Game #23: Cornell at Yale
Tip Off: Friday, Feb. 21, 2014; 7:00 p.m.
Location: Lee Amphitheater (New Haven, Conn.)
Records: Cornell (12-10; 4-4 Ivy); Yale (10-12; 4-4 Ivy)
Series Record: Yale leads, 47-23
Last Meeting: Cornell won 65-56 (Feb. 1, 2014)
Live Stats: YaleBulldogs.com
Video Webcast: www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com

Game #24: Cornell at Brown
Tip Off: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014; 6:00 p.m.
Location: Pizzatola Center (Providence, R.I.)
Records: Cornell (12-10; 4-4 Ivy); Brown (8-14; 2-6 Ivy)
Series Record: Brown leads, 47-22
Last Meeting: Cornell won 80-70 (Jan. 31, 2014)
Live Stats: BrownBears.com
Video Webcast: www.IvyLeagueDigitalNetwork.com

GAME NOTES (PDF)

THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team (12-10, 4-4 Ivy) will look to gain some separation in the Ivy League standings when it travels to Yale (10-12; 4-4 Ivy) on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m., and Brown (8-14; 2-6 Ivy) on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. Both Cornell and the Bulldogs sit in fourth place in the conference standings, directly above the Bears.

THE SERIES VS. YALE: Cornell first faced the Bulldogs in the 1974-75 season, with Yale taking the 31-23 victory. Cornell has held the lead in the series since 2000 (leading 13-12), winning seven-straight from 2000 to 2003, and splitting the series in 2005-06 and 2006-07, before sweeping Yale from 2006-09. The Bulldogs won eight consecutive meetings before the Big Red earned the 65-56 victory earlier this season to cut Yale's lead in the all-time series history to 47-23.

LAST TIME VS. THE BULLDOGS: After a back and forth battle that saw 12 lead changes and eight ties, the Big Red dominated the final 10 minutes of play and earned a hard-fought 65-56 victory over Yale. The win snapped Cornell's eight game losing-streak to the Bulldogs dating back to an 80-62 victory on Feb. 20, 2009. With Yale holding a three-point lead (45-42) with just over 10 minute to play Cornell got back-to-back treys by Stephanie Long and Shelby Lyman to open up a 10-2 run that put the home team up 52-47 at the 6:36 mark. From there the Big Red closed strong, pushing its lead to double digits thanks to some inspired play by the Cornell bench. The Big Red went up by as many as 13 points before winning, 65-56 and in in the final seven minutes of action 11 of Cornell's 15 points came from Christine Kline (8), Nicholle Aston (2) and Joelle Davidson (1). Long finished with 12 points, seven of which came in the final 10 minutes of play. She also grabbed three rebounds, handed out two assists and registered one steal. Nia Marshall led the Big Red with 14 points despites seeing only 22 minutes of action due to foul trouble. Kline registered a career-high 10 points in 14 minutes of action, while Allyson DiMagno and Lyman finished with eight and seven points, respectively. DiMagno also registered a game-high nine rebounds, followed closely by Aston, who pulled down seven, five of which came during that crucial final seven minutes as Cornell put the game out of reach. Sarah Halejian was the only Bulldog in double-figures with 19 points, while Lena Munzer and Janna Graf finished with eight and seven points, respectively. Meredith Boardman matched DiMagno with a game-high nine rebounds.

