GAME INFORMATION
Game #11: Cornell at Stony Brook
Tipoff: Friday, Dec. 30, at 1:00 p.m.
Site: Pritchard Gymnasium (1,700), Stony Brook, N.Y.
2016-17 Records: Cornell (7-3, 0-0 Ivy); Stony Brook (5-6, 0-0 America East)
Series Record: Stony Brook leads, 2-1
Last Meeting: Stony Brook won, 58-49, on Dec. 4, 2015 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
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Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team closes the 2016 portion of its schedule when it travels to Stony Brook to take on the Seawolves at Pritchard Gymnasium on Friday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. Cornell has won its last two outings to improve to 7-3 overall, its best start ever under head coach Dayna Smith, while Stony Brook had a three-game winning streak snapped in its last meeting, losing to Indiana to fall to 5-6 on the season.
 
THE SERIES VS. STONY BROOK: Cornell and the Seawolves have met three times before in women's basketball, with the Big Red winning the first meeting (65-51) during the 1999-2000 season. Stony Brook has responded with consecutive wins, the first coming in 2000-01, and the second coming in a 58-49 decision a year ago … Coach Smith is 0-1 all-time vs. the Seawolves.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE SEAWOLVES: Despite a furious rally in the fourth quarter to get back within six points, the Big Red couldn't fully recover from a slow start and fell to Stony Brook, 58-49, in Ithaca on Dec. 4, 1015. The loss snapped Cornell's seven-game non-conference winning streak in Newman Arena and evened the team's record at 4-4. Nia Marshall led all scorers with 16 points and added four rebounds and two steals, while Maddie Campbell chipped in seven points and seven rebounds. Kerri Moran had another impressive outing running the point, handing out six assists with no turnovers for the second consecutive game. Stony Brook (4-3) had three players in double figures, led by Kori Bayne-Walker with 15 points and eight assists. Brittany Snow and Ogechi Anyagaligbo had 12 points apiece, with Anyagaligbo adding 10 rebounds for a double-double. Christa Scognamiglio also finished with a game-high 12 rebounds, helping the Seawolves to a 45-33 advantage on the boards. The Big Red missed its first seven shots and connected on just .219 percent from the floor  in the first half as the visitors built a 26-18 advantage at halftime. Cornell stayed in the game thanks to some tough defense, forcing the Seawolves into nine first half turnovers. Stony Brook pushed its advantage to as many as 15 points in the closing moments of the third quarter, but the Big Red used a stifling press in the opening moments of the fourth to force the Seawolves into two misses and a turnover, cutting the lead to six points (43-37) with 7:35 to play. The teams traded baskets before a trey from Bayne-Walker ended the Cornell threat. Cornell connected on .424 percent of its shots in the second half to finish at .323 for the contest, but Stony Brook was even more efficient at .478 over the final 20 minutes to finish at .431 overall.
 
SCOUTING STONY BROOK: After an 0-3 start to the season, the Seaswolves have gone 5-3, including a three-game winning streak that was snapped in its last outing to Indiana to slip to 5-6 overall. The team has a pair of double-digit scorers, with Kori Bayne-Walker averaging 11.7 points per game, while Davion Wingate sits at 10.5 points per game. Bayne-Walker is shooting a team-best .465 percent and handing out a team-high 4.1 assists per game. Senior forward Elizabeth Manner leads the team with 6.2 rebounds per game with senior guard Christa Scognamiblio chipping in 5.5 caroms per contest.
 
CORNELL VS. THE AMERICAN EAST: Cornell improved to 20-24 all-time vs. the current members of the America East Conference after a 61-56 decision in the team's 2016-17 season opener vs. the University of New Hampshire. The Big Red holds a winning record vs. Albany (5-1) and UMBC (2-0), but a losing mark vs. Binghamton (7-8), Hartford (0-2), Maine (0-1), New Hampshire (1-4), Stony Brook (1-2) and Vermont (4-6). Cornell has never faced UMass-Lowell in women's basketball ... Coach Smith is 10-14 all-time vs. the America East.
 
A WIN WOULD:
• improve Cornell to 8-3 this season.
• give Cornell a 4-2 record on the road.
• even Cornell's record vs. Stony Brook at 2-2.
• be the third in a row over an America East opponent
• give Cornell a 20-24 record all-time vs. the America East.
• give head coach Dayna Smith her first victory over Stony Brook (1-1).
• make Coach Smith 11-14 all-time vs. the America East.
 
