GAME INFORMATION
Game #23: Cornell at Dartmouth
Tip off: Friday, Feb. 19, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Leede Arena (Hanover, N.H.)
2015-16 Records: Cornell (13-9, 5-3 Ivy); Dartmouth (9-15, 5-3 Ivy)
Series Record: Harvard leads, 64-11
Last Meeting: Harvard won OT, 65-56 (Ithaca, N.Y.) on 1/29/16
Live Video:  http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule
Live Stats: www.DartmouthSports.com
 
Game #24: Cornell at Harvard
Tip off: Saturday, Feb. 20, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Lavietes Pavilion (Cambridge, Mass.)
2015-16 Records: Cornell (13-9, 5-3 Ivy); Harvard (10-11, 4-4 Ivy)*
Series Record: Dartmouth leads, 55-19
Last Meeting: Cornell won OT, 71-58 (Ithaca, N.Y.) on 1/30/16
Live Video: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule
Live Stats: www.GoCrimson.com
 
* records prior to Friday, Feb. 19
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: After dropping a pair of games last season, the Big Red women's basketball team slipped to third place in the Ivy League standings, tied with Harvard with identical conference records of 5-3. Sitting directly below Cornell and the Crimson is Dartmouth with an Ivy record of 4-4. The Big Red takes on both teams this weekend, travelling to Dartmouth and Harvard on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Both games will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
 
THE SERIES VS.DARTMOUTH: Cornell's rivalry with Dartmouth began in the 1976-77 season when the Big Red squeaked out a 50-49 victory, but the Big Green has dominated ever since. Dartmouth holds the advantage in the all-time series, 55-18, but had an 11-game winning streak ended during the 2007-08 season when the Big Red earned a 50-43 victory at Newman Arena. Since that time, the two teams have been fairly even, with Cornell holding the 10-7 lead over the past 17 meetings, with five of those games being decided by four or fewer points. The Big Red had a five-game winning streak, the longest by Cornell in the history of the series, ended last season at Leede Arena, but won the meeting earlier this season at Newman Arena.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE BIG GREEN: For the first time since the 1972-1973 season, and the first time ever in Ivy League play, Cornell went to overtime for the second time in as many games. After shooting 66.7 percent from the field in the second half, the Big Red came out on the winning side of a back-and-forth battle, downing Dartmouth, 71-58, on Jan. 30 in Newman Arena. Senior Maddie Campbell posted a career-high 18 points and added seven rebounds, while junior Nia Marshall led the Big Red with 19 points and eight boards. Junior Nicholle Aston rounded out the double figure scorers (10 points) and added seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Megan LeDuc chipped in nine points and tied a career mark with nine assists, with no turnovers, while playing a full 45 minutes. Dartmouth was led by Lakin Roland's 19-point, 16-rebound double-double, while Kate Letkewicz added 12 points. Cornell shot an impressive .491 percent from the floor (27-of-55) and connected on .400 percent from beyond the arc (4-of-10), while holding the Big Green to just .375 percent overall, including a mark of .125 (1-of-8) in overtime, and just .200 percent from 3-point range. The Big Red also held the slim edge in rebounds (36-33), but Dartmouth used 12 offensive boards to score 10 second chance points. Both teams took care of the ball with the Big Green registering just eight turnovers to Cornell's 11. Cornell completely dominated the overtime period, shooting .500 (3-6) overall and knocking down 9-of-10 free throws, while holding Dartmouth to a 1-of-8 performance from the floor. 
 
THE SERIES VS. HARVARD: The Big Red first played Harvard in the 1974-75 season with Cornell winning the contest, 36-20, but from there, the Crimson has controlled the series, leading the Big Red 63-11, including a perfect 33-0 in contests against Cornell played in Cambridge, Mass. The Big Red snapped a seven-game skid to the Crimson in the first meeting of the 2007-08 season with an 85-61 victory at Newman Arena, but have dropped the past 16 contests to Harvard, including an overtime decision to Crimson earlier this season.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE CRIMSON: Junior Megan LeDuc hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the game to overtime after Cornell battled back from a 13-point deficit, but Harvard dominated the overtime period to steal a 65-56 victory on Jan. 29 in Newman Arena. LeDuc and junior Nia Marshall each finished with 17 points. Marshall shot 58.3 percent from the field and chipped in six rebounds to lead the Big Red. Kit Metoyer led the Crimson with 26 points, going 6-for-11 from beyond the arc.


