ITHACA, N.Y. – For the second season in a row, the Big Red women's basketball team earned a sweep of Columbia, winning its fifth straight against the Lions, 84-73, this afternoon at Newman Arena.  Cornell outscored the visitors 21-9 during the second quarter to blow open a one-point game and managed to lead by double-digits for nearly the entire second half. With the win, Cornell improves to 10-6 overall (2-0 Ivy), and 7-1 in Newman Arena, while the Lions slip to 11-6 overall (0-2 Ivy).

The 84 points scored is the most by Cornell in the history of the series with Columbia, and the most scored by either team since an 83-70 victory by the Big Red during the 2006-07 season. 

"The crowd was wonderful today, so we are very excited to get a win for us and for those who came out to support us," said Dayna Smith, The Rebecca Quinn Morgan '60 Head Coach of Cornell Women's Basketball. "We have a ton of respect for Columbia. They are much improved and I was really proud of our effort and focus, especially in the second period. That second period was tremendous and it really was key for us in the win."
 
Nia Marshall, who was honored prior to the game with a commemorative game ball after reaching 1,000 career points vs. Binghamton on Dec. 30, led the Big Red with 24 points. She also grabbed four rebounds, had two assists, two blocks and one steal. Freshman Caroline Shelquist registered a career-high with 15 points on a 5-of-8 performance from 3-point range, while Kerri Moran finished wth 15 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior Maddie Campbell had nine points and a team-high five rebounds, while Marisa Knox  gave the Big Red a lift on defense and matched a career-high with six points.
 
Columbia's Camille Zimmerman led all scorers with 25 points, while Alexa Giuliano and Emily Surloff finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
 
Despite the comfortable double-digit win, the game was remarkably close, with both teams shooting an identical .500 (26-52). The Lions knocked down .571 percent from 3-point ranges (12-21), but Cornell wasn't far behind at .462 (6-of-13). Columbia held the slim 29-26 advantage on the boards, but the Big Red forced the Lions into 20 turnovers with 10 steals, which led to a 20-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Cornell hit seven consecutive baskets to open the game and went 10-of-13 in the first 10 minutes, but couldn't pull away from a Lion squad that knocked down six 3-pointers in the first period to keep it close, as the Big Red led by just one-point (25-24) at the end of the period.
 
The home team scored eight unanswered points to open the second period, thanks in part to traditional three-point plays from both Megan LeDuc and Marshall, to open up a 33-24 lead less than two minutes into the stanza. The teams battled back and forth before four straight free throws from Moran put Cornell up by double-digits (41-31) with 2:36 remaining before the break. Cornell pushed its lead to 15 points on a trey from Shelquist before taking the 46-33 lead into halftime.
 
Columbia cut into the Big Red's lead late in the third period, getting within single-digits (53-44) after a trey from Giuliano and a pair of free throws form Josie Little, but a trey from the corner from Shelquist, followed by a driving layup from LeDuc put the Big Red back up, 58-44. Surhoff knocked down a deep 3-pointer to answer but Campbell found Marshall on a great backdoor cut for an uncontested layup as Cornell took the 60-48 lead into the final break.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the fourth period before six straight points from Zimmerman, including a trey and a traditional three-point play, brought the visitors back within single-digits (69-60) with 7:05 to play.
 
An elbow jumper from Campbell put Cornell back up by 11 points but neither team could find the basket for the next two minutes until Moran and Knox combined for three made free throws to go up 74-60 at the 4:09 mark.  From there, the Big Red rolled to the 84-73 victory.
 
Cornell is back in action next weekend when it plays host to Harvard (Friday, Jan. 29; 7 p.m.) and Dartmouth (Saturday, Jan. 30; 6 p.m.) at Newman Arena.