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GAME INFORMATION
Game #23: Cornell vs. Yale
Tipoff: Friday, Feb. 20, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (14-8, 5-3 Ivy); Yale (11-11, 5-3 Ivy)
Series Record: Yale leads, 49-23
Last Meeting: Yale won, 60-53, on Feb. 1, 2015 (New Haven, Conn.)
 
Game #24: Cornell vs. Brown
Tipoff: Saturday, Feb. 21, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2014-15 Records: Cornell (14-8, 5-3 Ivy)*; Brown (9-13, 3-5 Ivy) *
Series Record: Brown leads, 47-24
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 65-52, on Jan. 30, 2015 (Providence, R.I.)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team wraps up a four-game home streak when it welcomes Yale and Brown to Newman Arena this weekend. Cornell and the Bulldogs both enter the weekend sitting in third place in the Ivy League standings, one-game back in the loss column from second-place Penn. The Big Red will look to avenge a slim 60-53 loss to Yale and snap a two-game loss to the Bulldogs on Friday, Feb. 20, at 7:00 p.m. The following evening at 6 p.m., Cornell will host its Play 4 Kay game and attempt to sweep the Bears in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2008-2009.
 
PLAY 4 KAY: Saturday's game will be the team's annual Play 4Kay game, as Cornell joins the WBCA in its fight against breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and admission to the game is fee. There will be several activities, including a photo booth, face painting, poster-making, and other games for kids, beginning at 5 p.m.
 
THE SERIES VS. YALE: Cornell first faced the Bulldogs in the 1974-75 season, with Yale taking the 31-23 victory. Since 2000, the Bulldogs holding the slim lead, (14-13), with the Big Red 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 had an eight-game winning streak snapped last year, when the Big Red earned the 65-56 victory in the first meeting of the 2013-14 campaign. Yale has won the last two meetings, including a 60-53 decision earlier this season to improve in the all-time series history, 49-23 … Head Coach Dayna Smith is 10-15 all-time vs. the Bulldogs.
               
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Despite its current three-game losing streak, Yale is tied with Cornell in third place in the Ivy League with a conference record of 5-3. Since losing Sarah Halejian to an injury prior to the Ivy season, the Bulldogs have three  players – Tamara Simpson, Nyasha Sarju, and Whitney Wyckoff – that average just under 10 points per game.
Katie Werner is also averaging 8.1 points per game while shooting a team-high 42 percent from the floor and grabbing a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.
 
LAST TIME VS. YALE: The Big Red had its six-game winning streak snapped on Feb. 1 as Yale used a strong second half to nip Cornell, 60-53. Cornell was led by Nia Marshall's 20-point, 11-rebound double-double, her second straight, and fifth of the season.  Kerri Moran added 10 points, eight  of which came in the first half, while Nicholle Aston finished with seven. Yale, which used bench points (14) and offensive rebounds (17) to earn the win, was led by Whitney Wyckoff (14) and Tamara Simpson (13). After missing its first five shots of the contest, the Big Red rebounded and finished the half at 48 percent from the floor (12-25), while limiting the Bulldogs to just 34.5 percent overall (10-29). Yale stayed in the game thanks to the deep ball, hitting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc (4-9), while Cornell missed its only 3-point attempt of the first half. Cornell struggled in the second half, shooting just 34.8 percent to finish at 41.7 percent for the game, while the Bulldogs came on strong, going 40 percent from the floor in the second stanza. The game was closely contested throughout and was tied one final time at 44-44 with just over seven minutes to play before Yale used a 6-2 run over the next four minutes to hold on for the victory.
 
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 Cornell holding the slim lead, 21-20, though the Bears still hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 47-24. Cornell has won five of the last six meetings … Head Coach Dayna Smith is 12-13 all-time vs. the Bears.
               
SCOUTING THE BEARS: Brown enters the weekend on two-game skid after falling to Princeton and Penn last weekend to slip to 9-13 overall and 3-5 in the Ivy League.  Jordin Alexander (15.4 ppg.) and Sophie Bikofsky (13.3 ppg.) lead the Bears in scoring, while Janie White is averaging a team-high 6.7 rebounds per contest. Defensively, Brown has struggled allowing 68.3 points per game while its opponents are shooting 41 percent overall and 31 percent from 3-point range.
 