STORY LINES:
• The Big Red enters the weekend tied with Harvard in third place in the Ivy League standings, and directly above fifth-place Dartmouth.
• Cornell enters the weekend with an 3-7 record on the road.
• The Big Red got off to a 5-1 start in Ivy League play, its best start in conference since the 2007-08 team went 8-1 to begin Ancient Eight play, but lost both games last weekend to the top two teams in the conference standings – Penn and Princeton.
• Both Dartmouth and Harvard swept their Ivy games last weekend, defeating Yale and Brown.
• Nia Marshall needs just four points to move into 10th place in Cornell history for career points.
• Nia Marshall also needs just 14 rebounds to join Clare Fitzpatrick '13 as just the second player in Cornell women's basketball history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocked shots in a career.
• Caroline Shelquist needs just two 3-pointers to move into the Big Red's top 10 for 3-pointers made in a season.
• Nia Marshall needs just one blocked shot to move into the Big Red's top 10 for blocks in a season.
 
WHERE WE STAND: The Big Red enters the weekend sitting in third place, tied with Harvard, in the Ivy League with a conference record of 5-3. Penn leads the conference at 7-0, while Princeton ranks second overall with a record of 6-1. 
 
FOUR STRAIGHT IVY HONORS: From Jan. 18 to Feb. 8, the Big Red took home four consecutive Ivy League weekly honors. The run began with Megan LeDuc (Jan. 18) earning her first career Player of the Week honor, before Caroline Shelquist took home back-to-back Rookie of the Week honors on Jan. 25 and Feb. 1. Nia Marshall capped the run with her sixth career Player of the Week honor on Feb. 8.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Nia Marshall was named the Ivy League Player of the Week (POW) on Feb. 8, 2016 … It was the sixth POW honor of her career, tying Allyson DiMagno and Mary LaMacchia for the most in Cornell history.
• Megan LeDuc became the first Big Red player this season to be named the POW when she took home the honor on Jan. 18 … She joins Nicholle Aston (1/26/15) as the only current Cornell player 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 11 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 last season (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.
 
COMEBACK KIDS: Cornell has tailed at some point in nine of its 13 victories this season, including three games in which it trailed by double-digits. The largest lead the Big Red has overcome was a 17-point deficit to Columbia on Jan. 16. The Lions led, 30-13, early in the second period before the Big Red fought back to win, 66-59. Cornel has also trailed by 11 to Yale on Feb. 6, before winning 74-63, as well as 10 points vs. Bryant, before outscoring the Bulldogs, 26-15, in the final quarter of action to steal a 70-62 victory.
 
150 WINS AND COUNTING: Head Coach Dayna Smith is already the winningest coach in Cornell history, and she reached the 150-win mark for her career with the team's overtime victory vs. Dartmouth on Jan. 30, 2016. She enters the weekend with 152 career victories.
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall is on pace to break the school record for points in a single season (Mary LaMacchia – 467 in 1995-96). The junior forward, who averages 17.2 points per game, enters this weekend with 379 points on the season and needs to average just 14.8 points over the final six games to set the new standard … A year ago, Marshall fell just 13 points shy of breaking the school record, finishing the year with 455 points to rank third behind LaMacchia and Rhonda Anderson (462 in 1982-83).
 
WELL ROUNDED: Nia Marshall is just 14 rebounds shy of joining Clare Fitzpatrick '13 as just the second player in Cornell women's basketball history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocked shots in a career. Marshall, who is currently averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, is on pace to reach the mark during the Penn/Princeton weekend (Feb. 26-27).   
 
