GAME INFORMATION
Game #24: Cornell at Penn
Tipoff: Friday, Feb. 24, at 7:00 p.m.
Site: The Palestra (Philadelphia, Pa.)
2016-17 Records: Cornell (14-9, 5-5 Ivy); Penn (15-7, 8-1 Ivy)
Series Record: Penn leads, 55-21
Last Meeting: Penn won, 61-55, on Feb. 11, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
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Game #25: Cornell at Princeton
Tipoff: Saturday, Feb. 25, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton, N.J.)
* 2016-17 Records: Cornell (14-9, 5-5 Ivy); Princeton (13-9, 7-2 Ivy)
Series Record: Princeton leads, 53-20
Last Meeting: Princeton won, 58-54, on Feb. 11, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
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* records prior to Friday evening's games
 
Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team (14-9, 5-5 Ivy) has fought its way back into the Ivy League playoff picture after winning a pair of games last weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard at Newman Arena. Cornell will look to carry the momentum into this weekend when it takes on Penn and Princeton. The Quakers sit atop the Ivy League standings with a record of 15-7 overall and 8-1 in the Ivy League, while the Tigers are 13-9 on the year and sit in third place overall with a conference mark of 7-2. Both games will be steamed live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
 
#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.
 
STORY LINES:
• Cornell is looking to snap a 17-game losing streak to Princeton, dating back to a 76-59 victory during the 2007-08 season. That win capped a four-game winning streak by Cornell over the Tigers.
• Big Red senior Nia Marshall and Princeton senior Vanessa Smith were teammates at Hathaway Brown School.
• A year ago, the Big Red was the only Ivy team to defeat Penn en route to the conference championship, taking down the Quakers at Newman Arena.
• Cornell and the Quakers have split each of the past two seasons.
• Big Red senior Nia Marshall and Penn junior Beth Brzozowski were teammates at Hathaway Brown School.
 
THE SERIES VS. PENN: Cornell's rivalry with the Quakers began during the 1974-75 season and the two teams have met every year since, excluding the 1977-78 and 1978-79 seasons. The Quakers hold the all-time series record, 55-21, but the Big Red has won 12 of the last 23 meetings, including handing Penn its only Ivy loss of the season a year ago. Head coach Dayna Smith, who served as an assistant coach for Penn from 1999-2002, holds a 12-17 record in the series.
 
LAST TIME VS. QUAKERS: For the second night in a row, the Big Red got an outstanding effort from seniors Megan LeDuc and Nia Marshall, but for the second night in a row it wasn't enough as Ivy unbeaten Penn escaped Newman Arena with a 61-55 victory. With 15 points, Nia Marshall became just the second player in Cornell history, and the 23rd in the history of the Ivy League to eclipse 1,600 points, now standing at 1,601 for her career. LeDuc lead all scorers with 18 points, going 7-of-9 overall and 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while Marshall finished with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Penn (14-6, 7-0) was led by Anna Ross with 15 points, while Princess Aghayere chipped in 12. Forward Sydney Sipanovich finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double, helping the Quakers to a significant 40-25 advantage on the boards. Cornell (12-9, 3-5) shot just .392 percent overall (20-51), but was a solid .563 percent from beyond the arc (9-16), thanks to both LeDuc and a 2-of-2 performance by Caroline Shelquist. Penn was .434 percent overall and used its size to dominate the paint, outscoring the Big Red 30-12 in the lane. The Quakers hit just .278 percent from 3-point range.
 
THE SERIES VS. PRINCETON: The Tigers hold a 52-21 edge in the series with the Big Red. The series began in 1974-75 with a 51-33 Princeton victory, but the teams wouldn't meet again until the 1979-80 season. The schools have met every year since 1979-80, and the Tigers have won the last 17 outings. Coach Dayna Smith is 7-22 vs. Princeton. 
 
LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS: 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 the Big Red went on a run and got within a single point when Marie 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
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the game ranked second in Cornell history, and 19th in the Ivy League rankings, with 1,637 career points. She needs just 14 points to break the school record, currently held by Karen Walker (1987-91).
  
DOUBLE-DIGIT STREAK: Nia Marshall is in the midst of a 13-game double-digit point scoring streak, longest of her career. Her previous high was 10 consecutive games from Dec. 21 2015 to Feb. 6, 2016.
 
NOTING THE CLASS OF 2017:
• With 57 wins to date, the Class of 2017 is the winningest class in program history, surpassing the Class of 2016 that won 56 games.
• 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 (1,637 points / 674 rebounds) and Nicholle Aston (892 points / 546 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.
• Nia Marshall (1,637 points) and Nicholle Aston (892 points) are the highest scoring teammates in the history of Cornell women's basketball with 2,529 points. They surpassed Do Stevens (1,327 points) and Breaean Walas (982 points), who played together from 1998-2002.
• Kerri Moran (815 points / 404 assists) and Megan LeDuc (814 points / 328 assists) are two of just five players in Big Red history to reach at least 800 points and 300 assists … They are the only pair of four-year teammates at Cornell to accomplish the feat.
• Arguably one of the best backcourt duo in Ivy League history, Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc rank fourth and eighth, respectively, in career assists at Cornell. They are just the fourth 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), Cornell's Do Stevens and Breean Walas (1998-2002), Dartmouth's Ashley Taylor and Fatima Kamara (2003-07).  
 
IVY HONOR SWEEP:
• Twice this season the Big Red has swept the Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week honors.
• The first sweep this season came when Nia Marshall and Danielle Jorgenson were named the Ivy League Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively, on Dec. 19.
• The second sweep came when Nia Marshall and Samantha Widmann took home the awards on Feb. 20.
• Altogether, the Big Red has swept the Ivy League weekly honors just three times in program history, and all three instances have involved Nia Marshall. 
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Nia Marshall has been named the Ivy League Player of the Week (POW) four times this season (Dec. 19, 2016; Jan. 2, 2017, Jan. 23, 2017; Feb. 20, 2017), giving her 10 POW awards in her career.
• Marshall's 10 POW awards are a Cornell record, surpassing Allyson DiMagno and Mary LaMacchia, who previously held the record with six honors apiece.
• Marshall becomes the eighth player in conference history and first-ever Big Red, male or female, to earn at least 10 Player of the Week honors for a career.
• Marshall is the 27th Ivy all-time to take home at least four Player of the Week accolades in a single season and second from Cornell, joining Allyson DiMagno (4, 2012-13).
• Marshall also took home four Player of the Week selections in 2014-15, making her the eighth player in conference history, and first-ever at Cornell, to do so twice in a career.
• Marshall now ranks eighth in Ivy League history for conference POW honors.
• Megan LeDuc (Jan. 18, 2016) and Nicholle Aston (Jan. 26, 2015) are the only current Big Red players other than Marshall to be named Ivy POW.
• In addition to Marshall's POW honors, she was named the Ivy Rookie of the Week (ROW) five times during the 2013-14 season, giving her 15 total Ivy weekly awards to her credit, passing Jeomi Maduka who was honored 10 times by the conference (seven ROW; three POW).
• Nia Marshall was also named POW on Feb. 3, 2014, to become the first-ever Cornell freshman to take home the honor.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK NOTES:
• Samantha Widmann has been named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice – on Nov. 14 and Feb. 20.
• Widmann is one of just nine Cornell women's basketball players to win Rookie of the Week honors twice in a career.
• Danielle Jorgenson was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week on Dec. 19 after helping the Big Red defeat Youngstown State, 80-75.
• Widmann and Jorgenson become the first pair of Cornell freshman to win the award in the same season since Allie Munson and Allison Abt did so during the 2008-09 campaign.
 
