Box Score | Game Highlights

ITHACA , N.Y. – After trailing by as many as 12 points midway through the second half, the Cornell women's basketball team used an extended 18-9 run to make it a three-point contest, but couldn't come all the way back as Yale earned the 60-52 victory this evening in Lee Amphitheater. Senior forward Allyson DiMagno led the team with 16 points, surpassing Karen Force (2000-04) to move into fourth place in Cornell history with 1,258 career points.

In addition to her 16 points, DiMagno filled out the stat line with five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block.

Freshman forward Nia Marshall, who sat the majority of the first half due to foul trouble, finished with 14 points, while senior guard Shelby Lyman chipped in eight points and five rebounds. Senior guard Stephanie Long grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Yale (11-12, 5-4 Ivy) was led by Sarah Halejian and Nyasha Sarju, who tallied 18 points apiece, while Emmy Allen came in off the bench and finished with 14 points on a 6-of-7 performance from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Meredith Boardman also finished with eight rebounds for the Bulldogs.

The rims proved to be unkind to both teams throughout the game, with Cornell shooting just 34 percent overall, while the Bulldogs connected on just 36 percent from the field. The teams were a combined 0-10 from 3-point range in the first half, with the Big Red knocking down just 1-of-12 for the game, while Yale connected on 2-of-12.

Yale held the edge in rebounds (47-40), but turned the ball over 19 times to Cornell's 16. Both teams registered eight steals, but the Big Red assisted on 12-of-21 baskets, while Yale assisted on just 5-of-21.

After jumping out to a 10-2 lead, the Big Red's shooting touch went cold and Yale closed the first half on a 20-6 run that proved to be the difference, as Cornell never regained the lead.

The game started on a high note for the Big Red, as Marshall won the opening tip and DiMagno chased it down, collecting the ball under the basket and laying it in for the quick two points. Cornell forced two Yale turnovers on its first two possessions and got a foul-line jumper from Kerri Moran and three consecutive layups from Lyman, DiMagno and Marshall to make it a 10-2 contest just under three minutes into the game.

Sarju ended the Cornell run with a turn-around jumper in the paint. After an extended Big Red possession that saw the visitors pull down six offensive boards, the Bulldogs finally got the ball back and Halejian knocked down a mid-range jumper to make it a four-point contest (10-6) at the 14:02 mark.

Cornell kept up the defensive pressure to keep Yale off the board, but struggled offensively and neither team managed to score again until Boardman hit a layup with 11:15 showing on the clock. A single free throw from DiMagno after a hard foul put the visitors up by three points (11-8).

Sarju put back an offensive board to make it a one-point game but a layup by DiMagno, followed by a foul-line jumper from Joelle Davidson, off a great pass from DiMagno, made it a 15-10 contest with under eight to go in the half.

Back-to-back buckets by Allen and Sarju made it a one-point game once again (15-14) and after one free throw from Aspen Chandler, Allen hit a basket in a transition off a turnover to knot the game at 16-16 at the 5:12 mark.

Janna Graf scored her first points of the game on a fastbreak layup to give Yale its first lead of the contest and after a blocked shot on the other end Allen pushed the Bulldogs lead to 20-16. Hayden Latham then capped the Yale run and sent the home team into the intermission with a 22-16 lead after making a pair of free throws.

Sarju hit the first three pointer of the game in the opening minutes of the second half but Marshall hit an off-balanced layup to get Cornell on the board and after DiMagno drew her third offensive charge of the night Marshall went to the line and hit one free throw to make it a six-point contest.

Sarju put back an offensive board and then Halejian scored four consecutive points to give Yale its largest lead of the game at 31-19, but back-to-back jumpers by Lyman and DiMagno, followed by a single made free throw from Lyman made it a 31-24 contest with 13:35 to play.

Allen scored an uncontested layup when Yale broke the Big Red's full-court press but Marshall knocked down two free throws and then hit a layup to answer and make it a five point game (33-28). The teams traded baskets and Yale pushed its lead to nine points once more (40-31) with just over nine minutes to play but six unanswered Cornell points, including three from DiMagno, made it a three-point contest with 6:05 on the clock.

Sarju and Marshall traded layups on the teams next two trips down the court but a pair of made free throws from Boardman, followed by five unanswered points by Halejian pushed the Bulldogs lead back to double-digits (51-41) and ended the Cornell threat.

The Big Red battled to the end, but Yale hit 8-of-10 free throws over the final 1:31 to seal the 60-52 victory.

Cornell (12-11, 4-5 Ivy) is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 22, when it takes on Brown at the Pizzatola Center at 6 p.m.