GAME INFORMATION
Game #19: Cornell vs. Brown
Tip off: Friday, Feb. 5, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, N.Y.
2015-16 Records: Cornell (11-7, 3-1 Ivy); Brown (12-6, 0-4 Ivy)
Series Record: Brown leads, 48-24
Last Meeting: Brown won, 58-51 (Ithaca, N.Y.) on 2/21/15
Live Video: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wbball
 
Game #20: Cornell vs. Yale
Tip off: Saturday, Feb. 6, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473) Ithaca, N.Y.
2015-16 Records: Cornell (11-7, 3-1 Ivy); Yale (11-10, 2-2 Ivy)*
Series Record: Yale leads, 49-24
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 56-37 (Ithaca, N.Y.) on 2/20/15
Live Video: http://www.ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com/cornell/schedule
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/cornell/wbball
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red wraps up a five-game home stand this weekend when it welcomes Brown and Yale to Newman Arena. Cornell will face the Bears on Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m., before taking on the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on the Ivy League Digital Network with the gave vs. Yale being simulcast on ESPN 3.
 
THE SERIES VS. BROWN: Cornell's rivalry with the Bears began in the 1974-75 season when Brown defeated the Big Red, 34-30. The Bears dominated the series during the first 20 years, with Cornell winning only three times prior to the 1994-95 season. Since that year, the series has been far more competitive, and is currently tied at 21-21, though the Bears still hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 48-24. Cornell has won five of the last seven meetings and head Coach Dayna Smith is 12-14 all-time vs. the Bears.
 
SCOUTING THE BEARS: The Bears posted a 12-2 record in non-conference play, but have lost four straight to open the Ivy League portion of their schedule, falling twice to their travel partner Yale, before losing to Princeton and Penn last weekend. Senior guard Jordin Alexander leads the team with 13.8 points per game, one of three Bears that average double-digits. Freshman guard Shayna Mehta (11.7) and junior guard Rebecca Musgrove (10.7) also score in double figures, with Mehta proving to be the team's biggest 3-point threat with 2.0 makes per game. The forward duo of Erika Steeves and Janie White lead the team with 6.6 and 5.7 rebounds per game, respectively. Defensively, the Bears rank third in the Ivy League in points allowed per game (58.1), lead the conference in steals per game (10.7) and rank second overall in blocked shots per game (4.8)
 
LAST TIME VS. BROWN: After erasing a two-point halftime deficit and going up by six early in the second half of play, the Big Red went nearly nine minutes without hitting a field goal, allowing Brown back into the contest. The Bears eventually pulled away for good to steal a 58-51 victory during the Big Red's Play 4Kay celebration on Feb. 21, 2015 in Newman Arena. Cornell was led by Nia Marshall with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Nicholle Aston had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, her sixth of the season. Sophomore guard Taylor DePalma finished with a career-high nine points on a 3-of-5 performance from 3-point range, while Megan LeDuc chipped in seven points, matched a career-high with eight rebounds, and handed out three assists. Kerri Moran also had a solid night, scoring three points, to go along with a team-high six assists and five rebounds. Brown was led by Natalie Ball and Jordin Alexander with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Big Red held the significant advantage in rebounds, 41-25, and assisted on 18-of-20 baskets, but had an uncharacteristic amount of turnovers, finishing with 19. Cornell also hit just 38.5 percent from the floor (20-52) after connecting on just 30 percent in the second half. Brown finished with just 12 turnovers and shot 50 percent in the second half, upping its total for the game to 45.1 percent from the floor (23-51).  
 
THE SERIES VS. YALE: Cornell first faced the Bulldogs in the 1974-75 season, with Yale taking the 31-23 victory. Since 2000, the series is tied, (14-14 ), with the Big Red winning seven-straight from 2000 to 2003, and splitting the series in 2005-06 and 2006-07, before sweeping Yale from 2006-09. The Bulldogs had an eight-game winning streak snapped in 2014, and the Big Red won the last meeting between the two teams on Feb. 20, 2015. Yale owns the lead in the all-time series history, 49-24 … Head Coach Dayna Smith is 11-15 all-time vs. the Bulldogs.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Yale enters Friday evening's game at Columbia with a record of 11-10 overall and 2-2 in the Ivy League, with a pair of victories over Brown. Senior guard Nyasha Sarju is the lone Bulldog to average double-digits (15.4), with two others – senior guard Whitney Wyckoff and sophomore guard Tamara Simpson – sitting at 9.6 points per game. Wyckoff leads the teams with 6.0 rebounds per game, while Sarju chips in 5.4 boards per contest. Defensively, Yale ranks first in the Ivy League in 3-point field goal defense (.261) and is second overall in steals (9.5 p/g), with Simpson leading the Ivy League with 3.2 steals per game.
 