STRONGEST START:
• The Big Red has posted a 7-3 record so far on the season, matching the best start in program history through 10 games.
• The 7-3 start is the best ever under head coach Dayna Smith.
• Cornell has posted a 7-3 record to start a season twice before – 1972-73 and 1999-2000.
 
FIVE-WIN NOVEMBER:
• Cornell went 5-1 in November, the most wins ever achieved by the program in the month of November.
• The Big Red had previously won four games in the month of November in 1999-00, 2012-13, 2013-14.
• Three of the four winningest Novembers have come during head coach Dayna Smith's tenure.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Nia Marshall was named the Ivy League Player of the Week (POW) on Dec. 19, 2016, giving her seven POW awards in her career.
• Nia Marshall's seven POW awards are a Cornell record, surpassing Allyson DiMagno and Mary LaMacchia, who previously held the record with six honors apiece.
• Megan LeDuc (Jan. 18, 2016) and Nicholle Aston (Jan. 26, 2015) are the only current Big Red players other than Nia Marshall to be named Ivy POW.
• In addition to Nia Marshall's POW honors, she was named the Ivy Rookie of the Week (ROW) five times during the 2013-14 season, giving her 12 total Ivy weekly awards to her credit, passing Jeomi Maduka who was honored 10 times by the conference (seven ROW; three POW).
• Nia Marshall was named Ivy League POW four times in 2014-15 (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.
• Nia 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.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Danielle Jorgenson was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Dec. 19 after helping the Big Red defeat Youngstown State, 80-75.
• 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.
• Danielle Jorgenson and Samantha Widmann become the first pair of Cornell freshman to win the award in the same season since Allie Munson and Allison Abt did so during the 2008-09 campaign.
• 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.
 
IVY HONOR SWEEP: Nia Marshall and Danielle Jorgenson were named the Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, on Dec. 19 to give Cornell its first Ivy League honors sweep since Marshall took home both awards on Feb. 3, 2014.  
  
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 14 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 5-0 so far this season when leading at the half. 
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the week ranked second in Cornell history, and 34th in the Ivy League rankings, with 1,409 career points. She needs just 242 to break the school record, currently held by Karen Walker (1987-91).
 
CORNELL CAREER TOP 10:
Nia Marshall
Points (2nd; 1,409) – 242 pts to move into 1st
Field goals made (3rd; 530) – 7 FG to move into 2nd
Free throws made (3rd; 344) – 12 FT to move into 2nd
Blocked shots (4th; 87) – 17 blocks to move into 3rd
Defensive rebounds (2nd; 420) – 171 defensive rebs to move into 1st
Steals (5th; 180) – 8 steals to move into 4th
Starts (7th; 93) – 2 starts to move into 6th
Career rebounds (8th; 592) – 1 rebound to move into 7th
Offensive rebounds (10th; 172) – 2 offensive rebs to move into 9th
Kerri Moran
Assists (5th; 354) 39 assists to move into 4th
Career games started (9th; 85) – 2 starts to move into 8th
Megan LeDuc
Assists (9th; 287) – 8 assists to move into 8th
3-Point FG (7th; 111) – 2 3FG to move into 6th
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: The Big Red enters the week ranked among the top 100 in the nation in …
• Fewest fouls – 75th (177)
• Rebound margin – 97th (3.9)
• Scoring defense – 90th (59.5)
• 3-point field goal defense – 64th (28.1)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 18th (38.7)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKGINGS: Here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide at the start of the week …
Nia Marshall
• Free throws made – 80th (44)
• Rebounds per game – 242nd (7.0)
• Steals per game – 134th (2.10)
Megan LeDuc
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 223rd (1.33)
• Assists per game – 146th (4.0)
• Minutes played per game – 133rd (33.80)
• Steals per game – 163rd (2.00)
• 3-point field goals made – 134th (24)
• 3-point field goals per game – 86th (2.40)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 29th (45.3)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 89th (2.00)
• Assists – 104th (50)
• Assists per game – 53rd (5.0)
Steals per game – 228th (1.90)
 
TOP 10 ASSISTS:  Arguably the best backcourt duo in Cornell history, Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc enter the week ranked fifth and ninth, 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 64 of its 116 opponents (55 percent) to below 40 percent, including 5-of-10 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.
 
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 160 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 62-of-171 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 33-31 record (.515).
 
STARTING STREAK: Senior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 68 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 opens the New Year at Binghamton when it travels down to Vestal to take on the Bearcats on Sunday, Jan. 1 at 2 p.m.