GAME INFORMATION
Game #6: Cornell at Pitt
Tipoff: Saturday, Nov. 26, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Petersen Events Center (12,508), Pittsburgh, Pa.
2016-17 Records: Cornell (4-1, 0-0 Ivy); Pitt (5-0, 0-0 ACC)
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting
Live Video
Live Stats
 
Game #7: Cornell at Saint Francis (Pa.)
Tipoff: Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: DeGol Arena (3,500), Loretto, Pa.
* 2016-17 Records: Cornell (4-1, 0-0 Ivy); Saint Francis (Pa.) (2-2, 0-0 NEC)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 4-2
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 75-69, on Nov. 23, 2015 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Live Video 
Live Stats
 
* Cornell record prior to Saturday vs. Pitt.
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team hits the road this weekend to take on Pitt on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m. Cornell will remain in the Keystone State when it heads to Loretto to take on Saint Francis (Pa.) on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. The Big Red is coming off a solid win over Howard to improve to 4-1 for the first time since the 1999-2000 team went 5-1. Pitt comes into the game with a record of 5-0, extending their best start to a season since 2009-10 when they won the first eight games of the year. Saint Francis owns a 2-2 record on the season but will come into the game vs. the Big Red well-rested after nearly a week off since a 95-74 win vs. Canisius.
               
THE SERIES VS. PITT: Saturday's meeting will be the first in the series history between Cornell and Pitt in women's basketball.
 
CORNELL VS. THE ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE: Cornell is 4-22 all-time vs. the current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, with all four victories coming against Syracuse (4-15). The Big Red also holds a losing record vs. Boston College (0-1), Georgia Tech (0-2), Miami (0-2) and Virginia Tech (0-1) and has never faced Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Maryland, UNC, NC State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia or Wake Forest … Head Coach Dayna Smith is 1-10 against the ACC with the lone win coming against Syracuse (2003-04).
 
THE SERIES VS. SAINT FRANCIS UNIVERSITY: Cornell owns the 4-2 advantage in the series history with the Red Flash. The Big Red took the three meetings (1988, 1989, 1995), before Saint Francis won two straight in 1999 and 2003. Cornell ended the Red Flash streak with a 75-69 victory a year ago.  
 
LAST TIME VS. THE RED FLASH:  Cornell dominated the paint and withstood a torrid shooting night by Saint Francis (Pa.), overcoming a few tense moments late to come away with a 75-69 victory on Nov. 13, 2015 at Newman Arena. The matchup became a shootout between Red Flash freshman Jessica Kovatch and Cornell's Nia Marshall. Kovatch, who entered the game as the nation's 16th-leading scorer and third-leading freshman scorer, had 28 points, but Marshall had 27 points, nine rebounds, five steals and two blocks to go along with the win. The Big Red overcame 15 Saint Francis (Pa.) 3-pointers, including six by Kovatch, by shooting 55 percent from the floor and outscoring the visitors 38-8 inside. Cornell held a 40-33 edge on the boards, forced 19 turnovers with 14 steals and held off a late surge to extend its win streak to three games. Besides Marshall, Cornell got 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists from Maddie Campbell and a career night from Christine Ehland with eight points, six rebounds and two steals in 17 minutes off the bench. The starting backcourt of Kerri Moran (four points, five rebounds, eight assists) and Megan LeDuc (nine points, six rebounds, nine assists) combined for 17 assists on the night. Halee Adams had 16 points for Saint Francis, including hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers. But with no other Red Flash player with more than six points, it was the Kovatch show. The rookie hit 11-of-23 shots from the floor, including 6-of-13 from beyond the arc, and added three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. She entered the game with consecutive 30-point games and nearly got a third straight. In the first half, Cornell shot 53 percent from the floor with a dominant 26-4 edge in scoring in the paint, but eight 3-pointers by the Red Flash kept the visitors in the game. Marshall and Campbell combined for 24 points and 10 rebounds as Cornell dominated the backboards 22-13 by the break and had more assists (15) than Saint Francis (Pa.) had field goals (11). Kovatch kept the Red Flash in the contest with 14 points, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. No other visitor scored more than six points in the half.
 
CORNELL VS. THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE: Cornell is 26-8 all-time vs. the current members of the Northeast Athletic Conference. The Big Red is tied in the all-time series with Central Connecticut State (1-1), but holds a winning record vs. every other member, including Bryant (3-0), Farleigh Dickinson (2-0), Long Island (3-1), Mt. St. Mary (1-0), Robert Morris (3-1), Sacred Heart (1-0), St. Francis (N.Y.) (6-2), St. Francis (Pa.) (4-2) and Wagner (2-1) ... Coach Smith is 12-5 all-time vs. the NEC.
 
