GAME INFORMATION
Game #18: Cornell at Brown
Tipoff: Friday, Feb. 3, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Pizzitola Sports Center (2,800), Providence, R.I.
2016-17 Records: Cornell (11-6, 2-2 Ivy); Brown (11-6, 2-2 Ivy)
Series Record: Brown leads, 49-25
Last Meeting: Brown won, 91-69, on March 5, 2016 (Providence, R.I.)
Live Video
Live Stats
 
Game #19: Cornell at Yale
Tipoff: Saturday, Feb. 4, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Payne Whitney Gym (2,800), New Haven, Conn.
* 2016-17 Records: Cornell (11-6, 2-1 Ivy); Yale (10-7, 1-3 Ivy)
Series Record: Yale leads, 50-25
Last Meeting: Yale won, 56-38, on March 4, 2016 (New Haven, Conn.)
Live Video
Live Stats

* records prior to Friday evening's games
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: After dropping a pair of Ivy League contests on the road last weekend, the Big Red women's basketball team will look to rebound and get back onto its #PathToThePalestra this weekend when it travels to Brown and Yale on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Cornell and the Bears enter Friday night's game tied for fourth place in the Ivy League standings with identical records of 11-6 overall and 2-2 in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs enter the weekend with a record of 10-7 overall and 1-3 in the conference after picking up its first Ivy win of the season last weekend vs. Brown. Both games will be steamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network, with Friday night's game being simulcast 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 to the tournament, with the semifinals on Saturday and the championships on Sunday. All six games will be broadcast live on ESPN's networks. For more information, visit www.IvyMadness.com
 
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 tied at 22-22, though the Bears still hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 49-25. Cornell has won six of the last nine meetings and head Coach Dayna Smith is 13-15 all-time vs. the Bears.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE BEARS: After knocking down 13 3-pointers the previous night vs. Columbia, the Brown women's basketball team kept its hot shooting alive, going 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half to jump out to a huge halftime lead, and then held off Cornell's comeback attempt as the Bears cruised to the 91-69 victory at the Pizzitola Center on March 5, 2016. Cornell finished the season at 14-14 (6-8 Ivy) for the second year in a row. Three Big Red players – Nicholle Aston, Kerri Moran and Nia Marshall – finished with 15 points. Moran also pulled down a game- and career-high 12 rebounds for her first-ever point-rebound double-double. Aston also tallied seven rebounds, while Marshall finished with six. Point guard Megan LeDuc had five points, five assists, while senior Maddie Campbell wrapped up her career with a five-point, five-rebound performance. Marshall finished just four points shy of breaking the school record for points in a single season, ending the year with second overall with 464 points. Brown was led by Shayna Mehta, who went 5-of-6 from 3-point range en route to a 24-point night. Erika Steeves also hit 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 20 points, while Jordin Alexander (16) and Rebecca Musgrove (10) finished in double-digits. The Bears shot a blistering .508 percent overall (32-63) and .647 percent from 3-point range (11-17), while Cornell connected on just .338 percent overall (25-74) and a mere .273 percent from beyond the arc (3-11). Brown (15-13, 3-11 Ivy) also held the slim edge in rebounds, 44-42, but had two more turnovers than Cornell, 13-11.
 
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 (15-15), and the teams have split the series in each of the last three seasons. The Bulldogs have won seven straight at Lee Amphitheater with Cornell's last win in New Haven coming during the 2008-09 season. Yale owns the lead in the all-time series history, 50-25, but Head Coach Dayna Smith is 12-16 all-time vs. the Bulldogs.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE BULLDOGS: On a night when neither team's offenses were crisp, Yale used tough rebounding and took advantage of early Big Red foul trouble to earn a hard fought 56-38 victory in Lee Amphitheater on March 4, 2016. Cornell did not have a single player reach double figures. Nia Mashall, who played just seven minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, finished with a team-high eight points. Megan LeDuc and Maddie Campbell had seven points each, with LeDuc adding two assists and a team-high six rebounds. Kerri Moran finished with six points, four rebounds and two assists. Yale got a spark off the bench by Lena Munzer, who finished with a game-high 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range.  Nyasha Sarju also finished in double-figures with 14 points. Cornell shot just .278 percent from the floor (15-54) and a mere .111 percent from beyond the arc (1-9), while Yale finished at .373 overall (19-53) and .333 from 3-point range (5-15). The Bulldogs held the 45-32 advantage on the boards but finished with five more turnovers than the Big Red (20-15).
 
NOTING THE CLASS OF 2017:
• With 54 wins to date, the Class of 2017 is tied with the Class of 2015 as the second winningest class in program history … The group needs three more wins over the next 10 contests to eclipse the school record of 56, held by the Class of 2016.
• Seniors Nia Marshall, Nicholle Aston, Kerri Moran, and Megan LeDuc all rank among the top 30 in Big Red history for career points … There are just six pairs of four-year teammates in Cornell history to rank among the top 30, but there have never been three or more four-year teammates prior to this season. 
• Nia Marshall (1,532 points / 632 rebounds) and Nicholle Aston (834 points / 513 rebounds) are two of just 12 players in Big Red history to reach at least 800 points and 500 rebounds … They are the only pair of four-year teammates at Cornell to accomplish the feat.
• Kerri Moran (780 points / 378 assists) and Megan LeDuc (735 points / 311 assists) are two of just six players in Big Red history to reach at least 700 points and 300 assists … They are the only pair of four-year teammates at Cornell to accomplish the feat.
 