THE SERIES VS. BROWN: Cornell's rivalry with the Bears began in the 1974-75 season when Brown defeated the Big Red, 34-30. The Bears dominated the series during the first 20 years, with Cornell winning only three times prior to the 1994-95 season. Since that year, the series has been far more competitive with Brown holding a slight 20-19 lead, though the Bears still hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 47-22. Cornell has won three of the last four meetings.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEARS: Senior Shelby Lyman poured in a career-high 24 points to lead four Big Red players in double-figures as the home team downed Brown, 80-70. Lyman knocked down 8-of-13 shots, including a blistering 5-of-6 performance from beyond the arc, for her game-high 24 points. The forward tandem of Nia Marshall (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Allyson DiMagno (14 points, 10 rebounds) each registered a double-double and combined for more than half of the Big Red's rebounds as the home team held the significant 40-28 edge on the backboards. Freshman points guard Kerri Moran had her best game to date with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and handed out eight assists with just two turnovers. Brown was led by Lauren Clarke's 22 points and four assists, while Sophie Bikofsky chipped in 13 points. Natalie Ball had a team-high eight rebounds but saw limited action before fouling out of the contest. Cornell shot a blistering 51.8 percent overall (29-56) for its best shooting performance of the season, and connected on 35.7 percent (5-14) from 3-point range. The Bears shot a respectable 43.6 percent overall (24-55) and hit 42.9 percent (9-21) from beyond the arc, but the Big Red held the edge in points off of turnovers (20-12) and second chance points (10-4).

ELITE COMPANY: Allyson DiMagno enters the weekend needing just 15 rebounds to become just the 12th Ivy League women's basketball player to register at least 1,200 points and 900 rebounds.

THE ONE AND ONLY: With her 14 points vs. Princeton on Feb. 8, senior Allyson DiMagno became the only player in Cornell history to register at least 1,200 points and 800 rebounds for her career.

MOVING ON UP: Allyson DiMagno currently ranks sixth overall in Cornell history for career points (1,242) and needs just seven more to move into fifth place overall, surpassing Karin Dwyer (1982-86), and just 16 more to move into fourth place, moving past Karen Force (2000-04).

TOP REBOUNDER: Allyson DiMagno currently ranks second overall in Cornell history for career rebounds (885) and needs 47 more to surpass Patti Froehlich (1985-89) and become the Big Red's all-time leader … She already holds the school record for career defensive rebounds (556), career offensive rebounds (329), and rebounds in a single season (321).

PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES
• Cornell has had three different players named Ivy League Player of the Week so far this year – Joelle Davidson Allyson DiMagno, and Nia Marshall. It is just the second time in the history of Cornell women's basketball that three different players were named Ivy League Player of the Week in the same season, matching Karen Force, Breean Walas and Do Stevens during the 2001-02 season.
• For the first time in the history of the Cornell women's basketball program a freshman was named the Ivy League Player of the Week when Nia Marshall earned both Player and Rookie of the Week honors on Feb. 3.
• After having the best game of her career, senior Joelle Davidson was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Jan. 27, becoming the first Big Red women's basketball player other than Allyson DiMagno to win the award since Lauren Benson on Feb. 2, 2009.
• After setting the Cornell school record with four Ivy League Player of the Week selections a year ago, Allyson DiMagno has earned the award twice this season, moving to 12th all-time on the Ivy League's record list.

EVERYBODY'S (ACADEMIC) ALL-AMERICAN: Allyson DiMagno was named a 2013-14 Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District first-team selection, earning the honor for the third straight year. A biological sciences major with a 3.7 grade-point average, she is 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.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES
• In total, Nia Marshall has been named Rookie of the Week five times (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 is 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 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).

NCAA LEADER: Allyson DiMagno is among the NCAA's active career leaders in Division I for free throw percentage (13th – 83.4 percent) and rebounds (23rd – 885).

OFFENSIVE OUTPUT: With its 80-70 victory over Brown on Jan. 31 and its 81-46 victory over Vermont on Jan. 4, the Big Red has registered a pair of 80-point games for the first time since the 2009-10 season, when it racked up 81 points vs. Ithaca College on Nov. 15, 2009 and 92 points vs. Middle Tennessee State on Nov. 21, 2009.

RULE FOLLOWERS: The Big Red ranks second in the Ivy League and 26th in the nation in fouls per game (16.1).

I'LL TAKE THAT:
• Cornell has posted 202 steals (9.2 per game) so far this season, which is up significantly from last year when the Big Red registered 8.1 steals per game.
• Cornell entered the week ranked first in the Ivy League and 68th in the nation.
• Cornell ranks second in the Ivy League and 69th in the nation in turnover margin (+2.36).
• 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.

