GAME INFORMATION
Game #9: Cornell at Youngstown State
Tipoff: Saturday, Dec. 17, at 12:00 p.m.
Site: Beeghly Center (6,300), Youngstown, Ohio
2016-17 Records: Cornell (5-3, 0-0 Ivy); Youngstown State (3-6, 0-0 Horizon)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 73-63, on Jan. 2, 2015 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Live Video
Live Stats

Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team returns from a two-week study break this weekend when it travels to Youngstown State to take on the Penguins on Saturday, Dec. 17 at noon. Cornell lost its last outing to Drexel to slip to 5-3 on the season, while YSU has dropped two straight to fall to 3-6 overall. Fans can follow live stats at YSUsports.com or watch the game live on ESPN3.
               
THE SERIES VS. YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The Big Red is 1-0 all-time vs. the Penguins, winning the initial meeting, 75-63, on Jan. 2, 2015.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE PENGUINS: For the second consecutive game, the Big Red saw itself facing a halftime deficit, but used outstanding offense and stingy defense to comeback in the second half and earned a hard-fought victory over Youngstown State, 75-63, on Jan. 2, 2015 in Newman Arena. Forward Nicholle Aston led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, knocking down 11-of-13 shots, to go along with six rebounds. Megan LeDuc pitched in 14 points, thanks in large part to a perfect 4-of-4 performance from 3-point range, while Christine Kline added 11 points and a game-high seven assists. Maddie Campbell tallied nine points, going 4-of-5 off the bench, and Nia Marshall had a great all-around game, finishing with eight points, a game-high 10 rebounds, a career-high six assists and three steals in 38 minutes. Youngstown State was led by Latisha Walker and Heidi Schlegel with 16 and 13 points, respectively, while Indiya Benjamin and Nikki Arbanas had nine points apiece. Schlegel was also the team's leading rebounder with four caroms as Cornell held the significant 32-19 advantage on the boards. Both teams were extremely efficient on offense, with Cornell assisting on 27-of-33 baskets and shooting 56.9 percent overall and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Penguins registered assists on 16-of-22 buckets and shot 47.8 percent overall and 61.1 percent from 3-point range.
 
SCOUTING YSU: Youngstown State has dropped its last two outings to Akron and Kent State to slip to 3-6 overall, but two of the team's three wins have come in the Beeghly Center. The Penguins have three players – Sarah Cash (11.6), Mary Dunn (11.4), and Indiya Benjamin (11.2) – that are averaging more than 11 points per game. Benjamin leads the team with 4.4 assists per game, while Natalie Myers and Dunn lead the team with 5.0 and 4.3 rebounds per game, respectively.  
 
CORNELL VS. THE HORIZON LEAGUE: Cornell is 2-2 all-time vs. the current members of the Horizon, with all four contests happening during head coach Dayna Smith's tenure. The Big Red has a winning record against Youngstown State (1-0) and a losing mark vs. both Cleveland State (1-2) and Oakland (0-1), but has never faced Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, UIC, Valparaiso, or Wright State.
 
A WIN WOULD:
• make Cornell to 2-0 all-time vs. Youngstown.
• improve Cornell to 6-3 this season.
• give Cornell a 3-0 record in games following a loss.
• improve Cornell and head coach Dayna Smith to 3-2 all-time vs. the Horizon League.
• make Coach Smith 10-5 in the first game following the University's study break.
 
STUDYING THE OPPONENTS: Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 14-21 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a record of 9-5 in the first game back from exams.
 
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.
 
HOLDING THE LEAD: The Big Red has won 12 straight contests when leading at the half, dating back to a loss to Harvard on Feb. 27, 2015. Cornell was a perfect 9-0 last season and is 3-0 so far this season when leading at the half. 
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the week with 1,379 career points. She needs just 271 to break the school record, currently held by Karen Walker (1987-91).
 
CORNELL CAREER TOP 10:
Nia Marshall
Points (3rd; 1,368) – 2 pts to move into 2nd
Field goals made (3rd; 515) – 25 FG to move into 2nd
Free throws made (4th; 333) – 3 FT to move into 3rd
Blocked shots (4th; 84) – 20 blocks to move into 3rd
Defensive rebounds (5th; 405) – 9 defensive rebs to move into 4th
Steals (6th; 173) – 14 steals to move into 5th
Starts (7th; 90) – 4 starts to move into 6th
Career rebounds (10th; 579) – 11 rebounds to move into 9th
Offensive rebounds (11th; 171) – 1 offensive reb to move into 10th
Kerri Moran
Assists (5th; 340) 48 assists to move into 4th
Career games started (11th; 83) – 2 starts to move into 10th
Megan LeDuc
Assists (10th; 277) – 7 assists to move into 9th
3-Point FG (11th; 108) – 2 3FG to move into 10th
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: The Big Red enters the week ranked among the top 100 in the nation in …
• Fewest fouls – 92nd (143)
• Scoring defense – 93rd (59.6)
• Steals per game – 99th (9.3)
• 3-point field goal defense – 84th (28.5)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 31st (.375)
• Turnovers forced – 98th (18.75)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKGINGS: Here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide as of Monday, Dec. 12 …
Nia Marshall
• Free throws made – 81st (36)
• Rebounds per game – 229th (7.1)
Megan LeDuc
• Assists per game – 186th (3.8)
• Steals per game – 152nd (2.13)
• 3-point field goals made – 92nd (21)
• 3-point field goals per game – 62nd (2.63)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 20th (48.8)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 104th (1.95)
• Assists – 97th (41)
• Assists per game – 48th (5.1)
 
TOP 10 ASSISTS:  Arguably the best backcourt duo in Cornell history, Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc enter the week ranked fifth 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 114 opponents (56 percent) to below 40 percent, including 4-of-8 games so far this season.
 
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.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Samantha Widmann was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Nov. 14 after scoring 14 points to help the Big Red comeback to defeat Loyola, 58-50.
• Caroline Shelquist was one of just eight Cornell women's basketball players to win Rookie of the Week honors twice in a career.
• Last season, Shelquist became the Big Red's first repeat Rookie of the Week winner since Nia Marshall took home the award on Feb. 3 and Feb. 10, 2014.
 
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 158 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.
  
UP NEXT: The Big Red will play its final home game of 2016 when it welcomes Canisius to Newman Arena on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m.