ITHACA, N.Y. – The first 10 minutes of the 2016-17 Cornell women's basketball season did not go the way head coach
Dayna Smith expected. With five senior starters on the floor for the first time of her 15-year career on East Hill, the first 10 minutes saw the Big Red hit just 4-of-17 shots, while the starting forward tandem of
Nia Marshall and
Nicholle Aston each picked up a pair of quick fouls. Trailing 20-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Big Red went on to outscore New Hampshire 27-13 over a 15-minute span to take its first lead in a game they would go on to win, 61-56.
"We got a couple silly fouls early and we were settling for outside shots because they went zone," said Smith. "We were real passive against it. So when we became more aggressive, and then got some defensive stops, forcing them to play man on a miss, we were able to get back in the flow."
Despite the slow start, Cornell shot 40.7 percent overall for the game, thanks in large part to
Kerri Moran (6-of-10) and Aston (7-of-10), who combined to hit 13-of-20 shots from the floor (65 percent). Moran finished with a team-high 18 points, just one off her career-high, including a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final moments as Cornell salted the game away. Due to foul trouble, Aston played just 17 minutes, but managed to tally 14 points and three rebounds, while Marshall chipped in 10 points, three boards, two assists and two steals.
Megan LeDuc matched a career-high with 10 assists, good for eighth in Cornell history for assists in a single-game, while
Taylor DePalma made her first career start and finished with four points, two rebounds and two steals.
"It was really great to see some people step up in place of Nia and Nicholle, and both Nia and Nicholle responded really well to having to sit so long with so many fouls," said Smith. "We had some great team defense at the end there and it was a great team victory."
The Big Red relied on its defense to get back in the contest. Six of the squad's eight freshmen saw time, allowing Coach Smith to keep a constant stream of fresh legs pressing the Wildcats and the visitors finished the game with 24 turnovers.
UNH was led by Carlie Pogue's 20-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Brittni Lai tallied 17 points.
Cornell's comeback started midway through the second quarter as a layup for DePalma cut the Wildcats' lead to single digits (25-17). Pogue made a single free throw to make it a nine-point game, but Marshall returned to the Big Red lineup and immediately made her presence felt, getting a steal, hitting a jumper and then taking a charge all in the span of 47 seconds. She then knocked down a jumper from just inside the three-point line at the buzzer to send Cornell into the break trailing the visitors, 26-23.
The Wildcats regrouped during the intermission and pushed its lead back to six (33-27), but once again DePalma started a run, getting a put-back off an offensive board. The Big Red went on to score 10 unanswered, six of which came from Moran, to take a 37-33 advantage at the 5:11 mark.
UNH would take one last lead, 40-39, on a layup from Aliza Simpson, but Moran answered with a layup of her own and again Marshall closed the quarter with a jumper to make it 43-40 at the final break.
Cornell pushed its advantage to 57-50 with less than a minute to play, and just as it seemed the game was in hand, the Wildcats made one last push. Kat Fogarty knocked down a deep three with 38 seconds remaining, and then UNH forced the Big Red into a turnover on its next possession. Fogarty took another crack from way beyond the arc, and this time she missed, but Kristen Anderson grabbed the rebound and found Lai at the top of the key and she connected to cut Cornell's lead to one-point (57-56) with 11 ticks on the clock. The Wildcats were forced to foul, sending LeDuc to the line, where she knocked down both to make it a 59-56 advantage, and Cornell forced a turnover on UNH's next trip down the court. Moran then hit two free throws with one second remaining in the contest to account for the 61-56 victory.
The Big Red is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 13 when it takes on Loyola at Newman Arena at 1 p.m.