FREE THROW FRENZY: Kerri Moran knocked down 13 free throws vs. Brown on Feb. 5, a mark that ranks second all-time in Cornell history for made free-throws in a single game, tied with four others, behind Karen Force (15 at Yale on Feb. 1, 2003). 
 
TOP SERIES SCORES: Twice already this Ivy League season, Cornell has set program highs for points vs. an Ancient Eight opponent. The 85 points scored by the Big Red vs. Brown on Feb. 5 were the most ever scored by Cornell in the history of the series vs. the Bears … Cornell's 84 points vs. Columbia on Jan. 23 was the most ever scored by the Big Red in the history of the series with the Lions. 

DOUBLE THE OVERTIME: Cornell went to overtime in back-to-back nights vs. Harvard and Dartmouth on Jan. 29 and Jan. 30, respectively. The consecutive overtime games were the first-ever for the Big Red in Ivy League play, and the first for the program since the 1972-73 season.


LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: So far this season, Cornell has held 14-of-22 opponents (64 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the Big Red has held 58 of its 104 opponents (56 percent) to below 40 percent.
 
TIGHT LOSSES: So far this season, four of Cornell's nine losses have come by nine or few points. A year ago, eight of the Big Red's 13 losses came by nine or fewer points.
 
HANDLE WITH CARE: The Big Red is second in the Ivy League and sixth in the nation in fewest turnovers (282) … Cornell ranks second in the conference and is 15th in the country with a 1.24 assist/turnover ratio … The Big Red is also second in the conference and 15th in the nation in turnovers per game (12.8).
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU: Cornell ranks second in the Ivy League and 34th in the nation in assists per game (16.0) … Kerri Moran ranks second in the Ivy League and ranks 25th nationally with a 2.23 assist/turnover ratio ... Moran leads the conference and ranks 83rd in the country with 4.5 assists per game.
 
MAKING THE CONNECTION: Cornell ranks second in the Ivy League and 75th in the nation in field goal percentage (.420) … The Big Red is even better from beyond the arc, ranking second in the conference and 33rd in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.354).
 
RULE FOLLOWERS: The Big Red ranks 23rd in the nation in fewest fouls (354).
 
SCORES A LOT: Nia Marshall needs just four points to move into 10th place in Cornell history for career points … She leads the Ivy League and ranks 79th in the nation in points per game (17.2) … The junior forward also ranks third in the conference and 78th in the country in field goal percentage (.493).
 
CORNELL TOP 10: Junior Kerri Moran has moved into the top 10 in career assists (8th), while Nia Marshall has moved into the top 10 in career field goals (7th), career free throws made (8th), career defensive rebounds (8th), career steals (8th), career blocked shots (4th), and career starts (10th).
 
HOLDING THE LEAD: The Big Red has a perfect 8-0 record this season in games in which it has led at halftime.
 
100 THREES: Cornell needs just eight 3-pointers to reach 100 for the season … The Big Red has amassed at least 100 3-pointers in each of the last seven seasons … Cornell has registered at least 100 3-pointers in all but one season under head coach Dayna Smith, with the 2006-07 squad coming up just short with 98 treys.
 
IVY OPENERS: Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted a 18-16 record in conference openers, thanks to its 66-59 victory over Columbia earlier this season. Head Coach Dayna Smith's record is 7-7 in the first game of Ancient Eight play. Cornell has faced the Lions more than any other team, opening the season against Columbia 17 times.
 
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.
 
RACE TO 1,000: Nia Marshall reached the 1,000-point plateau in her 68th career game, faster than any Cornell player other than Karen Walker '91, the leading scorer in Big Red history, who scored her 1,000th point in her 65th career game.
 
SURE SHOT: Nia Marshall knocked down 15-of-16 attempts vs. Binghamton on Dec. 30, 2015, tying the school record for field goals made in a single game, and also finishing tied for 10th all-time in NCAA history for the highest single game shooting percentage (.938).
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Caroline Shelquist is one of just eight Cornell women's basketball players to win Rookie of the Week honors twice in a career.
• Shelquist was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Feb. 1 after helping the Big Red split a pair of overtime decisions vs. Harvard and Dartmouth.
• It was the second straight Rookie of the Week honor for Shelquist, who 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.
• Shelquist earned her first Ivy League Rookie of the Week award on Jan. 25 after scoring a career-high 15 points on a 5-of-8 performance from 3-point range as the Big Red defeated Columbia, 84-73.
• It was the first Rookie of the Week award won by a Cornell player since Marshall on Feb. 10, 2014.
 
