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GAME INFORMATION
Game #11: Cornell at No. 23 Syracuse
Tipoff: Sunday, Dec. 28, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: The Carrier Dome (35,121), Syracuse, N.Y.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (6-4, 0-0 Ivy); Syracuse (8-3, 0-0 ACC)
Series Record: Syracuse leads, 15-4
Last Meeting: Syracuse won, 89-48 (11/18/13; Syracuse, N.Y.)
 
Game #12: Cornell at Vermont
Tipoff: Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Patrick Gymnasium (3,228), Burlington, Vt.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (6-4, 0-0 Ivy)*; Vermont (3-8, 0-0 America East)
Series Record: Vermont leads, 6-4
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 81-46 (1/2/14; Ithaca, N.Y.)
  *record prior to Cornell's game at Syracuse on Dec. 28
 
THE MATCHUP: The Cornell women's basketball team (6-4) puts its three-game winning streak on the line when it hits the road this week for a pair of contests to close the 2014 portion of its schedule. The Big Red will make the short trip up I-81 to take on in-state rival No. 23 Syracuse (8-3) on Sunday, Dec. 28 at 6 p.m., before travelling to Vermont (3-8) to take on the Catamounts on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m.
 
THE SERIES VS. SYRACUSE: Cornell's rivalry with Syracuse is one of the oldest in the history of the women's basketball program. The series began during the 1972-73 season, just the second year of women's basketball for both schools, with a 64-24 Big Red victory. Cornell would win the next two meetings as well, giving the Big Red its longest winning-streak (three games) against the Orange. Syracuse would win the next nine meetings, a streak which was halted during the 2003-04 campaign when Cornell defeated the Orange 82-62 at Newman Arena. Syracuse has won the last six meetings to improve its lead in the series to 15-4.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE ORANGE: The Big Red women's basketball team got 13 points apiece from forwards Allyson DiMagno and Nia Marshall, but was undone by a 26-3 Syracuse run early in the first half, as the Orange earned the 89-48 victory on Nov. 18, 2013 at the Carrier Dome to remain a perfect 3-0 on the season. With the loss, Cornell fell to 2-1. For Marshall, the 13 points was a then career-high, while DiMagno finished with a team- high eight rebounds. Shelby Lyman chipped in six points, with two of Cornell's five 3-pointers on the day, while Megan LeDuc finished with five points. Syracuse was led by Brittney Sykes' 23 points, while Shakeya Leary posted a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Brianna Butler (13) was the only other Orange player to reach double-figures. The Orange used its height and athleticism to get to the basket, connecting on 44.9 percent of its shots, and scoring 36 points in the paint. Syracuse also held the 44-36 advantage on the boards. Cornell hit just 31.6 percent of its shots and made just 20.8 percent from 3-point range. After making 6-of-14 treys in the first half, Syracuse cooled in the second to finish at 36.8 percent overall. The home team also forced 29 Cornell turnovers with 17 steals, while turning the ball over just 19 times. The Big Red posted 11 steals on the day and assisted on 14-of-18 baskets.
 
CORNELL VS. THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: Cornell is 4-21 all-time vs. the current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, with all four victories coming against Syracuse (4-15). The Big Red also holds a losing record vs. Boston College (0-1), Georgia Tech (0-2), Miami (0-2) and Virginia Tech (0-1) and has never faced Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, UNC, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia or Wake Forest … Head Coach Dayna Smith is 1-9 against the ACC with the lone win coming against Syracuse (2003-04).
 
THE SERIES VS. VERMONT: The Catamounts are 6-4 in the series with Cornell, with nine of the 10 meetings coming from 1981 to 1999. The Big Red won three of the first five meetings, all of which took place in the 1980s, while Vermont posted four consecutive victories beginning with a 69-58 triumph during the 1989-90 season. The Big Red snapped the Catamounts winning streak with a dominating 81-46 victory a season ago.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE CATAMOUNTS: Allyson DiMagno and Nia Marshall were unfazed by Winter Storm Hercules as the duo helped the Cornell women's basketball team to its largest victory since 2008 with an 81-46 win over Vermont on Jan 2, 2014 at Newman Arena. The Big Red evened its record at 6-6, while the Catamounts fell to 4-9. DiMagno recorded her second double-double of the season and 23rd of her career with 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Not to be outdone, Marshall tallied 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists, four steals and four blocked shots to lead a Big Red squad that held UVM to 33 percent shooting overall and a miserable 2-of-14 from beyond the 3-point arc (14 percent). Cornell forced 25 Vermont turnovers and had 14 steals and five blocks, while outrebounding the visitors 43-28. While Vermont was as cold as the storm ripping up the East Coast, Cornell connected on 47 percent of its shots on the night as 10 different players scored. Shelby Lyman joined DiMagno and Marshall in double figures with 13 points and Aspen Chandler had eight. Stephanie Long chipped in seven points, five rebounds and three assists. Vermont was led by Kaylea Britton's 13 points and Kayla Burchill's 12 off the bench. Kylie Butler had seven points, six rebounds and three assists in the loss.
 
