NEW YORK CITY – The Big Red women's basketball team erased a 17-point deficit to take a late lead and then held off Columbia to defeat the Lions, 66-59, this afternoon at Levian Gymnasium. Junior guard Megan LeDuc was instrumental in the second half comeback, scoring 17 of her career-high 19 points after the intermission to rally the visitors to victory. With the win, its fourth straight over the Lions and ninth in the last 10 meetings with Columbia, Cornell improves to 9-6 overall (1-0 Ivy), while Columbia falls to 11-5 (0-1 Ivy).   
 
LeDuc led all scorers on a 7-of-10 performance from the field, including a 4-of-5 night from beyond the arc. Junior forward Nia Marshall finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks and one steal, while senior guard Maddie Campbell connected on 5-of-6 overall for 12 points. Junior guard Kerri Moran finished with 10 points, three assists, one steal and one block, while Nicholle Aston grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and chipped in seven points, three assists and two steals.
 
Columbia was led by Alexa Giuliano, Josie Little, and Devon Roeper with 10 points apiece, but the Big Red limited Camille Zimmerman, the third leading scorer in the Ivy League, to just nine points. Zimmerman did post a game-high 12 rebounds as the Lions held the significant 41-30 advantage on the boards.
 
Cornell shots .455 percent overall (25-55) and held the Lions to just .339 percent from the floor (20-59). The Big Red also went .500 from beyond the arc, connecting on 4-of-8, while holding Columbia to just .200 percent from 3-point range, thanks in large part to an 0-of-10 performance in the second half.
 
The Big Red forced Columbia into 20 turnovers with eight steals, leading to a 20-9 advantage in points off of turnovers.
 
After trailing 35-28 at the half, Aston knocked down a jumper to open the scoring in the third period and then fed Campbell for an open layup after a steal from Moran to make it a one-possession game. Another big defensive stop led to a runner in the lane for Moran to make it a 35-34 Columbia lead.
 
Tori Oliver ended the 6-0 Cornell run with a pair of free throws to make it a 37-34 contest. The Lions then stretched its lead back to five points (39-34) but five straight points from LeDuc reset the game at 39-39 at the 4:36 mark. Both teams went cold for more than two minutes before back-to-back jumpers by Sara Mead and Emily Surloff pushed the Lions back ahead by five, but a trey by LeDuc right before the buzzer made it a 45-42 game at the end of the third.
 
Marshall opened the fourth period with a layup and after a defensive stop, Campbell hit a foul line jumper to give Cornell its first lead since the 5:45 mark of the first quarter with a 46-45 advantage. A traditional three-point play by Little returned the lead to the home team but a driving layup from Moran and a deep baseline jumper from Marshall as the shot clock expired put the visitors up 50-48.
 
Giuliano tied the game at 50-50 with a pair of free throws but back-to-back treys from LeDuc made it a 56-50 game with just over four minutes to play. Zimmerman hit a jumper in the paint but on the next Cornell possession Aston went to work, pulling down two offensive boards before averting a turnover by tipping a bobbled ball to LeDuc, who knocked down her third straight basket to make it a 58-52 game with 1:55 to play.
 
The Big Red managed to keep Columbia down by at least four points until a layup by Zimmerman made it a one-possession game (62-59) with 32 seconds to play, but the Big Red knocked down 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to complete the comeback.
 
Despite the second half heroics, the game had started with a bang for the Big Red as Moran blocked a shot on Columbia's first possession and then received a perfect outlet pass on the run from LeDuc to score the Big Red's first bucket of the game. The visitors pushed its lead to 7-3 after layups from Moran and Campbell, but Columbia responded with four unanswered points by Zimmerman to tie the game at the 7:27 mark.
 
A Marshall layup on a great feed from Christine Ehland restored the 9-7 lead to the Big Red but a trey from Paulina Korner gave the Lions their first lead with just over three minutes to play in the first quarter.
 
The home team closed the first period on a 13-4 run and then knocked down its first four shots of the second, including back-to-back treys to open the quarter and push its lead to 30-13 at the 7:54 mark. After a much-needed timeout, the Big Red stepped up its defense and closed the half on a 15-5 run to get back within single digits (35-28) at the intermission.
 
Cornell opens up a five-game home stand when it welcomes Columbia to Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 1:00 p.m. The game is part of a double-header with the men's basketball team, which will take on the Lions in the nightcap at 4 p.m.