ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red women's basketball team came one rebound shy of having three players post double-doubles, with four finishing in double-figures, as it routed Towson, 88-60, this evening in Newman Arena. With the win, Cornell improved to 4-3 on the year, while the Tigers slipped to 2-5.
 
Junior forward Nia Marshall led all scorers with 22 points and finished with nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Junior guard Kerri Moran was outstanding with career highs in points (18) and assists (10), with no turnovers, to post the Big Reds first point-assist double-double since Lauren Benson had 13 points and set a school record with 12 assists vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21. 2009.  Senior guard Maddie Campbell was solid with 12 points, four assists, and three steals, while Nicholle Aston posted her ninth career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
"I am very proud of our effort tonight," said Dayna Smith, the Rebecca Quinn Morgan '60 Head Coach of Women's Basketball. "After two disappointing performances last week, the team put in two hard, crisp practices before this game. They were willing to see their flaws and anxious to correct them. We brought a focus and an energy to the gym tonight and we executed on both ends of the court."
 
The Big Red turned the ball over just six times and forced 16 Tiger miscues with nine steals, leading to an 18-4 advantage in points off turnovers. Cornell also held the 37-30 edge in rebounds, thanks in large part to holding Daijha Tomas to just four boards. Thomas came into the game ranked 27th in the nation with 10.8 rebounds per game.
 
Cornell shot a blistering .508 percent from the floor (33-65) and .538 percent from beyond the arc (7-13) to register its most points in regulation since finishing with 92 vs. Tennessee State during the 2008-09 season. The Big Red also assisted on 27 of its 33 baskets.
 
Towson was led by Sianni Martin with 18 points and Dominique Johnson with 10. Thomas finished with eight points and her four rebounds were a team-high.
 
The Tigers shots .404 overall (21-52) and .364 from 3-point range (8-22).
 
After a back-and-forth first quarter that featured five ties, the Big Red managed to slowly take control of the contest in the second quarter, pushing its lead to as many as eight points before going into the half with the 44-37 advantage.
 
The home team went up by double digits midway through the third quarter on a layup form Marshall at the 6:37 mark and managed to push the lead all the way to 12 points on a pair of Moran free throws with four seconds remaining in the period.
 
The fourth quarter was all Cornell as Aston hit the first jumper of the quarter and then the Big Red turned defense into offense, coming up with three consecutive steals that ended in easy layups on the other end. That stared a run of 13 straight points, punctuated by a trey from Megan LeDuc, to put Cornell up, 76-51.
 
From there, the Big Red rolled to the 88-60 victory.
 
Cornell is back in action on Friday, Dec. 4 when it welcomes Stony Brook to Newman Arena for a contest at 7 p.m.