GAME INFORMATION
Game #14: Cornell vs. Columbia
Tipoff: Saturday, Jan. 14, at 1:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2016-17 Records: Cornell (9-4, 0-0 Ivy); Columbia (10-3, 0-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 46-24
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 84-73, on Jan. 23, 2015 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Live Video
Live Stats

Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The #PathToThePalestra begins this weekend as the Big Red women's basketball team opens Ivy League play by welcoming Columbia to Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m.  Cornell enters Ivy play with a 9-5 record overall, matching the school record for non-conference victories, while the Lions finished the non-conference portion of their schedule at 10-3 (.769), marking the highest non-conference winning percentage in program history. The game is the first of a double-header with the men's team, and will be a part of the Third Annual Fred Geise Memorial KIDS DAY. Kids receive FREE admission to both games and there will be plenty of free giveaways (while supplies last) courtesy of the CFCU Community Credit Union. Out of area fans can catch the game on the Ivy League Digital Network or live on ESPN3.
 
#PATHTOTHEPALESTRA: The inaugural Ivy League men's and women's basketball tournaments will take place Saturday and Sunday, March 11-12, 2017, at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The top four teams will earn berths in the tournament, with the semifinals on Saturday and the championships on Sunday. All six games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks.
 
THE SERIES VS. COLUMBIA: Cornell's rivalry with Columbia began in the 1975-76 season when the team represented Barnard College (the Columbia-Barnard Athletic Consortium was organized in 1984-85, at which time the team began playing under the name Columbia). Cornell holds a 46-24 record in the all-time series, thanks largely to the fact that it dominated the series throughout the `90s. The teams met 20 times from 1990-91 to 1999-2000, with Cornell winning 17 of those meetings, including 12 straight from 1993 to 2000. Currently, the Big Red has won 10 of the last 11 outings, including five straight … Head coach Dayna Smith is 17-11 all-time vs. the Lions.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE LIONS: For the second season in a row, the Big Red women's basketball team earned a sweep of Columbia, winning its fifth straight against the Lions, 84-73, at Newman Arena on Jan. 23, 2016. Cornell outscored the visitors 21-9 during the second quarter to blow open a one-point game and managed to lead by double-digits for nearly the entire second half. The 84 points scored was 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. Nia Marshall, who was honored prior to the game with a commemorative game ball after reaching 1,000 career points vs. Binghamton on Dec. 30, led the Big Red with 24 points. She also grabbed four rebounds, had two assists, two blocks and one steal. Caroline Shelquist registered a career-high with 15 points on a 5-of-8 performance from 3-point range, while Kerri Moran finished with 15 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior Maddie Campbell had nine points and a team-high five rebounds. Columbia's Camille Zimmerman led all scorers with 25 points, while Alexa Giuliano and Emily Surloff finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Despite the comfortable double-digit win, the game was remarkably close, with both teams shooting an identical .500 (26-52). The Lions knocked down .571 percent from 3-point ranges (12-21), but Cornell wasn't far behind at .462 (6-of-13). Columbia held the slim 29-26 advantage on the boards, but the Big Red forced the Lions into 20 turnovers with 10 steals, which led to a 20-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
SCOUTING THE LIONS: Columbia has won eight of its last nine games to finish the non-conference portion of its schedule at 10-3 (.769), marking the highest non-conference winning percentage in program history. The team is led by Camille Zimmerman, who is averaging nearly a double-double at 20.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, while Tori Oliver is chipping in 12.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per contest. The Lions shoot better than 40 percent from the floor and hold a 14.4 rebounding margin.
 
A WIN WOULD:
• improve Cornell to 10-4 this season and 1-0 in Ivy League play.
• be the sixth straight by the Big Red over the Lions and improve Cornell to 46-24 in the all-time series.
• improve Coach Smith to 18-11 all-time vs. the Lions
• be the Big Red's 11th win in the last 12 meetings with Columbia and its seventh in a row vs. the Lions in Newman Arena.
• make Cornell 5-1 in Newman Arena this season.
• improve Cornell to 19-16 in its Ivy League opener and improve Coach Smith to 8-7 all-time in the first game of Ancient Eight play.
 