LAST TIME VS. BROWN:  The Big Red remained perfect in the Ivy League (3-0) and extended its win streak to six consecutive games when it defeated Brown, 65-52, on Jan. 30 at the Pizzitola Center in Providence, R.I. Sophomore forward Nicholle Aston lead four Big Red players in double-digits as Cornell improved to 12-5 on the season. Aston finished with a game-high 18 points and added 10 rebounds for her fourth career double-double, and second in as many games, to lead the Big Red. Frontcourt mate Nia Marshall also registered a double-double, the eighth of her career and her fifth this season, with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Overall, Cornell dominated in the paint, holding the 38-18 advantage. Sophomore guards Megan LeDuc and Kerri Moran added 11 and 10 points, respectively, with LeDuc grabbing six rebounds and Moran handing out seven assists. Senior guard Christine Kline was one of five Big Red players to pull down at least six rebounds, as the Big Red held the significant 47-35 edge on the backboards. Brown (6-11, 0-3 Ivy) was led by Jordan Alexander with 17 points, while Janie White tallied nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. Cornell shot 44.6 percent from the floor (25-56) and 33.3 percent from the arc (4-12), thanks in large part to Taylor DePalma who was a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range. The Big Red assisted on 15-of-25 baskets and used some tough defense to limit the Bears to just 27.9 percent shooting overall (17-61) and a mere 17.9 percent from long distance (5-28).  
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Nia Marshall has been named Ivy League Player of the Week (POW) four times this season (Dec. 22, Dec. 29, Jan. 12, Feb. 15), becoming the first Big Red women's basketball player to be named Ivy POW four times in a single season since Allyson DiMagno did so during the 2012-13 campaign. 
• Marshall earned her first Ivy League Player of the Week of the season on Dec. 22 after becoming the first Big Red player to register 30+ points in a game since the 2001 season, finishing with 31 points and 10 rebounds vs. Robert Morris.
• She repeated as Ivy League Player of the Week on Dec. 29, becoming the first Big Red player to earn back-to-back honors since Allyson DiMagno during the 2012-13 season.
• In three of those four weeks (Dec. 22, Dec. 29, Jan. 12), she also named the College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the Week.
• Marshall was also named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Feb. 3, 2014, to become the first-ever Cornell player to take home the honor as a freshman. 
• Marshall's five career POW honors ranks third all-time in Cornell history, behind Allyson DiMagno and Mary LaMacchia who each took home the award six times.
• In addition to her five POW honors, Marshall was named the Ivy Rookie of the Week (ROW) five times last season, giving her 10 total Ivy weekly awards to her credit, matching Jeomi Maduka who was honored 10 times by the conference (seven ROW; 3 POW).
• Nicholle Aston earned her first Ivy POW honor on Jan. 26 following her 14-point, 10-rebound double-double at Columbia. She was also named the College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the Week.
 
 
40-MINUTE WOMEN:  
So far this season, Megan LeDuc has played at least 40 minutes in eight contests. Only Karen Walker, Kacee English and Lauren Benson have played more 40-minute games than LeDuc.
1) Kacee English – 27 games
2) Karen Walker – 17 games
3) Lauren Benson – 16 games
4) Megan LeDuc – 8 games
5) Yvonne Jones – 8 games
6) Allyson DiMagno – 6 games
7) Kim Ruck – 5 games
 
COACHING TENURE: Head coach Dayna Smith, in her 13^th season at the helm of the Big Red program, ranks third overall in Ivy League women's basketball history in years served as a head coach in the conference. Only one active coach, Harvard's Kathy Delaney-Smith (33^rd season), ranks ahead of Cornell's Smith.
 
