ITHACA, N.Y. – For the second consecutive game, the Big Red women's basketball team saw itself facing a halftime deficit, but used outstanding offense and stingy defense to comeback in the second half and earned a hard-fought victory over Youngstown State, 75-63, this evening in Newman Arena. With the win, Cornell improves to 8-5 overall and with just one non-conference game remaining is guaranteed a winning non-conference record for the third straight season, a feat that has never been accomplished in Cornell women's basketball history. For the Penguins, the loss was just their second on the season, as they fall to 11-2 overall.
Sophomore forward
Nicholle Aston led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, knocking down 11-of-13 shots, to go along with six rebounds.
Megan LeDuc pitched in 14 points, thanks in large part to a perfect 4-of-4 performance from 3-point range, while
Christine Kline added 11 points and a game-high seven assists.
Maddie Campbell tallied nine points, going 4-of-5 off the bench, and
Nia Marshall had a great all-around game, finishing with eight points, a game-high 10 rebounds, a career-high six assists and three steals in 38 minutes.
Youngstown State was led by Latisha Walker and Heidi Schlegel with 16 and 13 points, respectively, while Indiya Benjamin and Nikki Arbanas had nine points apiece. Schlegel was also the team's leading rebounder with four caroms as Cornell held the significant 32-19 advantage on the boards.
Both teams were extremely efficient on offense, with Cornell assisting on 27-of-33 baskets and shooting 56.9 percent overall and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Penguins registered assists on 16-of-22 buckets and shot 47.8 percent overall and 61.1 percent from 3-point range.
YSU got out to a 39-35 halftime lead thanks to a hot-shooting first half that saw the Penguins connect on 68.2 percent overall (15-22) and an unbelievable 70 percent from long range (7-10).
The visitors cooled off in the second half as the Big Red tightened up defensively and Cornell opened the second stanza with an 11-4 scoring run to take its first lead since the 9:11 mark of the first half. The run started with four consecutive points from Aston, before a trey from Kline pulled Cornell within two points. On YSU's next possession, Jenna Hirsch's 3-point attempt was off the mark and the long rebound was collected by Kline, who streaked up the court and laid the ball in to knot the game at 44 apiece. Another Penguin miss led to a bucket from Aston, who hit a foul line jumper to put the home team up, 46-44, with 14:50 to play.
The teams traded points for the next 2:40 before a 3-pointer from Kline gave Cornell a lead it would not relinquish. The Big Red eventually pushed its lead to as many as 16 points (69-53) on a jumper from Marshall with 5:53 to play and Cornell cruised to the 75-63 victory.
The Big Red will play its final non-conference game of the season when it welcomes Howard to Newman Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m.
