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GAME INFORMATION
Game #1: Cornell vs. Hartford
Tip off: Friday, Nov. 14, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (0-0, 0-0 Ivy); Hartford (0-0, 0-0 AE)
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting
TV: None
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team opens its 44th season of play on Friday, Nov. 14 when it welcomes Hartford to Newman Arena for a contest at 7 p.m. The game will also be the Hawks' season opener.
 
SERIES VS. HARTFORD: Cornell and the Hawks have never met in the history of the women's basketball program.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (courtesy www.HartfordHawks.com): Hartford was picked to finish third in the nine-team America East Conference preseason coaches' poll. The University at Albany was picked unanimously to finish first. The Hawks return nine letter winners from the 2013-14 team. Among the Hawks' returners are the top-five leading scorers from last season, including third-team all-conference performers senior Amber Bepko and classmate Cherelle Moore. Bepko led the team in scoring averaging (10.7 points per game), while Moore led the Hawks in rebounding (6.1 per game). Morgan Lumb, the 2014 Sixth Player of the Year, returns for her sophomore season as well as all-rookie selection Deanna Mayza. Redshirt junior Katie Roth, a member of the 2013 all-rookie team, will be back after missing all of last year. The Hawks also welcome four new faces to the squad in 2014-15. Mary Pattison will join the backcourt, while Darby Lee, Cassidy Bundy and Janelle Harrison will provide options in the frontcourt.
 
CORNELL VS. THE AMERICAN EAST: Cornell improved to 17-21 all-time vs. the current members of the America East Conference, after defeating Binghamton last season. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Albany (5-1) and UMBC (2-0), while its series record with Stony Brook (1-1) is tied. Cornell holds a losing mark vs. Binghamton (6-8), Maine (0-1), New Hampshire (0-4) and Vermont (3-6), but has never faced Hartford or UMass-Lowell ... Coach Smith is 7-11 all-time vs. the America East.
 
A CORNELL WIN WOULD:
• improve the Big Red to 1-0 in the all-time series with Hartford.
• be the third in a row in season openers.
• improve head coach Dayna Smith to 4-9 in season openers.
• be the fourth in a row vs. the America East.
• improve head coach Dayna Smith to 8-11 all-time vs. the America East.
 
FOR OPENERS: The Big Red is 19-24 all-time in season openers. Coach Dayna Smith improved her record to 3-9 in season openers after defeating Colgate, 76-62 on Nov. 8, 2013 at Newman Arena.
 
WHAT WAS LOST: The Big Red graduated five players from the 2013-14 squad – Aspen Chandler, Joelle Davidson, Allyson DiMagno, Stephanie Long, and Shelby Lyman – and lost one other non-letter winners. The six players accounted for an average of 37.7 points and 19.0 rebounds per game.

WHAT REMAINS: Cornell returns two starters and six letter winners from last season's squad. The Big Red returns 42% of its scoring (751-of-1,768 points) and 49% of its rebounding (488-of-988) from a year ago.
 
THE 2013-14 SEASON: The Big Red posted its best overall record since its Ivy League championship campaign, going 14-14 overall and finishing fifth in the Ivy League at 6-8. Cornell was highly competitive in conference play, with half of its losses coming by eight or fewer points. During the season, Allyson DiMagno established herself as one of the greatest players in Ivy League history, becoming just the 10th player ever, and first at Cornell, to accumulate 1,300 points and 900 rebounds. Following the season, she was named second-team All-Ivy. The 2013-14 campaign also featured the emergence of Nia Marshall '17, who was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week five times during the course of the season and became the first Cornell freshman women's basketball player to ever earn a Player of the Week honor. DiMagno graduated as the all-time career rebounding leader in Big Red history, and she also set the career records for offensive rebounds (347), defensive rebounds (591), games played (112) and minutes played (3663). She ranks second in Cornell history for career free throw percentage (.837) and is third all-time in career points (1329), behind only Karen Walker and Keri Farley. Additionally, she ranks in the top-10 in free throws made (fourth – 328), steals (fifth – 173), field goals made (sixth – 457), 3-point field goal percentage (seventh –.354) and field goal percentage (ninth – .440).
 