30-POINT PERFORMANCES:
• With a 31-point performance vs. Binghamton on Dec. 30, 2015, Nia Marshall became the first player in Cornell women's basketball history to register at least 30 points four times in a career.
• A year ago, Marshall became the first player in Cornell women's basketball history to score at least 30 points three times in the same season, doing so with 33 points vs. Howard on Jan. 7; 36 points vs. Vermont on Dec. 30; 31 points vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 20.
• Her career-high 36 points came in Cornell's double overtime victory against Vermont on Dec. 30.
• Marshall's first career 30-point game, coming vs. Robert Morris on Dec. 20, made her the first Big Red player to reach the 30-point plateau since Do Stevens in 2001.
• Marshall is the only player in Coach Smith's tenure to score 30+ points in a game.
• Only three women's basketball players in Cornell history have had at least three 30 point games in their career, with Marshall joining Keri Farley and Karen Walker.
• Only once before has Cornell had two 30-point games in the same season, previously done by Karin Dwyer (Jan. 21, 1984 vs. Yale; Feb. 24, 1984).
 
ON THE SMALL SIDE: Cornell's roster of 12 players is the smallest in the Ivy League.
 
SMALL SENIOR DAY: Cornell's 2015-16 roster features just one senior – Maddie Campbell. Every other team in the Ivy League has at least two seniors, while Princeton tops the conference with five. 
 
WINNING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE: With an 8-6 non-conference record, the Big Red has posted a winning non-conference slate for the fourth straight season. The four consecutive winning non-conference seasons is the most in program history.
 
35 POINTS: Cornell held Fairfield to 35 points, the lowest point total by a Big Red opponent since defeating Keuka College, 46-35, during the 1978-79 season.
 
50 REBOUNDS: Cornell pulled down 50 rebounds in its 59-35 win over Fairfield, its most rebounds in a game this season. The Big Red last pulled down 50 rebounds a year ago in a double-overtime contest at Vermont. Prior to that, Cornell had 52 rebounds vs. Ithaca College during the 2012 season. The last time the Big Red had more than 50 rebounds in regulation vs. a Division I opponent came on Nov. 15, 2011, when it posted 53 vs. Colgate.
 
A PERFECT TIME: Over the course of four games – Marshall, Towson, Stony Brook and Fairfield – junior guard Kerri Moran had a streak of 96:16 without a turnover, including two full games vs. the Tigers and Seawolves. During that time, she has handed out 16 assists.
 
POINT-ASSIST: Junior guard Kerri Moran was outstanding vs. Towson with a then career highs in points (18) and assists (10), with no turnovers, to post the Big Reds first point-assist double-double since Lauren Benson had 13 points and set a school record with 12 assists vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21. 2009. 
 
10 ASSISTS CLUB: With her 10 assists vs. Towson, Kerri Moran became just the 11th player in Cornell history to have 10 assists in a single game. Those 11 players have accounted for 22 double-digit assist performances.  
 
PERFECT 10: Kerri Moran became the first player in Cornell history to post 10 assists, with zero turnovers, in a single game. On three previous occasions, Lauren Benson (12-1 vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21, 2009), Kacee English (11-1 vs. Penn on Feb. 28, 1997) and Keri Farley (10-1 vs. Colgate on Dec. 6, 1994) had all posted 10+ assist performances with just one turnover.
 
BIG NIGHT: Cornell's 88-point output vs. Towson was the most points scored in regulation by the Big Red since finishing with 92 vs. Tennessee State on Nov. 21. 2009. Cornell scored 90 points a year ago at Vermont in a double overtime contest.
 