FREE THROW FIENDS: Allyson DiMagno (.848) ranks first in the Ivy League and 55th in the nation in free throw percentage. As a team, the Big Red makes free throws at a clip of 70.6 percent, ranking fourth in the Ivy League.

13TH TO 1,000: On Nov. 26 vs. Loyola (MD), senior Allyson DiMagno became the 13th player in Cornell history, and fourth under head coach Dayna Smith, to join the 1,000-point club.

IVY LEADERS: Several Big Red players are ranked among the top 10 in various categories in the Ivy League, including:
*Allyson DiMagno – seventh in scoring (13.7 points per game)
*Nia Marshall – ninth in scoring (12.8 points per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – second in rebounding (8.6 rebounds per game)
*Nia Marshall – eighth in rebounding (6.1 rebounds per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – fifth in field goal percentage (.500)
*Nia Marshall – fifth in field goal percentage (.500)
*Kerri Moran – fourth in assist per game (3.3)
*Stephanie Long – ninth in assist per game (2.7)
*Allyson DiMagno – first in free throw percentage (.848)
*Nia Marshall – third in steals (2.0 steals per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – fourth in steals (1.8 steals per game)
*Kerri Moran – ninth in steals (1.3 steals per game)
*Shelby Lyman – ninth in steals (1.3 steals per game)
*Shelby Lyman – seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.365)
*Shelby Lyman – seventh in 3-point field goals made (1.6 per game)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in blocked shots (1.2 blocks per game)
*Kerri Moran – sixth in assist/turnover ratio (1.1)
*Allyson DiMagno – first in offensive rebounds (3.3 per game)
*Nia Marshall – ninth in offensive rebounds (2.0 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – third in defensive rebounds (5.4 per game)
*Nia Marshall – eighth in defensive rebounds (4.1 per game)
*Allyson DiMagno – fifth in minutes played (33.0 per game)

MAY I ASSIST YOU?: So far this season, the Big Red has assisted on 331-of-484 baskets (68.3 percent). That is well above last season, as Cornell assisted on 66 percent of its baskets (378-of-573).

STARTING STREAK: Senior Allyson DiMagno has a 101-game starting streak, which is by far the longest active streak on the team, with four others – Stephanie Long, Shelby Lyman, Kerri Moran and Nia Marshall – tied for second at 22 games apiece. Both Long and Lyman had a starting streak ended in the final game last season.

100 THREES: The Big Red has connected on at least 100 3-pointers in each of the last six seasons and currently sits at 94 treys (4.3 per game) on the year … The Big Red 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 37-of-102 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 20-17 record (.541).

LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Cornell held 25 of its 50 opponents (50 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor.

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 122 career coaching wins.

PRESEASON HONORS: Allyson DiMagno was named a College Sports Madness Preseason All-Ivy second-team selection.

HI, MY NAME IS: Cornell has a new face on the bench for the 2013-14 season – volunteer assistant Jim Sheehan – who spent the past two seasons serving as a volunteer assistant to Cornell's video coordinator. Sheehan is a 2010 graduate of Cortland with a bachelor of science degree in sports management.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red has added five players to this year's squad, as Nicholle Aston (Woodland Hills, Calif.), Taylor DePalma (Ithaca, N.Y.), Megan LeDuc(Vienna, Va.), Nia Marshall (Macedonia, Ohio) and Kerri Moran (Fair Hills, N.J.) have joined the team for the 2013-14 season. The class of five comes from five different states and consists of three guards and two forwards.

UP NEXT: The Big Red will play its final home games of the season and honor the five members of the Class of 2014 when it welcomes Harvard and Dartmouth on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1, respectively. The game with the Crimson will tip-off at 7 p.m., while the game with the Big Green will begin at 6 p.m., following a Senior Day ceremony.