SMARTY PANTS: Cornell led all Ivy League teams and ranked 20th nationally when the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced its Academic Top 25 for the 2013-14 season. Head coach Dayna Smith's team posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.420 in 2013-14. Cornell was one of three Ivy League schools in the rankings, joining Yale (23rd, 3.397) and Brown (24th, 3.394). The University of Missouri-Kansas City led the way with a 3.628 grade point average.
 
RULE FOLLOWERS: Last season, the Big Red ranked second in the Ivy League and 20th in the nation in fouls per game (15.8).
 
I'LL TAKE THAT:
• Cornell posted 253 steals (9.0 per game) during the 2013-14 season, which was up from the previous season when the Big Red registered 8.1 steals per game.
• Cornell finished the year ranked first in the Ivy League and 69th in the nation for steals per game.
• Cornell ranked second in the Ivy League and 69th in the nation in turnover margin (+2.29). 
• The Big Red's 18 steals vs. Seattle were the most since the 2001-02 season, and the most ever during head coach Dayna Smith's time at the helm of the program.
• In Cornell's next game vs. Binghamton, the team finished with 16 steals, good for second overall during Coach Smith's tenure.
 
FRESHMAN [FOUR]CE: With two starters and two others contributing significant minutes, four members of last season's freshman class – Kerri Moran, Nia Marshall, Nicholle Aston and Megan LeDuc – put their stamp on the 2013-14 season. All four averaged more than 11 minutes per game and as a group, they shot 42 percent (253-of-605) from the floor. The quartet also contributing an average of 24.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 3.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU?: During the 2013-14 season, the Big Red has assisted on 423-of-615 baskets (68.8 percent). That as well above the 2012-13 mark, as Cornell assisted on 66 percent of its baskets (378-of-573).
 
IVY LEADERS: Several Big Red players were ranked among the top 10 in various categories in the Ivy League last season, including:
*Nia Marshall – 10th in scoring (12.6 points per game)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in field goal percentage (.511)
*Kerri Moran – third in assists per game (3.5)
*Nia Marshall – third in steals (1.8 steals per game)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in blocked shots (1.2 blocks per game)
*Kerri Moran – fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.2)
*Nia Marshall – 10th in defensive rebounds (3.8 per game)
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES
• In total, Nia Marshall was named Rookie of the Week  five times last season (Dec. 2, Dec. 9, Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Feb. 10) becoming the first Big Red player to earn five Rookie of the Week selections since Jeomi Maduka was chosen seven times during the 2005-06 season.
• Nia Marshall was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Dec. 2 and Dec. 9, becoming the first Cornell women's basketball player to receive back-to-back Rookie of the Weeks awards since Jeomi Maduka in 2005-06.
• Nia Marshall was the first Cornell player to receive two Rookie of the Week awards in a single season since Lauren Benson in 2006-07.
 
STARTING STREAK: With the graduation of Allyson DiMagno, sophomores Kerri Moran and Nia Marshall have the longest starting streak on the team, standing at just two games. Both Moran and Marshall started every game in 2013-14, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1.
 
100 THREES: The Big Red has amassed at least 100 3-pointers in each of the last seven seasons … 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.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 39-of-111 games (35 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 20-20 record (.500).
 
LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Cornell held 28 of its 56 opponents (50 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor.
 
WINNING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: The Big Red finished the non-conference portion of its 2013-14 season with an 8-6 record for the second straight year, giving Cornell a winning non-conference record in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-2000/2000-01. It is just the third time in program history that the Big Red has had back-to-back winning non-conference records (1982-83/1983-84).
 
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 on Nov. 20, 2012. She has since added to that and has 124 career coaching wins.
 
HI, MY NAME IS: Cornell has a pair of new faces on the bench for the 2014-15 season – assistant coaches Todd Goclowski and Brendan Burke. A coach with 15 years of experience, Goclowski came to East Hill after eight highly successful years Lebanon Valley College, where he was the winningest coach in the history of the program. Burke came to Cornell after three seasons at Boston University, where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations for two seasons.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red adds six players to the 2014-15 squad – Janée Dennis (Burlington, N.J.), Christine Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jamie Hill (Montville, Conn.), Marisa Knox (Memphis, Tenn.), Janelle Odionu (Newmarket, Ala.) and Paige Samuelson (Rock Hill, S.C.). The class comes from six different states and consists of three forwards and three guards.

UP NEXT: The Big Red opens up a three-game road trip on Sunday when it travels to Drexel for a contest at 2 p.m.