ITHACA, N.Y. – After a back-and-forth second half against a confident Bryant team, Nicholle Aston became the Big Red's fourth double figure scorer by calmly sinking a 15-foot jumper with 4.4 seconds left as Cornell topped the Bulldogs 66-64 on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 4-4 on the year, while Bryant slipped to 6-2.

Aston's ninth and 10th points of the day proved to be the difference, as Jenniqua Bailey went coast-to-coast to attempt a tying layup, but her shot was still in her hand when the clock struck zero and the Big Red celebrated the victory.

Aston added six rebounds to her total, while Nia Marshall scored a game-high 19 points with six rebounds and three assists. Megan LeDuc notched 17 points and Christine Kline had 16 points, eight assists, six rebounds and two steals to spur Cornell to victory. Cornell hit 54 percent of its shots from the field and limited the Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting.

Ivory Bailey led Bryant with 18 points and six rebounds and Breanna Rucker had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Both Tiersa Winder and Jenniqua Bailey had 12 points apiece, with Bailey adding nine assists, five rebounds and four steals. The Bulldogs' 19 offensive rebounds helped them to an 11-5 advantage in second chance points, but the difference wasn't enough to sway the outcome.

"This was a great win and a great way to head into the study break," said head coach Dayna Smith. "I'm proud of how hard our team worked against a scrappy and talented Bryant squad, especially after a slow start."

Things didn't look bright early for the Big Red as the visitors jumped out to a 7-0 lead and went up at much as 10 points in the first six minutes before the Big Red closed the half strong. Kline scored 10 points, had four assists, two rebounds and two steals to help Cornell right the ship. Her hustle necessitated a uniform change at the break, as she had to switch into the blood uniform at halftime and finished the game in No. 12 instead of her usual No. 13.

Cornell limited the Bulldogs to 27 percent shooting while hitting of 54 percent themselves to overcome the deficit. Bryant had 13 offensive rebounds to outscore the Big Red 7-1 on second chance points.

No team had a lead larger than four points for the final 12 minutes in a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes. Cornell never trailed after Kline's scored underneath on a feed from Marshall to make it 56-55 with 8:13 left. The Bulldogs tied it up four times the rest of the way, but never took the lead.

After all the back-and-forth, Bryant tied the game at 64-64 when Winder wound her way into the lane and finished to make it 64-64. Cornell brought the ball back over halfcourt and called a timeout for Smith to draw up what would be the game-winning play.

"We executed it exactly the way we had it drawn up," said Smith. "Kline had a lot of success all game of getting to the rim, but defensively, the forwards had started to collapse on her late in the game, so we wanted Nicholle to pop and for Kline to get her the ball if the lane wasn't there."

It worked to perfection, and Aston nailed the 15-footer. After a Bryant timeout, the officials put more than a second back on the clock to give them 4.3 to work with. Bailey made her way through the defense, but twice had to briefly pause for a defender. That time made all the difference. Her shot at the rim was good, but a fraction of a second too late. The officials immediately waved off the basket, but went to the monitor to review. After watching the play several times, they upheld their decision, giving Cornell the two-point victory.

Cornell closes out its home schedule for the calendar year when it meets Robert Morris on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. in Newman Arena.