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GAME INFORMATION
Game #6: Cornell at Bucknell
Tip off: Saturday, Nov. 29, at 2:00 p.m.
Site: Sojka Pavilion (4,000), Lewisburg, Pa.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (3-2, 0-0 Ivy); Bucknell (2-2, 0-0 Patriot)
Series Record: Bucknell leads, 18-5
Last Meeting: Bucknell won, 72-59 (11/23/13; Ithaca, N.Y.)

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team will look to run its current winning streak to four games when it closes November at Bucknell on Saturday, Nov. 29 at Sojka Pavilion at 2 p.m. The game will be the home opener for the Bison, who sit at 2-2 on the season after travelling to Bowling Green, Michigan, Fairleigh Dickinson and Youngstown State.  
 
THE SERIES VS. BUCKNELL: Cornell and Bucknell have faced off 23 times in the history of the two women's basketball programs, with the Bison holding the series advantage, 18-5. The two teams first met in the 1981-82 season with Bucknell taking the 68-58 victory, the first of a series record six-straight wins. All five of the Big Red's victories (1991-92, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2007-08, 2011-12) have come at Newman Arena, as the Bison hold the slim 6-5 lead  in Ithaca. Bucknell is a perfect 12-0 against Cornell in Lewisburg ... Head coach Dayna Smith is 3-8 vs. Bucknell.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE HERD: Bucknell jumped out to a 16-1 lead over the first six minutes of the contest and then held off the Big Red the rest of the way to steal a 72-59 victory this afternoon at Newman Arena. Shelby Lyman and Stephanie Long lead Cornell with 13 points apiece, while Aspen Chandler chipped in eight. Allyson DiMagno finished the contest with a game-high 10 rebounds, while freshman Nicholle Aston registered a career-high eight. Long also handed out five assists. Bucknell had four players reach double figures, led by Maree Claire O'Bryan and Shelby Romine with 18 points apiece, while Audrey Dotson and Clair DeBoer tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively. DeBoer had a double-double with 10 rebound as five Bison posted at least five rebounds to help the visitors to a 43-38 advantage on the backboards. The Bison shot a blistering 53.3 percent overall (24-45) and 53.8 percent from beyond the arc (7-13), while holding Cornell to just 30.2 percent from the floor and 11.8 percent from 3-point range. The Big Red used stifling defense to stay in the game, forcing 24 Bucknell turnovers. After trailing by 10 at the intermission, 33-23, Cornell cut the Bison lead to five points twice in the second half, but couldn't get all the way back into the contest. The home team trailed by just six points with 6:30 to play, but Bucknell closed the game strong, including an 8-for-10 performance from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the game.
 
CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Cornell is 42-56 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League. The Big Red owns the advantage in the series with Lafayette (8-7) and Colgate (20-15) but holds a losing mark against American (1-2), Army (5-6), Bucknell (5-18), Lehigh (2-4), Loyola (Md.) (1-2) and Navy (0-2). Boston University and Holy Cross are the only members of the Patriot League that Cornell has never faced in women's basketball ... Coach Smith's record vs. the conference stands at 17-15 after defeating Colgate earlier this season.
 
A CORNELL WIN WOULD:
• make the team 4-2 to start the season for the second year in a row.
• improve its current winning streak to four games.
• make Cornell 3-1 in road games this season.
• be the Big Red's first-ever in Lewisburg, Pa.
• snap a two-game skid against the Bison.
• cut the Bison's advantage to 18-6 in the all-time series.
• improve head coach Dayna Smith to 4-8 against the Bison.
• be the third in a row vs. the Patriot League
• improve the Big Red to 43-56 all-time over the current members of the Patriot League.
• make Coach Smith 18-15 all-time vs. the Patriot League.
 
TOUGH D: Cornell has held three of its five opponents this season to less than 50 points, a feat it accomplished just three times all of last season.
 
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.
 
STARTING STREAK: With the graduation of Allyson DiMagno, sophomore Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at just seven games. Both Marshall and Kerri Moran started every game in 2013-14, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1, 2014.
 
NEW STARTERS: In each of the first five games this season, the Big Red has started four players – Megan LeDuc, Christine Kline, Maddie Campbell and Nicholle Aston – that had yet to start a game for Cornell previously.
 