CORNELL CAREER TOP 30:
Nia Marshall
Points (2nd; 1,532) – 118 pts to move into 1st
Field goals made (2nd; 582) – 57 FG to move into 1st
Defensive rebounds (2nd; 447) – 143 defensive rebs to move into 1st
Free throws made (2nd; 360) – 34 FT to move into 1st
Blocked shots (4th; 94) – 9 blocks to move into 3rd
Steals (3rd; 194) – 3 steals to move into 2nd
Starts (4th; 100) – 7 starts to move into 3rd
Rebounds (5th; 632) – 90 rebounds to move into 4th
Offensive rebounds (6th; 185) – 7 offensive rebs to move into 5th
Minutes played (8th; 3154) – 20 minutes to move into 7th
Assists (28th; 151) – 3 assists to move into 27th
Games played (21st; 101) – 2 game to move into 15th
Kerri Moran
Assists (5th; 378) 15 assists to move into 4th
Games started (7th; 92) – 3 start to move into 6th
Minutes played (9th; 3108) – 46 to move into 8th
Defensive rebounds (16th; 267) – 11 to move into 15th
Steals (16th; 114) – 8 to move into 14th
Free throws made (17th; 182) – 8 FT to move into 16th
Points (23rd; 780) – 11 pts to move into 22nd
Field goals made (26th; 273) – 13 to move into 25th
Games played (21st; 101) – 2 to move into 15th
3-Point field goals made (27th; 52) – 3 to move into 25th
Megan LeDuc
3-Point FG (5th; 122) – 7 3FG to move into 4th
Assists (8th; 311) – 25 assists to move into 7th
Minutes played (16th; 2864) – 22 minutes to move into 15th
Games started (18th; 73) – 1 start to move into 17th
Defensive rebounds (18th; 256) – 1 defensive rebs to move into 17th
Steals (21st; 100) – 1 steal to move into 20th
Games played (21st; 101) – 2 games to move into 25th
Points (26th; 735) – 22 pts to move into 25th
Nicholle Aston
Defensive rebounds (10th; 343) – 1 defensive rebs to move into 9th
Offensive rebounds (12th; 170) – 2 offensive rebs to move into 11th
Field goals made (15th; 375) – 10 FG to move into 14th
Rebounds (15th; 513) – 14 rebs to move into 14th
Blocks (18th; 37) – 1 block to move into 17th
Points (19th; 834) – 52 pts to move into 18th
Games started (19th; 72) – 1 start to move into 18th
Minutes played (25th; 2407) – 141 minutes to move into 24th
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, the Big Red ranked among the top 100 in the nation in …
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 91st (0.98)
• Fewest fouls – 18th (283)
• Fewest turnovers – 10th (252)
• Field goal percentage – 82nd (.422)
• Scoring defense – 93rd (60.8)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 5th (39.9)
• Turnover margin – 94th (1.82)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKGINGS: Entering the week, here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide …
Nia Marshall
• Field goal percentage – 189th (42.9)
• Points per game – 167th (15.4)
• Steals per game – 126th (2.06)
Megan LeDuc
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 148th (1.60)
• Assists per game – 178th (3.8)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 24th (.432)
• 3-point field goals per game – 260th (2.06)
• Minutes played per game – 117th (34.29)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 70th (2.00)
• Assists per game – 113th (4.4)
• Minutes played per game – 117th (34.29)
 
100 GAMES: Seniors Nicholle Aston, Megan LeDuc, Nia Marshall, and Kerri Moran all played in their 100th career game during the weekend of Jan. 27-28. LeDuc, Marshall and Moran hit the century mark vs. Harvard, while Aston reached 100 games at Dartmouth.
 
STRONGEST START:
• With an 11-4 record to open the season, Cornell got off to its best start through 15 games in the history of the program … The Big Red had started a season at 10-5 twice previously – 1999-2000 and 2014-15.
• 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.
 
WINS AFTER A LOSS: With its loss at Dartmouth on Jan. 28, Cornell fell to 4-1 this season in games following a loss.
 
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: Over the past two seasons, the Big Red is 18-1 when leading at halftime, with the lone blemish coming in its double-overtime loss to Stony Brook on Dec. 30, which snapped a 14-game winning streak.
• 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 9-1 this season when leading at halftime.
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the game ranked second in Cornell history, and 26th in the Ivy League rankings, with 1,532 career points. She needs just 118 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).  
 
WELL ROUNDED: Nia Marshall is the only player in Cornell women's basketball history to record at least 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 68 of its 123 opponents (55 percent) to below 40 percent, including 9-of-17 games so far this season (53 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 164 career victories.
 
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 66-of-178 games (37 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 35-33 record (.515).
 
STARTING STREAK: Senior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 75 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 returns home for the first time in nearly a month when it welcomes Princeton and Penn to Newman Arena. Cornell will host the Tigers on Athlete Ally Night on Friday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m., before welcoming the Quakers for the team's annual Play 4 Kay game on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 5 p.m.