LAST TIME VS. YALE: The Big Red held Yale to just 37 points, the lowest total scored by the Bulldogs in the series since defeating Cornell, 31-23, during the 1974-75 season, and offensively used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Yale 56-37 on Feb. 20, 2015 in Newman Arena. Cornell used a 12-0 run early in the first half to take a lead it would not relinquish, and then used a second 12-0 run late in the second half to put the game away. Sophomore forward Nicholle Aston was the only Big Red player to finish in double-figures, with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds, but Cornell received points from 8-of-10 players that found their way into the game, with five scoring at least eight points. Nia Marshall had nine points, two assists and two blocks, while Kerri Moran finished with nine points, and two assists. Maddie Campbell and Sarah Poland both registered eight points each. Campbell filled out the stat line with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block, while Poland was outstanding defensively and chipped in three rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Yale was led by Katie Werner with seven points, while four others – Whitney Wyckoff, Mary Ann Santucci, Nyasha Sarju and Lena Munzer – tallied five points each. Cornell shot 46.7 percent (21-45) for the game and hit 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, while using some stingy defense to hold the Bulldogs to just 25 percent from the floor (15-60) and 35.7 percent (5-14) from 3-point range. The Big Red also held the slim 37-35 edge in rebounds.
 
STORY LINES:
• the Big Red enters the weekend having won four of its last five outings, with the lone loss coming to Harvard in overtime on Jan. 29.
• Cornell enters the weekend with an 8-2 record at home, with its home losses coming vs. Stony Brook (58-49) on Dec. 4, and vs. Harvard in overtime (65-56) on Jan. 29.
• The game vs. Yale will be the third of the season simulcast on the ILDN and ESPN3. Cornell is 2-0 in the previous ILDN/ESPN3 games (Columbia; Dartmouth).
 
WHERE WE STAND: The Big Red enters the weekend sitting in second place in the Ivy League, tied with Harvard at 3-1 overall. Penn leads the conference at 3-0, while Princeton, despite a record of 2-1, sits in fourth place overall.  
 
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.

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.
 
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.
 
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 17.4 points per game, enters this weekend with 314 points on the season and needs to average just 15.4 points over the final 10 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 27 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 6.2 rebounds per game, is on pace to reach the mark during the Princeton/Penn weekend (Feb. 12-13).   
 
RECAPPING COLUMBIA: For the second season in a row, the Big Red earned a sweep of Columbia, winning its fifth straight against the Lions, 84-73, on Jan. 23 at Newman Arena. The 84 points scored is the most by Cornell in the history of the series with Columbia, and the most scored by either team since an 83-70 victory by the Big Red during the 2006-07 season. 

LOW PERCENTAGE SHOTS: So far this season, Cornell has held 12-of-18 opponents (67 percent) to below 40 percent shooting from the floor. Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season, the Big Red has held 56 of its 100 opponents (56 percent) to below 40 percent.
 
TIGHT LOSSES: So far this season, four of Cornell's seven 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 seventh in the nation in fewest turnovers (241) … Cornell ranks first in the conference and is 22nd in the country with a 1.20 assist/turnover ratio … The Big Red is also second in the conference and 21st in the nation in turnovers per game (13.4).
 
MAY I ASSIST YOU: Cornell ranks second in the Ivy League and 37th in the nation in assists per game (16.0) … Kerri Moran ranks second in the Ivy League and ranks 38th nationally with a 2.18 assist/turnover ratio ... Moran leads the conference and ranks 76th in the country with 4.6 assists per game.
 
RULE FOLLOWERS: The Big Red ranks 23rd in the nation in fewest fouls (295).
 
SCORES A LOT: Nia Marshall leads the Ivy League and ranks 72nd in the nation in points per game (17.4).
 
CORNELL TOP 10: Junior Kerri Moran has moved into the top 10 in career assists (9th), while Nia Marshall has moved into the top 10 in career field goals (10th), career free throws made (10th), career defensive rebounds (ninth), and career blocked shots (5th).
 
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).
 
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.
 
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 7.6 points and a team-high 6.7 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-153 games (37 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 48 games. Marshall had started every game of her freshman season, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1, 2014.
 
100 THREES: 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.
 
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.
  
 UP NEXT: The Big Red hits the road for a pair of games Princeton and Penn, taking on the Tigers on Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m., before facing the Quakers on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 6:00 p.m.