BIG MINUTES: Not only have Nicholle Aston, Christine Kline and Megan LeDuc earned the first starts of their collegiate careers this season, but the trio has each roughly tripled their playing time from a season ago. Kline has seen the greatest increase, going from 7.4 to 35.2 minutes per game, while Aston has gone from 11.3 to 31.2 minutes per game, and LeDuc has gone from 11.5 to 33.8 minutes per game. 
 
ON THE SMALL SIDE: Cornell's roster of 14 players is one of the smallest in the Ivy League, with only Dartmouth and Yale featuring fewer players at 13 apiece.
 
ON THE YOUNG SIDE: Of Cornell's 14 players, 11 are underclassmen with just two seniors and one junior. No other team in the Ivy League has fewer upperclassmen, with the next youngest group being Yale with one senior and four juniors. Only one other team in the Ancient Eight has 11 underclassmen, as Columbia is identical to the Big Red with five sophomores and six freshmen, but the Lions also feature the largest roster in the conference at 17 players, with four seniors and two juniors to balance the team out.
 
LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Cornell held 32 of its 61 opponents (52 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor, including 4-of-5 opponents (80 percent) so far this season.
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU?: So far this season, Cornell has assisted on 75-of-110 baskets (68.2 percent).
 
RULE FOLLOWERS: As of Nov. 27, the Big Red ranked second in the Ivy League and 38th in the nation in fouls per game (15.6).
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: As of Nov. 27, Cornell ranks first in the Ivy League and 63^rd in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.00).
 
DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE: As of Nov. 27, the Big Red ranked third in the Ivy League and 43^rd in the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 54.4 points per game.
 
IVY LEADERS: As of Nov. 27, several Big Red players are ranked among the Ivy League leaders this season, including:
*Nia Marshall – eighth in scoring (14.0 ppg.)
*Christine Kline – 16th in scoring (10.2 ppg.)
*Nicholle Aston – fourth in rebounding (8.4 rpg.)
*Nia Marshall – 13th in rebounding (7.2 rpg.)
*Nicholle Aston – first in field goal percentage (.605)
*Nia Marshall – ninth in field goal percentage (.467)
*Megan LeDuc – first in assists per game (4.8 apg.)
*Kerri Moran – fifth in assists per game (3.2 apg.)
*Christine Kline – seventh in assists per game (3.0 apg.)
*Christine Kline – 15th in free throw percentage (.684)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in steals (2.2 spg.)
*Christine Kline – fifth in steals (2.0 spg.)
*Maddie Campbell – 12th in steals (1.6 spg.)
*Megan LeDuc – 10th in 3-point FGM (1.4 per game)
*Megan LeDuc – first in assist/turnover ratio (4.0)
*Christine Kline – sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.7)
*Kerry Moran – eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.2)
*Nicholle Aston – ninth in offensive rebs. (2.6 per game)
*Nicholle Aston – sixth in defensive rebs. (5.8 per game)
*Nia Marshall – 11th in defensive rebs. (5.4 per game)
*Christine Kline – sixth in minutes played (35.2 per game)
*Megan LeDuc – 10th in minutes played (33.8 per game)
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 42-of-116 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 21-21 record (.500).
 
FIRST MINUTES: So far this season, just one freshman – Christine Ehland – has seen playing time, seeing action against Hartford, Fairfield and Marshall.
 
I'LL TAKE THAT:
• So far this season, the Big Red is averaging 7.2 steals per game.
• In 2013-14, Cornell posted 253 steals (9.0 per game).
• A year ago, the Big Red finished the season ranked first in the Ivy League and 69th in the nation for steals per game.
• Last season, Cornell ranked second in the Ivy League and 69th in the nation in turnover margin (+2.29). 
 
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 127 career coaching wins.
 
FOR OPENERS: The Big Red is 19-25 all-time in season openers after its 48-46 heartbreaking loss to Hartford on Nov. 14. Coach Dayna Smith is now 3-10 in season openers.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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).
 
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.
 
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.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red opens up a three game home stand when it welcomes Buffalo to Newman Arena on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.