FASTEST TO 10 WINS: With its 59-39 win vs. Columbia on Jan. 17, Cornell matched its best start in school history with a 10-5 record, previously set in in 1999-2000.
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU?: So far this season, Cornell has assisted on 337-of-512 baskets (65.8 percent) … As of Feb. 17, the team ranks second in the Ivy League and 54th in the country in assists per game (15.2) … Three Cornell players – Megan Christine Kline (third), LeDuc (fourth), and Kerri Moran (sixth) – rank in the top 10 of the Ivy League in assists per game.
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: As of Feb. 17, Cornell is second in the conference and 38th in the country in assist to turnover ratio (0.99) … The team is also second in the conference and 80th in the country in turnover margin (2.50).
 
I'LL TAKE THAT:
• As of Feb. 17, the Big Red is averaging 9.0 steals per game, ranking second in the Ivy League and 85th in the nation.
 
INDIVIDUAL EFFORT (as of Feb. 17):
• Christine Kline ranks 48th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (2.03), while Megan LeDuc (154th – 1.46) and Kerri Moran (232nd – 1.11) also appear in the rankings.
• Megan LeDuc ranks 178th in the country with 3.6 assists per game, while Christine Kline is 194th with 3.5 apg.
• Nicholle Aston currently ranks 35th in the nation with a .520 shooting percentage, while Nia Marshall sits at 89th overall (.478).
• Nia Marshall ranks 62nd in the country in points per game (17.7) and 134th in rebounds per contest (8.0).
• Nia Marshall ranks 57th in the nation with 2.41 steals per game, while Christine Kline sits 118th nationally with 2.09 steals per game.
 
IVY LEADERS: As of Feb. 17, several Big Red players are ranked among the Ivy League leaders this season, including:
*Nia Marshall – first in scoring (17.7ppg.)
*Nicholle Aston –12th in scoring (12.1 ppg.)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in rebounding (8.0 rpg.)
*Nicholle Aston – seventh in rebounding (7.2 rpg.)
*Nicholle Aston – second in field goal percentage (.520)
*Nia Marshall – sixth in field goal percentage (.478)
*Christine Kline – third in assists per game (3.6 apg.)
*Megan LeDuc – fourth in assists per game (3.5 apg.)
*Kerri Moran – sixth in assists per game (3.3 apg.)
*Nia Marshall – 12th in free throw percentage (.688)
*Christine Kline –13th in free throw percentage (.669)
*Nia Marshall – first in steals (2.4 spg.)
*Christine Kline – second in steals (2.1 spg.)
*Megan LeDuc – 12th in steals (1.4 spg.)
*Megan LeDuc – 12th in 3-point FG percentage (.302)
*Megan LeDuc – ninth in 3-point FGM (1.5 per game)
*Nia Marshall – 15th in blocked shots (0.6)
*Christine Kline – first in assist/turnover ratio (2.0)
*Megan LeDuc – fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.5)
*Kerri Moran – seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.1)
*Nicholle Aston – fourth in offensive rebs. (2.6 per game)
*Nia Marshall – 13th in offensive rebs. (1.9 per game)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in defensive rebs. (6.1 per game)
*Nicholle Aston – 10th in defensive rebs. (4.6 per game)
*Megan LeDuc – first in minutes played (36.3 per game)
*Nia Marshall – fourth in minutes played (34.4 per game
*Christine Kline – eighth in minutes played (32.5 per game)
 
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 138 career coaching wins.
 
TIGHT LOSSES: six of the Big Red's eight losses this season have come by nine or few points.
 
TOUGH D: Cornell has held 7-of-22 opponents this season to less than 50 points, a feat it accomplished just three times all of last season … As of Feb. 17, the Big Red ranks 59th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 58.5 points per game.
 
LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, Cornell held 42 of its 77 opponents (55 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor, including 14-of-22 opponents (64 percent) so far this season.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 48-of-132 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 24-24 record (.500).
 
STARTING STREAK: With the graduation of Allyson DiMagno, sophomore Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at just 24 games. Both Marshall and Kerri Moran started every game in 2013-14, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1, 2014.
 
BIG MINUTES: Not only have Nicholle Aston, Christine Kline and Megan LeDuc earned the first starts of their collegiate careers this season, but the trio has each roughly tripled their playing time from a season ago. Kline has seen the greatest increase, going from 7.4 to 32.5 minutes per game, while Aston has gone from 11.3 to 31.1 minutes per game, and LeDuc has gone from 11.5 to 36.3 minutes per game. 
 
