ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior Megan LeDuc matched a career-high 20 points, knocking down all five of the Big Red's 3-pointers in the contest, but it wasn't enough, as Princeton escaped Newman Arena with a 58-54 victory. The Tigers used a dominating third quarter, outscoring Cornell 16-4, to erase an eight-point halftime deficit and take a lead it would not relinquish.
 
Trailing by six points with just under eight minutes to play in the contest freshman Marie Hatch hit a jumper and moments later Nia Marshall connected on a single free throw to make it a one possession game (47-44). The teams traded baskets and the Tigers pushed its lead back to five points on a layup from Vanessa Smith, but a trey from LeDuc at the 3:19 mark made it a two-point contest (51-49). The Big Red then got within a single point when Hatch knocked down two free throws (55-54).
 
LeDuc came up with a steal on Princeton's next possession and some tough offensive rebounding kept the ball with the Big Red for over a minute before a turnover gave the ball back to the visitors. Cornell was forced to foul and Princeton made 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
LeDuc finished the game with 20 points, three steals, one assist and one rebound, while Nia Marshall came one rebound away from d double-double, registering 14 points. Freshman Maddy Reed had a career-high eight rebounds, while Kerri Moran had four points, five boards and three assists.
 
Princeton (10-9, 4-2) was led by Bella Alarie's 21 points on an 8-of-12 performance from the floor, while Gabrielle Rush chipped in 13 points. Leslie Robinson also tallied nine points and finished with a game-high 12 rebounds.
 
The Tigers shot .400 percent from the floor (20-50) and .333 percent from three-point range (4-12), while holding Cornell to just .328 percent overall (20-61) and a mere .238 percent from beyond the arc (5-21).
 
Both teams finished with 39 rebounds.
 
Princeton had 17 turnovers to the Big Red's 11, but Cornell could not take advantage of the visitors miscues, as the Tigers held the slim 11-10 edge in points off turnovers.  
 
The Big Red is back in action tomorrow night when it take on Ivy unbeaten Penn (6-0) in Newman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. The game is the team's annual Pink Zone game. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and admission to the game is FREE. There will be tons of free kids' activities, including an inflatable obstacle course, photo booth, face painting, and other games. Commemorative t-shirts and raffle tickets will be available for purchase with ALL proceeds benefiting The Cancer Resource Center of the Finger Lakes. Activities will start at 4:30 p.m.