SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Nia Marshall had a game-high 23 points and Maddie Campbell posted her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds to help the Big Red women's basketball team erase a 10-point Bryant lead and defeat the Bulldogs, 70-62, this afternoon at Chace Athletic Center.
 
After losing its season opener to Hartford, 53-50, in the final moments of the contest, the Big Red rebounded with a gritty victory, outscoring the home team, 26-15 in the final quarter to earn its first win of the season and remain perfect in the all-time series vs. the Bulldogs. Cornell used a decisive 11-0 run over a span of 3:41 in the fourth quarter to take a lead it would not relinquish.
 
In addition to Marshall and Campbell's big games, Megan LeDuc finished with 13 points, nine of which came in the decisive final quarter, while Nicholle Aston added eight points and eight rebounds.
 
Cornell's defense was solid, holding Bryant to just 33.3 percent shooting, including a mark of 29 percent from beyond the arc, and harassed the Bulldogs into 21 turnovers with 13 steals.
 
Bryant (0-1) had four players in double-digits, led by Ivory Bailey's 15 points. Both Kerra Palmer and Breanna Rucker finished with 12 points, while Tiersa Winder tallied 11.
 
The Bulldogs stayed in the game thanks to its work on the boards as it outrebounded the Big Red, 42-30, including an impressive 20 offensive boards that led to 18 second chance points. Morgan Olander had a team-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points, while Rucker came one rebound shy of a double-double.
 
Cornell, which shot 50 percent for the game (28-56) and 62.5 percent from 3-point range (5-8),  got off to a good start, jumping out to a quick 6-1 lead. The Big Red eventually took a 15-10 lead into the first break after a deep 3-pointer by Marshall.
 
Aston opened the scoring in the second quarter with a wide-open layup off a nice over the top pass from Marshall to give Cornell a seven-point lead (17-10), but Palmer knocked down the first of three consecutive 3-pointers scored by the freshman to open up an 11-3 run, giving the home team its first lead of the game (21-20) at the 6:35 mark.


Campbell answered on the next trip down the court and the teams traded made free throws, with two coming from Marisa Knox, but the Bulldogs went on another 9-0 run to go up, 32-24, with 3:12 left in the second quarter.
 
A tough layup from Marshall ended the run, but Olander answered with back-to-back layups to put the home team up by double-digits, 36-26, its largest lead of the contest, with under two minutes to play in the first half.
 
Campbell converted a traditional three-point play off an offensive rebound putback, and Knox came up with a steal on Bryant's last possession to send the teams into the half with Cornell trailing, 36-29.
 
Cornell used some tough defense and went to its inside game to make it a five-point game (38-33) early in the third quarter. The Bulldogs eventually pushed its lead back to eight points, 45-37, but a trey from Moran, followed by a layup from Ehland, after LeDuc drew an offensive charge to get the ball back, made it a three-point game with just over one minute to play in the third. Cornell forced a miss on the Bulldogs next time down the court and Eland grabbed a tough rebound. Moments later, Aston hit a long jumper to cut the Bryant lead to one-point (45-44) but Rucker hit a pair of free throws to make it 47-44 heading into the final quarter.      
 
LeDuc hit a layup on Cornell's first possession of the fourth quarter to make it a one-point game once again at 47-46. Moments later a deep three from the top of the key from Caroline Sehlquist knotted the game at 51-51 with 7:55 to play and opened up the decisive 11-0 run for the visitors.
 
On Bryant's next trip down the court, Marshall stole the ball and Aston converted on an offensive putback on the other end Cornell's defense came up big on the Bulldogs' next possession and forced Bailey into a bad shot. Campbell pulled down the rebound and outletted to a streaking Marshall, who laid it in. The defense came through once again with a steal by Marshall, who went the distance and put the visitors up, 57-51, with just over six minutes remaining in the contest. The Big Red struck again when a huge block by Aston lead to a layup from Marshall.
 
A layup from Bailey ended the run but Aston answered on the other end when she blew by her defender and hit the open layup. Winder hit a trey with just over three minutes to play but LeDuc hit a runner in the lane as the shot clock expired to put Cornell up by seven (63-56) at the 2:44 mark.
 
The teams traded empty possessions before LeDuc hit deep 3-pointer as the shot clock was about to expire to make it a double-digit lead (66-56) with 1:17 to play.
 
After Rucker hit a pair of free throws, Marshall knocked down a foul line jumper to return the lead to 10 points with 45 seconds to play.
 
Bailey  hit a trey to get the home team back within seven points (68-61) but that was as good as it would get as LeDuc sunk a pair of free throws and Cornell earned the 70-62 decision.
 
The Big Red will play its first home game of the season when it welcomes Colgate on Wednesday, Nov. 18 for a contest at 8:30 p.m. The game will be the nightcap in a double-header as the Big Red men's team will take on Binghamton at 6 p.m.