IITHACA, N.Y. – Nicholle Aston registered her first double-double of the season, and five Cornell women's basketball players reached double-digits, as the Big Red downed Columbia, 77-70, this afternoon at Newman Arena. With the win, its sixth straight over the Lions, Cornell improves to 10-4 this season and 1-0 in Ivy League play.
 
Aston finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Nia Marshall led the Big Red with 18 points. Janee Dennis tallied a career-high 13 points, going 5-of-6 overall and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while Kerri Moran had 12 points and eight assists. Megan LeDuc finished with 10 points.
 
Columbia (10-5, 0-1 Ivy) was led by Camille Zimmerman's 24-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Emily Surloff and Paulina Koerner chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Both teams were extremely efficient on offense with Cornell connecting on .468 percent from the floor (29-62) and .600 percent from 3-point range (6-10), with the Big Red assisting on 20-of-29 baskets. The Lions were an identical .412 percent overall (28-68) and beyond the arc (7-17).
 
Both teams also took care of the basketball with Cornell posting two fewer turnovers (5) the visitors (7).
 
TURNING POINT
The teams battled through seven ties and eight lead changes through the first 16 minutes of the contest before Cornell closed the second quarter on a 12-2 run, featuring back-to-back treys from Dennis, to go up 47-37 at the half.   
 
HOW IT ENDED
The Big Red controlled the majority of the contest and led by eight points in the opening moments of the fourth quarter when a trey from LeDuc made it a 63-55 advantage. Columbia responded with an 11-2 run to take its first lead in nearly 20 minutes of game time, when Zimmerman completed a three-point play to put the visitors up, 66-65. That's when the Big Red used a run of its own, scoring six unanswered points to take a lead it would not relinquish. Zimmerman pulled the Lions back within one-point once more, but Cornell scored the final six points of the contest, including four straight free throws from Moran, to seal the 77-70 victory.   
 
NOTES TO KNOW
• The win was Cornell's sixth straight over the Lions.
• The Big Red has won 11 of the last 12 meetings with Columbia and has now won seven in a row vs. the Lions in Newman Arena.
• Cornell improves to 46-24 in the all-time series, and Coach Smith is now 18-11 all-time vs. the Lions.
• The Big Red improves to 19-16 in its Ivy League opener and Coach Smith is now 8-7 all-time in the first game of Ancient Eight play.
• With her 18 points, Nia Marshall is now 29th in Ivy League history with 1,486 career points. 
• With her five rebounds, Nia Marshall moves into fifth place in Big Red history with 618 career rebounds. 
 
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.