CAMPBELL CAN: Senior Maddie Campbell earned her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the Big Red's 70-62 victory over Bryant. At the time, she was the only current player on the team other than Nia Marshall (10) and Nicholle Aston (7) to post a double-double and the first to do it in the 2015-16 season … In her second full season with the Big Red, the UCSB transfer is having her best season to date, averaging 6.7 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
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.
 
COACHING TENURE: Head coach Dayna Smith, in her 14th 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.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 56-of-157 games (36 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 28-28 record (.490).
 
STARTING STREAK: Junior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 52 games. Marshall had started every game of her freshman season, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1, 2014.
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red added two players to the 2015-16 squad – Samantha Clement (Anaheim, Calif.) and Caroline Shelquist (Minnetonka, Minn.). The duo  hails from two different states and features a Miss Basketball Minnesota nominee (Shelquist), as well as a player that broke her high school's record for career 3-pointers made (Clement).
 
HI, MY NAME IS: Cornell has a new face on the bench for the 2015-16 season, as Kelsey Florian has joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach. Florian comes to East Hill following a successful two-year stint with Ithaca College, where she served as a graduate assistant coach for the Bombers while earning a Master of Science in Exercise and Sport Sciences. While at IC, Florian was part of the 2014-15 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year after helping the Bombers advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. During her two seasons on South Hill, Ithaca posted a combined record of 49-11, a pair of Empire 8 regular season championships, and one E8 Tournament championship. A native of Roseville, Minn., Florian played collegiately at Gustavus Adolphus College.
 
PRESEASON IVY STANDINGS: The Big Red women's basketball team was picked to finish in fifth place in the 2015-16 Ivy League preseason media poll. No. 25 Princeton, the reigning Ivy League champion, is the preseason favorite earning 16-of-17 first place votes and 135 points overall. Penn was the only other team to earn a first place vote and register more than 100 points with 115. Harvard was picked third with 94 points, followed by Yale in fourth place (76 points). Cornell (64 points) sits above Dartmouth (60), Brown (42) and Columbia (26). 
 
THE 400-POINT CLUB: Last season, Nia Marshall became just the 12th player in Cornell women's basketball history to register 400 points in a single season and the first since Allyson DiMagno tallied 411 in 2012-13. Prior to DiMagno, the last Big Red player to reach the 400 point plateau was Tanya Karcic (412) during the 2003-04 season.
 
TICKLE THE ALL-IVY:  Nia Marshall was named first-team All-Ivy last season. She became the Big Red's first member of the top conference team since Jeomi Maduka took home first-team honors following the 2007-08 season. Additionally, Marshall was named a College Sports Madness first-team selection.
 
THE 2014-15 SEASON: Cornell finished the 2014-15 season with a 15-13 record (6-8 Ivy), the program's first winning season since the 2007-08 campaign. With its 9-5 non-conference record, the Big Red earned a winning non-conference record for the third straight season, a feat that has never been accomplished in Cornell women's basketball history. At one point, the Big Red had a six-game winning streak from Dec. 30, 2014 to Jan. 30, 2015, the longest since setting the school record with eight consecutive victories during the 2007-08 season. Following a brilliant sophomore campaign in which she came just 13 points shy of setting the school record, Nia Marshall was named first-team All-Ivy. She was the Big Red's first member of the top conference team since Jeomi Maduka took home first-team honors following the 2007-08 season. Additionally, Marshall was named a College Sports Madness first-team selection. Marshall became the first player in Cornell women's basketball history to score at least 30 points three times in the same season. But Marshall was not the only member of the sophomore class to have impressive single-game performances, as Nicholle Aston set the school record for field goal percentage in a single game (1.000; 8-for-8 vs. Marshall on Nov. 26), and Megan LeDuc matched the Cornell single-game record with eight steals vs. Columbia on Jan. 17. Additionally, the 2014-15 squad set the school record for the fewest turnovers in a single game with just five miscues at Penn on Feb. 6.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red returns to Ithaca to play its final regular season home games, and honor its lone senior – Maddie Campbell – next weekend when it welcomes Penn and Princeton to Newman Arena.  Cornell takes on the Quakers on Friday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., before facing the Tigers on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m.