WELCOME HOME: Cornell head coach Dayna Smith attended high school at nearby Penn Hills, less than 15 minutes from the Pitt campus. She graduated from Penn Hills in 1992 after helping the Indians win four WPIAL championships.
 
COACHING CONNECTION: During Cornell head coach Dayna Smith's high school playing career at Penn Hills, Pitt head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio coached the Indians' main rival, Oakland Catholic. In Smith's final season, McConnell-Serio served as her head coach in the annual Pennsylvania East vs. Pennsylvania West all-star game.
 
COACHING TENURE: Head coach Dayna Smith, in her 15th season at the helm of the Big Red program, ranks fourth 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.
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the week with 1,332 career points. She needs just 319 to break the school record, currently held by Karen Walker (1987-91).
 
CORNELL TOP 10: Nia Marshall enters the weekend ranked in the top 10 in career points (third), career blocked shots (fourth), career field goals made (fifth), career defensive rebounds (fifth), career free throws made (sixth), career steals (sixth), and career starts (seventh) … Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc are also in the top 10 in career assists, ranking seventh and 10th, respectively.
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the weekend, the Big Red ranks among the top 100 in the nation in …
• Assists – 30th (78)
• Assists per game – 89th (15.6)
• Free throws attempts – 20th (109)
• Free throws made – 32nd (74)
• Scoring defense – 71st (57.2)
• Steals – 68th (45)
• 3-point field goal defense – 70th (26.3)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 24th (.405)
• Turnovers forced – 73rd (20.20)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKGINGS: Here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide …
Nia Marshall
• Free throws made – 33rd (23)
• Rebounds – 126th (36)
• Steals – 131st (10)
Megan LeDuc
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 178th (1.73)
• Assists – 102nd (19)
• Assists per game – 185th (3.8)
• Minutes played – 53rd (170:00)
• Minutes per game – 149th (34:00)
• Steals – 131st (10)
• 3-point field goals attempted – 124th (27)
• 3-point field goals made – 41st (13)
• 3-point field goals per game – 97th (2.50)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 67th (48.1)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 64th (2.70)
• Assists – 21st (27)
• Assists per game – 53rd (5.4)
• Free throw percentage – 33rd (93.8)
• Minutes played – 84th (162:00)
 
THE 400-POINT CLUB: In each of the past two seasons, Nia Marshall scored more than 400 points, becoming just the third player in Cornell history to do it twice in a career – joining Karen Walker (1989-90, 1990-91) and Keri Farley (1994-95, 1992-93). Her 464 points in 2015-16 ranks second overall in Cornell women's basketball history, while her 455 points in 2014-15 is good for fourth overall.
 
TOP 10 ASSISTS:  Arguably the best backcourt duo in Cornell history, Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc enter the week ranked seventh and 10th, respectively, in career assists. They are just the third pair of four-year teammates in Ivy League history to finish in the top 10 of their team's assist record list. The other Ivy duos are Brown's Julie Amato and Vita Redding (1995-99) and Dartmouth's Ashley Taylor and Fatima Kamara (2003-07).  
 
10 ASSISTS CLUB: Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc are the 11th and 12th players, respectively in Cornell history to have 10 assists in a single game, with Moran doing so vs. Towson on Dec. 2, 2015 and LeDuc doing so vs. Penn on Feb. 26, 2016 and vs. New Hampshire on Nov. 11, 2016. In total, 12 Big Red players have accounted for 24 double-digit assist performances in Cornell history.  
 
WELL ROUNDED: Nia Marshall is the only player in Cornell women's basketball history to record 1,300 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocked shots in a career.  
 
LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the Big Red has held 63 of its 111 opponents (57 percent) to below 40 percent, including 4-of-5 games so far this season.
 
HOLDING THE LEAD: The Big Red was a perfect 9-0 last season in games in which it led at halftime … Cornell is 2-0 so far this season when leading at the half.  
 
150 WINS AND COUNTING: Head Coach Dayna Smith is the winningest coach in Cornell history, and reached the 150-win mark for her career with the team's overtime victory vs. Dartmouth on Jan. 30, 2016. She currently stands at 157 career victories.
 
1,000-POINT CLUB: With a 31-point performance vs. Binghamton on Dec. 30, 2015, Nia Marshall became the 14th 1,000-point scorer in Cornell women's basketball history.
 
40-MINUTE WOMEN:  Megan LeDuc has played at least 40 minutes in 10 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.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 60-of-166 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 31-31 record (.500).
 
STARTING STREAK: Senior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 63 games. Marshall has started every game of her career, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1, 2014.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red returns home to take on Drexel in the final game prior to the University's two-week exam break on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 1 p.m.