NEW YORK – Nia Marshall finished with a game-high 21 points to lead three Cornell players in double figures, as the Big Red earned its seventh straight victory over Columbia, 69-55, this afternoon at Levien Gymansium in New York City.  With the win, Cornell improves to 11-4 this season (2-0 Ivy), giving the Big Red its best start through 15 games in the history over the program.
 
In addition to Marshall's 21 points, senior gaurds Megan LeDuc (19) and Kerri Moran (14) finished in double-figures. LeDuc also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and the duo handed out two assists apiece.
 
Columbia (10-5, 0-2 Ivy) was led by Camille Zimmerman's 18 points and nine rebounds.
 
Both teams shot near 50 percent from the floor, with Cornell finishing at .481 percent overall (26-54) and 50 percent from 3-point range (3-6), while the Lions connected on .458 percent from the floor (22-48) but just 30 percent from beyond the arc (3-10).
 
Columbia had the 32-25 advantage on the boards, but turned the ball over eight times more than the Big Red (19-11).
 
Cornell connected on just one of its first nine shots to dig an 11-6 deficit, before hitting 3-of-4 down the stretch, not including a last second desperation shot at the buzzer, to pull within two points at the first break, 14-12.
 
The Big Red hit 5-of-8 shots to open the second, including three straight baskets by Nia Marshall to take its first lead since the opening tip, 18-16. Back-to-back baskets in transition by LeDuc pushed Cornell's lead to 22-18 at the midpoint of the quarter, but Zimmerman answered with three consecutive baskets of her own to return the lead (24-22) to the home team.
 
Hatch's first bucket of the game tied the game once again at 24-24 and the Big Red defense came up with a pair of big stops before a pair of treys from Moran with in the final 37 seconds set the visitors into the half with a 30-24 lead.
 
The action was fast and furious with the teams trading baskets early in the third, but the Big Red closed the quarter on a 9-4 run to take a 49-42 lead into the final break.
 
Cornell pushed its lead to double-digits (56-46) with less than eight minutes to play when LeDuc hit a trey at the top of the key, before Christine Ehland knocked down her first bucket of the contest. Ehland, who has been working her way back from a preseason injury, finished with a season-high five points and three rebounds in just 13 minutes.
 
A trey from LeDuc made it an 11-point game (61-50) with 3:46 to play. Marshall converted a 3-point play to make it a 65-52 lead with 1:40 to play, giving her the 4th 20-point game of the season and 20th of her career.
 
From there, Cornell rolled to the 69-55 final.
 
TURNING POINT
After going just 1-of-9 over the first seven minutes of the game, the Big Red shot 61 percent (11-of-18) to close the half with a 30-24 lead. The Big Red held the lead for the remainder of the contest.
 
NOTES TO KNOW            
• With the win, Cornell improves to 11-4 this season (2-0), giving the Big Red its best start through 15 games in the history over the program.
• The Class of 2017 closes their career with a 7-1 record vs. the Lions.
• The Big Red has a four-game winning streak, its longest since winning six straight from Dec. 30, 2014 to Jan. 30, 2015.
• The Big Red has won seven straight over the Lions and improves to 47-24 in the all-time series.
• With five made free throws, Nia Marshall moved into second place in Cornell history with 357 career free throws made.

UP NEXT
The Big Red continues its five-game road trip when the squad heads to Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend. Cornell will face the Crimson on Friday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m., before taking on the Big Green on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m.