IVY OPENERS: Since Ivy League round robin play began in the 1982-83 season, Cornell has posted an 18-16 record in conference openers. The Big Red has faced Columbia more than any other team, opening the season against the Lions 17 times. Head Coach Dayna Smith's record is 7-7 in the first game of Ancient Eight play.
 
NON-CONFERENCE WINS:
• With its 9-4 record in non-conference game, the Big Red secured a winning non-conference record for the fifth consecutive season, the longest streak in program history.
• The 2016-17 squad also matched the school record for the most non-conference wins in program history (9), set twice before (2007-08; 2014-15).
• In total, the Cornell women's basketball program has posted eight or more non-conference wins 10 times, more than half (6) have come during head coach Dayna Smith's tenure.
 
WINS AFTER A LOSS: With its win against Binghamton on Jan. 1, Cornell improved to 4-0 this season in games following a loss.
 
STRONGEST START:
• Through the first 10 games of the season, the Big Red posted a 7-3 record, matching the best start in program history.
• The 7-3 start was 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.
 
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: Prior to its double-overtime loss to Stony Brook on Dec. 30, the Big Red had 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 began the 2016-17 campaign at 5-0 when leading at the half.
• Cornell is currently 7-1 this season when leading at halftime.
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the game ranked second in Cornell history, and 30th in the Ivy League rankings, with 1,468 career points. She needs just 183 points to break the school record, currently held by Karen Walker (1987-91).
 
TOP 10 ASSISTS:  Arguably the best backcourt duo in Cornell history, Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc enter the week ranked fifth and eighth, 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).  
 
CORNELL CAREER TOP 10:
Nia Marshall
Points (2nd; 1,468) – 183 pts to move into 1st
Field goals made (2nd; 555) – 85 FG to move into 1st
Free throws made (3rd; 351) – 5 FT to move into 2nd
Blocked shots (4th; 91) – 13 blocks to move into 3rd
Defensive rebounds (2nd; 435) – 156 defensive rebs to move into 1st
Steals (4th; 190) – 3 steals to move into 3rd
Starts (5th; 96) – 1 start to move into 4th
Rebounds (6th; 613) – 4 rebounds to move into 5th
Offensive rebounds (9th; 178) – 3 offensive rebs to move into 8th
Kerri Moran
Assists (5th; 363) 30 assists to move into 4th
Career games started (8th; 88) – 3 starts to move into 7th
Megan LeDuc
Assists (8th; 295) – 41 assists to move into 7th
3-Point FG (7th; 112) – 1 3FG to move into 6th
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, the Big Red ranked among the top 100 in the nation in …
• Fewest fouls – 34th (221)
• Fewest turnovers – 66th (216)
• Scoring defense – 61st (58.7)
• Steals per game – 98th (9.2)
• 3-point field goal defense – 50th (27.8)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 17th (38.2)
• Turnovers forced – 97th (18.00)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide …
Nia Marshall
• Field goal percentage – 187th (43.1)
• Free throws made – 137th (51)
• Points per game – 169th (15.2)
• Rebounds per game – 248th (7.0)
• Steals – 134th (31)
• Steals per game – 70th (2.38)
Megan LeDuc
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 198th (1.42)
• Assists per game – 171st (3.9)
• Minutes played per game – 89th (34.54)
• Steals per game – 121st (2.15)
• 3-point field goals per game – 224th (1.92)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 83rd (1.97)
• Assists per game – 90th (4.5)
• Minutes played per game – 103rd (34.31)
 
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 67 of its 119 opponents (56 percent) to below 40 percent, including 8-of-13 games so far this season (62 percent).
 
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 162 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.
 
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.
 
40-MINUTE WOMEN:  Megan LeDuc has played at least 40 minutes in 11 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 64-of-174 games (37 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 34-32 record (.515).
 
STARTING STREAK: Senior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 71 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 will make the return trip to New York City to wrap up the home-and-home series with Columbia at Levien Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4:30 p.m. The game will be part of a double-header with the men tipping off vs. the Lions at 7 p.m.