GAME INFORMATION
Game #16: Cornell vs. Columbia
Tip off: Saturday, Jan. 23, at 1:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, N.Y.
2015-16 Records: Cornell (9-6, 1-0 Ivy); Columbia (11-5, 0-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 45-24
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 66-59 (New York, N.Y.) on 1/16/16
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wbball
Live Video: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule 
Television: ESPN 3
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red opens a five-game home stand this weekend when it welcomes Columbia to Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m. Cornell used an epic comeback a week ago to defeat the Lions in the Ivy opener for both teams to improve to 9-6 overall, while Columbia slipped to 11-5 on the year. The game, which kicks off a double-header with the men's team, will be simulcast on the Ivy League Digital Network and nationwide on ESPN 3 with Dave Kudgus and former first-team All-Ivy honoree Allyson DiMagno '14 on the call.
 
THE SERIES VS. COLUMBIA: Cornell's rivalry with Columbia began in the 1975-76 season when the team represented Barnard College (the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was organized in 1984-85, at which time the team began playing under the name Columbia). Cornell holds a 45-24 record in the all-time series, thanks largely to the fact that it dominated the series throughout the `90s. The teams met 20 times from 1990-91 to 1999-2000, with Cornell winning 17 of those meetings, including 12 straight from 1993 to 2000. The Big Red has won nine of the last 10 outings, including four straight … Head coach Dayna Smith is 16-11 all-time vs. the Lions.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE LIONS: The Big Red erased a 17-point deficit to take a late lead and then held off Columbia to defeat the Lions, 66-59, last Saturday at Levian Gymnasium. 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. LeDuc led all scorers on a 7-of-10 performance from the field, including a 4-of-5 night from beyond the arc. Nia Marshall finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three blocks and one steal, while Maddie Campbell connected on 5-of-6 overall for 12 points. 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. After trailing 35-28 at the half, the Big Red chipped away and a trey by LeDuc right before the buzzer cut the Lions lead to 45-42 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.
 
A CORNELL WIN OVER COLUMBIA WOULD:
• be the fifth straight by the Big Red over the Lions and improve Cornell to 45-24 in the all-time series.
• give Cornell a season sweep of the Lions for the second year in a row and sixth time during Coach Smith's tenure.
• be the Big Red's 10th win in the last 11 meetings with Columbia and its sixth in a row vs. the Lions in Newman Arena.
• improve the Big Red to 10-6 on the season and 2-0 in Ivy League play.
• make Cornell 7-1 in Newman Arena this season.

BIG RED COMEBACK: Cornell trailed Columbia by 17 points (30-13) early in the second half before coming back to defeat the Lions, 66-59, on Jan. 16. The comeback win was the second of the season, as the Big Red trailed by as many as 10 points in its game with Bryant before outscoring the Bulldogs, 26-15, in the final quarter of action to steal a 70-62 victory on Nov. 15.
 
IVY OPENERS: Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 18-16 record in conference openers, thanks to its 66-59 victory over Columbia earlier this season. Head Coach Dayna Smith's record is 7-7 in the first game of Ancient Eight play. Cornell has faced the Lions more than any other team, opening the season against Columbia 17 times.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Megan LeDuc became the first Big Red player this season to be named the Ivy League Player of the Week (POW) when she took home the honor on Jan. 18 … She joins Nicholle Aston (1/26/15) as the only current Cornell player other than Nia Marshall to be named Ivy POW.
• Nia Marshall was named Ivy League POW four times last 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 was also named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Feb. 3, 2014, to become the first-ever Cornell freshman to take home the honor.
• 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; three POW).
 
WINNING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: With an 8-6 non-conference record, the Big Red has posted a winning non-conference slate for the fourth straight season. The four consecutive winning non-conference seasons is the most in program history.
 
WELL ROUNDED: Nia Marshall is just 45 rebounds shy of joining Clare Fitzpatrick '13 as just the second player in Cornell women's basketball history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocked shots in a career. Marshall, who is currently averaging 6.3 rebounds per game, is on pace to reach the mark during the Princeton/Penn weekend (Feb. 12-13).

LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: So far this season, Cornell has held 9-of-14 opponents (64 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the Big Red has held 53 of its 97 opponents (55 percent) to below 40 percent.
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: The Big Red is second in the Ivy League and seventh in the nation in fewest turnovers (202) …Cornell ranks second in the conference and is 29th in the country with a 1.18 assist/turnover ratio … The Big Red is also second in the conference and 26th in the nation in turnovers per game (13.5).
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU: Cornell ranks third in the Ivy League and 43rd in the nation in assist per game (15.9) … Kerri Moran leads the Ivy League and ranks 22nd nationally with a 2.35 assist/turnover ratio ... Moran also leads the conference and ranks 62nd in the country with 4.9 assists per game.
 
SCORES A LOT: Nia Marshall leads the Ivy League and ranks 91st in the nation in points per game (16.9).
 
I'LL TAKE THAT: The Big Red is averaging 7.7 steals per game.
 
CORNELL TOP 10: Junior Kerri Moran has moved into the top 10 in career assists (9th), while Nia Marshall has moved into the top 10 in career free throws made (10th), and career blocked shots (5th).
 
30-POINT PERFORMANCES:
• With a 31-point performance vs. Binghamton on Dec. 30, 2015, Nia Marshall became the first player in Cornell women's basketball history to register at least 30 points four times in a career.
• A year ago, Marshall became the first player in Cornell women's basketball history to score at least 30 points three times in the same season, doing so with 33 points vs. Howard on Jan. 7; 36 points vs. Vermont on Dec. 30; 31 points vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 20.
• Her career-high 36 points came 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 at least 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).
 
ON THE SMALL SIDE: Cornell's roster of 12 players is the smallest in the Ivy League.
 
SMALL SENIOR DAY: Cornell's 2015-16 roster features just one senior – Maddie Campbell. Every other team in the Ivy League has at least two seniors, while Princeton tops the conference with five. 
 
PERFECT 10: Kerri Moran became the first player in Cornell history to post 10 assists, with zero turnovers, in a single game. On three previous occasions, Lauren Benson (12-1 vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21, 2009), Kacee English (11-1 vs. Penn on Feb. 28, 1997) and Keri Farley (10-1 vs. Colgate on Dec. 6, 1994) had all posted 10+ assist performances with just one turnover.
 
CAMPBELL CAN: Senior Maddie Campbell earned her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the Big Red's 70-62 victory over Bryant. At the time, she was the only current player on the team other than Nia Marshall (10) and Nicholle Aston (7) to post a double-double and the first to do it in the 2015-16 season … In her second full season with the Big Red, the UCSB transfer is having her best season to date, averaging 7.0 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
 
40-MINUTE WOMEN:  Megan LeDuc has played at least 40 minutes in nine contests during her career. Only Karen Walker (27 games), Kacee English (17 games) and Lauren Benson (16 games) have played more 40-minute games in their career than LeDuc.
 
COACHING TENURE: Head coach Dayna Smith, in her 14th 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 (34th season), ranks ahead of Cornell's Smith.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 56-of-151 games (37 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 28-28 record (.490).
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red welcomes Harvard and Dartmouth to Newman Arena this weekend, taking on the Crimson on Friday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m., before facing the