ITHACA, N.Y. – The Big Red women's basketball team used a 31-9 run over a span of 12:25 to close the second and open the third period, erasing an 11-point Yale advantage and taking a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 74-63 victory this evening at Newman Arena. The Bulldogs made a late run to get within four points three times, including one final time with 36 seconds to play, but Megan LeDuc made 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to finish with a career-high 20 points and seal the victory for the Big Red.
 
With the win, Cornell improves to 13-7 overall and 5-1 in the Ivy league, its best start in conference since the 2007-08 team went 8-1 at the start of Ancient Eight play.
 
In addition to her 20 points, LeDuc registered a team-high eight rebound and handed out five assists.
 
While LeDuc closed the game strong for the Big Red, it was Nia Marshall who sparked the decisive run, scoring 10 points during the span, to finish with 18 points on a 7-of-12 performance from the floor. Marshall also had four steals, including a critical one with 1:38 to play as she ripped the ball away from Yale's Katie Werner in the paint and got the ball to LeDuc, who hit a streaking Kerri Moran for the easy lay-in to end a 2:15 scoring drought by both teams and give Cornell a 66-60 lead.
 
Junior forward Nicholle Aston was also in double-digits for the Big Red with 13 points to go along with six rebounds, while senior Maddie Campbell also had eight rebounds, four points, three assists, one block and one steal.
 
Yale was led by Tamara Sampson's 19-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Meghan McIntyre finished with 19 points as well. The Bulldogs' season leading scorer, Nyasha Sarju, was held to just nine points (6.9 less than her season average), and was forced into three turnovers in just 19 minutes before fouling out of the contest.
 
Cornell shot .450 percent overall (27-60) and connected on .500 percent from beyond the arc (6-of-12), while holding Yale to .369 percent overall (24-65) and .360 percent from 3-point range (9-25). The Bulldogs held the slim edge in rebounds (42-40), but had seven more turnovers than the Big Red (11-4).
 
Yale was hot to start the game, going 4-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter to jump out to an 11-point lead just 8:42 into the game. The visitors eventually took  a 23-18 lead at the first break, despite a buzzer-beater 3-pointer from Marshall.
 
The Bulldogs pushed their lead back to 11 points (31-20) at the 7:51 mark of the second period, but consecutive jumpers from LeDuc and Marshall, followed by a trey from Shelquist, jump started the decisive run.
 
Cornell went up by as many as 13 on a jumper from Aston with 56 seconds to play in the third and went into the final break with a 60-49 advantage.
 
Yale answered with a 9-0 run to start the fourth, making it a 60-56 game with 6:21 to play, but each time the Bulldogs tried to get within one-possession, the Big Red had an answer.
 
Cornell is back in action next weekend as it travels to Princeton and Ivy leader Penn on Friday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 13, respectively.