ITHACA, N.Y.  – Nia Marshall matched a season-high with 25 points and the Big Red used a dominating 25-6 run over the majority of the second quarter, to down Dartmouth, 72-57, this evening in Newman Arena. With the win, Cornell improves to 13-9 overall and 4-5 in the Ivy League, while the Big Green slip to 6-15 overall and 2-7 in the conference.
 
Marshall connected on 9-of-19 from the floor to finish with 25 points, four rebounds, two blocks and one steal. With the 25 points, she moves into 19th place in Ivy League history with 1,626 career points and is now just 25 points shy of setting the Cornell scoring record.
 
Joining Marshall in double-digits was Nicholle Aston, who connected on 6-of-10 from the floor, and Samantha Widmann, who hit 4-of-5 to score 11 points off the bench. Kerri Moran chipped in seven points, handed out six assists, and had three steals, while Megan LeDuc had a team-high seven rebounds, six assists, two steals and one blocked shot.  
 
Cornell shot 50 percent from the floor (27-54), 30 percent from 3-point range (3-10) and assisted on 20-of-27 baskets. Dartmouth connected on .418 percent overall (23-55) and 35 percent from beyond the arc (7-20).
 
The Big Red held the 33-30 edge in rebounds and forced Dartmouth into 17 turnovers with 11 steals, accounting for 21 Cornell points. The Big Red turned the ball over just 12 times.
 
COACH'S CORNER – DAYNA SMITH
"I thought we played tough defense in the first half and in the second half the team was really dialed in to what we were asking them to do. The defense set the tone and we had a lot of transition points in the first half. Coming out, we knew Dartmouth would make a run in the second half. They've done that all season, but we composed ourselves halfway through that third quarter and got that lead big back."
 
TURNING POINT
After Dartmouth took its first lead of the game (12-10) with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter, LeDuc came up with a big steal and Widmann was fouled going in for the layup. She knocked down both free throws to spark an 11-0 Cornell run that extended into the second quarter, as the Big Red held the visitors without a field goal until the 4:53 mark.
 
The Big Red capped the 25-6 run on a jumper by Aston with just over one minute to play in the second quarter and then took a 37-21 lead into halftime. Cornell eventually pushed its lead to a game-high 22 points at the end of the third quarter and never led by less than 13 points the rest of the way.
 
UP NEXT
Cornell welcomes Harvard to Newman Arena tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. The Big Red will look to avenge its 62-59 loss to the Crimson. Five of the last six meetings in the series have been decided by six or fewer points.