CORNELL VS. THE AMERICAN EAST: Cornell fell to 17-22 all-time vs. the current members of the America East Conference, after narrowly falling to Hartford, 48-46, in the season opener. 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), Hartford (0-1) Maine (0-1), New Hampshire (0-4) and Vermont (4-6), but has never faced UMass-Lowell ... Coach Smith is 7-12 all-time vs. the America East.
 
STUDYING THE OPPONENTS: Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 13-21 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a record of 8-5 in the first game back from exams, a mark that was raised this season with Cornell's 70-59 overtime victory against Robert Morris on Dec. 20.
 
TIGHT LOSSES: All four of the Big Red's losses this season have come by nine or few points.
 
TOUGH D: Cornell has held three of its 10 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 (24^th, 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 12 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 eight games this season, the Big Red started four players – Megan LeDuc, Christine Kline, Maddie Campbell and Nicholle Aston – that had yet to start a game for Cornell previously. Since that time, Kerri Moran, who started 27-of-28 games a season ago, has returned to the starting line.
 
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 35.1 minutes per game, while Aston has gone from 11.3 to 29.9 minutes per game, and LeDuc has gone from 11.5 to 34.7 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 34 of its 66 opponents (52 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor, including 6-of-10 opponents (60.0 percent) so far this season.
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU?: So far this season, Cornell has assisted on 153-of-225 baskets (68.0 percent) … As of Dec. 26, the team ranks third in the Ivy League and 63^rd in the country in assists per game (15.3).
 
RULE FOLLOWERS: As of Dec. 26, the Big Red ranked third in the Ivy League and 66th in the nation in fouls per game (16.2).
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: As of Dec. 26, Cornell ranks third in the Ivy League and 85^th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (0.90) … The team is also third in the conference and 86^th in the country in turnover margin (3.10).
 
DE-FENSE, DE-FENSE: As of Dec. 26, the Big Red ranked third in the Ivy League and 69th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents an average of 58.0 points per game.
 
IVY LEADERS: As of Dec. 26, several Big Red players are ranked among the Ivy League leaders this season, including:
*Nia Marshall – fourth in scoring (16.4 ppg.)
*Nicholle Aston –14th in scoring (11.2 ppg.)
*Christine Kline – 18th in scoring (9.6 ppg.)
*Megan LeDuc – 19th in scoring (9.4 ppg.)
*Nia Marshall – eighth in rebounding (7.0 rpg.)
*Nicholle Aston – 11th in rebounding (6.6 rpg.)
*Nicholle Aston – first in field goal percentage (.511)
*Nia Marshall – ninth in field goal percentage (.455)
*Christine Kline –14th in field goal percentage (.390)
*Christine Kline – fourth in assists per game (4.0 apg.)
*Megan LeDuc – fifth in assists per game (3.7 apg.)
*Kerri Moran – seventh in assists per game (3.1 apg.)
*Christine Kline –eighth in free throw percentage (.730)
*Nia Marshall – 15th in free throw percentage (.677)
*Christine Kline – first in steals (2.5 spg.)
*Nia Marshall – second in steals (2.4 spg.)
*Maddie Campbell – sixth in steals (1.8 spg.)
*Megan LeDuc – 13th in 3-point FG percentage (.271)
*Megan LeDuc – 11th in 3-point FGM (1.3 per game)
*Christine Kline – third in assist/turnover ratio (2.2)
*Megan LeDuc – fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.8)
*Kerri Moran – eighth in assist/turnover ratio (1.2)
*Nicholle Aston – sixth in offensive rebs. (2.2 per game)
*Nia Marshall – eighth in defensive rebs. (5.3 per game)
*Nicholle Aston – 13th in defensive rebs. (4.4 per game)
*Christine Kline – fourth in minutes played (35.1 per game)
*Megan LeDuc – fifth in minutes played (34.7 per game
*Nia Marshall – eighth in minutes played (33.9 per game)
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 44-of-121 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 22-22 record (.500).
 
FIRST MINUTES: Through the first eight games of the season, just one freshman – Christine Ehland – had seen playing time, seeing action against Hartford, Fairfield, Marshall, Bucknell and Buffalo. Since that time, the four other healthy members of the class - Janée Dennis, Marisa Knox, Janelle Odionu, and Paige Samuelson – have seen their first minutes of the season.
 
I'LL TAKE THAT:
• So far this season, the Big Red is averaging 8.9 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 130 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 will open the 2015 portion of its schedule with three consecutive home games, beginning with Youngstown State on Friday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m.