ON THE SMALL SIDE: Cornell's roster of 14 players is one of the smallest in the Ivy League, with only Dartmouth and Yale featuring fewer players at 13 apiece.
 
ON THE YOUNG SIDE: Of Cornell's 14 players, 11 are underclassmen with just two seniors and one junior. No other team in the Ivy League has fewer upperclassmen, with the next youngest group being Yale with one senior and four juniors. No other team has as many underclassmen.
 
NEW STARTERS: In each of the first eight games this season, the Big Red started four players – Megan LeDuc, Christine Kline, Maddie Campbell and Nicholle Aston – that had yet to start a game for Cornell previously. Since that time, Kerri Moran, who started 27-of-28 games a season ago, has returned to the starting line-up in place of Campbell.
 
GET A GRIP: Cornell turned the ball over just five times at Penn on Feb. 6, setting a school record for the fewest turnovers in a single game, besting the record of six which had previously been set twice before (at Penn in 2008; at Princeton on March 9, 1985).
 
30-POINT PERFORMANCES:
• Nia Marshall has registered at least 30 points three times this season – 33 points vs. Howard on Jan. 7; 36 points vs. Vermont on Dec. 30; 31 points vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 20.
• With 33 points vs. Howard, Marshall became the first player in Cornell women's basketball history to score at least 30 points three times in the same season.
• Her career-high 36 points in Cornell's double overtime victory against Vermont on Dec. 30.
• Marshall's first career 30-point game, coming vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 20, made her the first Big Red player to reach the 30-point plateau since Do Stevens in 2001.
• Marshall is the only player in Coach Smith's tenure to score 30+ points in a game.
• Only three women's basketball players in Cornell history have had three 30 point games in their career, with Marshall joining Keri Farley and Karen Walker.
• Only once before has Cornell had two 30-point games in the same season, previously done by Karin Dwyer (Jan. 21, 1984 vs. Yale; Feb. 24, 1984).
 
UNDEFEATED JANUARY: With its 65-52 victory at Brown on January 30, the Big Red went undefeated in the month of January for the first time in program history … Cornell  has had just one loss in January three times, all three of which came during Coach Smith's tenure.
 
GOING STREAKING: The Big Red's six-game winning streak from Dec. 30, 2014 to Jan. 30, 2015 was the longest since setting the school record with eight consecutive victories during the 2007-08 season.
 
SUB-40 PERFORMANCE: When Cornell def. Columbia, 59-39, on Jan. 17, it was the first time the Big Red held an opponent below 40 points since defeating Fordham, 40-39, on Jan. 2, 2012. It was the lowest point production by an Ivy League opponent since Cornell beat Brown, 70-37 on Feb. 1, 2008 and it was the lowest scoring output by the Lions in the series since a 60-39 Big Red decision on Jan. 24, 1998. In total, Cornell has held opponents to fewer than 40 points on 46 occasions, but just 14 times since the 1979-80 season.
 
STEALS RECORD: Sophomore guard Megan LeDuc matched the Cornell single-game record with eight steals vs. Columbia on Jan. 17. The record was originally set by Christine Houston vs. Rochester on Feb. 2, 1978. Houston tallied eight steals a second time on March 2, 1978 vs. Binghamton. Besides LeDuc, Karen Force is the only other Big Red player to register eight steals against a Division I opponent (Coppin State, Dec. 8, 2001). 
 
IVY OPENERS: Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 17-16 record in conference openers, thanks to its 59-39 victory over Columbia last weekend. Head Coach Dayna Smith's record is 6-7 in the first game of Ancient Eight play. Cornell has faced the Lions more than any other team, opening the season against Columbia 16 times.
 
WINNING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: With its 9-5 non-conference, the Big Red earned a winning non-conference record for the third straight season, a feat that has never been accomplished in Cornell women's basketball history.
 
