk two free throws with nine seconds remaining in the first overtime period, and then blocked a Mawa Tachibana shot attempt with 1.7 seconds to play to force the game into a second overtime.

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 108 career coaching wins.

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.

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.

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.

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 will begin practice for the 2013-14 season in October.