90-POINT PERFORMANCE: Cornell's 90-point output in its double overtime victory at Vermont ranks third all-time in Big Red history for points scored in a single game, tied with 90 points in a loss at Canisius in 1998. The school record for points scored stands at 99, which came in an overtime loss to Harvard (105-99) in 1995. Cornell has reached 90 points twice in Coach Smith's tenure with the Vermont performance coming in behind a 92-73 victory against Tennessee State on Nov. 21, 2009.
 
FIRST TIME THREE: Nia Marshall connected on her first-ever collegiate 3-point attempt on Dec. 30 when she tied the game with Vermont at 80-80 by banking in a step-back trey with 2.2 seconds on the clock to send the game into a second overtime session.
 
PERFECT NIGHT: Earlier this season, Nicholle Aston set the school record for field goal percentage in a single game, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the field vs. Marshall on Nov. 26.
 
FIRST MINUTES: Through the first eight games of the season, just one freshman – Christine Ehland – had seen playing time, seeing action against Hartford, Fairfield, Marshall, Bucknell and Buffalo. Since that time, the four other healthy members of the class - Janée Dennis, Marisa Knox, Janelle Odionu, and Paige Samuelson – have seen their first minutes of the season.
 
STUDYING THE OPPONENTS: Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 13-21 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a record of 8-5 in the first game back from exams, a mark that was raised this season with Cornell's 70-59 overtime victory against Robert Morris on Dec. 20.
 
SMARTY PANTS: Cornell led all Ivy League teams and ranked 20th nationally when the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) announced its Academic Top 25 for the 2013-14 season. Head coach Dayna Smith's team posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.420 in 2013-14. Cornell was one of three Ivy League schools in the rankings, joining Yale (23rd, 3.397) and Brown (24^th, 3.394). The University of Missouri-Kansas City led the way with a 3.628 grade point average.
 
FOR OPENERS: The Big Red is 19-25 all-time in season openers after its 48-46 heartbreaking loss to Hartford on Nov. 14. Coach Dayna Smith is now 3-10 in season openers.
 
FRESHMAN [FOUR]CE: With two starters and two others contributing significant minutes, four members of last season's freshman class – Kerri Moran, Nia Marshall, Nicholle Aston and Megan LeDuc – put their stamp on the 2013-14 season. All four averaged more than 11 minutes per game and as a group, they shot 42 percent (253-of-605) from the floor. The quartet also contributing an average of 24.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 3.6 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
 
100 THREES: The Big Red has amassed at least 100 3-pointers in each of the last seven seasons … Cornell 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.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES
• In total, Nia Marshall was named Rookie of the Week  five times last season (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 was the first Cornell player to receive two Rookie of the Week awards in a single season since Lauren Benson in 2006-07.
 
HI, MY NAME IS: Cornell has a pair of new faces on the bench for the 2014-15 season – assistant coaches Todd Goclowski and Brendan Burke. A coach with 15 years of experience, Goclowski came to East Hill after eight highly successful years Lebanon Valley College, where he was the winningest coach in the history of the program. Burke came to Cornell after three seasons at Boston University, where he served as the Director of Basketball Operations for two seasons.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red adds six players to the 2014-15 squad – Janée Dennis (Burlington, N.J.), Christine Ehland (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jamie Hill (Montville, Conn.), Marisa Knox (Memphis, Tenn.), Janelle Odionu (Newmarket, Ala.) and Paige Samuelson (Rock Hill, S.C.). The class comes from six different states and consists of three forwards and three guards.
 
WHAT WAS LOST: The Big Red graduated five players from the 2013-14 squad – Aspen Chandler, Joelle Davidson, Allyson DiMagno, Stephanie Long, and Shelby Lyman – and lost one other non-letter winners. The six players accounted for an average of 37.7 points and 19.0 rebounds per game.

WHAT REMAINS: Cornell returns two starters and six letter winners from last season's squad. The Big Red returns 42% of its scoring (751-of-1,768 points) and 49% of its rebounding (488-of-988) from a year ago.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red will play its final road weekend of the season when it travels to Harvard and Dartmouth on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28, respectively. The game against the Crimson will tip-off at 7 p.m., while the game vs. the Big Green is slated to begin at 6 p.m.