CORNELL CAREER TOP 30:
Nia Marshall
Points – 2nd; 1,637 (14 from 1st)
Field goals made  – 2nd; 621 (19 from 1st)
Defensive rebounds – 2nd; 478 (113 from 1st)
Free throws made – 2nd; 386 (8 from 1st)
Steals – 2nd; 200 (13 from 1st)
Blocked shots – 4th; 98 (5 from 3rd)
Starts –  4th; 106 (1 from 3rd)
Rebounds – 5th; 674 (48 from 4th)
Offensive rebounds – 5th; 196 (20 from 4th)
Minutes played – 5th; 3361 (57 from 4th)
Games played – 9th; 107 (2 from 6th)
Assists – 24th; 159 (6 from 23rd)
Kerri Moran
Assists – 4th; 404 (21 from 3rd)
Games started – 5th; 98 (8 from 4th)
Minutes played – 7th; 3307 (25 from 6th)
Games played – 9th; 107 (2 from 6th)
Defensive rebounds – 15th; 279 (7 from 14th)
Steals – 16th; 119 (3 from 14th)
Free throws made – 17th; 189 (1 from 16th)
Points – 21st; 815 (15 from 20th)
Field goals made – 26th; 285 (6 from 25th)
3-Point field goals made – 26th; 56 (2 from 25th)
Offensive rebounds – 26th; 107 (1 from 25th)
Rebounds – 28th; 386 (23 from 27th)
Megan LeDuc
3-Point FG – 4th; 136 (8 from 3rd)
Assists – 8th; 328 (8 from 7th)
Games played – 9th; 107 (2 from 6th)
Games started – 12th; 79 (6 from 10th)
Minutes played – 13th; 3082 (14 from 12th)
Defensive rebounds – 16th; 278 (8 from 15th)
Steals – 18th; 107 (6 from 17th)
Points – 22nd; 814 (16 from 20th)
Field goals made – 27th; 277 (9 from 25th)
Nicholle Aston
Defensive rebounds – 7th; 365 (12 from 6th)
Offensive rebounds – 8th; 181 (2 from 7th)
Field goals made – 13th; 399 (7 from 12th)
Rebounds – 13th; 546 (1 from 12th)
Games played – 13th; 106 (2 from 7th)
Games started – 13th; 78 (7 from10th)
Blocks – 18th; 37 (1 from 17th)
Points – 18th; 892 (13 from 17th)
Minutes played – 24th; 2556 (21 from 23rd)
 
TEAM NCAA RANKINGS: Entering the week, the Big Red ranked among the top 100 in the nation in …
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 83rd (1.00)
• Fewest fouls – 22nd (376)
• Fewest turnovers – 17th (332)
• Personal fouls per game – 83rd (16.2)
• Scoring defense – 88th (60.7)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 6th (39.0)
• Turnover margin – 78th (2.17)
• Turnovers per game – 81st (14.4)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKGINGS: Entering the week, here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide …
Nia Marshall
• Field goal percentage – 205th (42.5)
• Points per game – 133rd (15.9)
• Steals per game – 2015th (1.78)
Megan LeDuc
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 147th (1.59)
• Assists per game – 211th (3.5)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 18th (.426)
• 3-point field goals per game – 133rd (2.13)
• Minutes played per game – 96th (34.83)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 66th (2.00)
• Assists per game – 111st (4.3)
 
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 the following night at Dartmouth.
 
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 20-2 when leading at halftime.
• Cornell was a perfect 9-0 last season and began the 2016-17 campaign at 5-0 when leading at the half before a double-overtime loss to Stony Brook on Dec. 30 snapped the 14-game streak.
• Cornell is currently 11-2 this season when leading at halftime.
 
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 70 of its 127 opponents (55 percent) to below 40 percent, including 11-of-20 games so far this season (55 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 167 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 70-of-184 games (38 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 36-36 record (.500).
 
STARTING STREAK: Senior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 81 games. Marshall has started every game of her career, with the exception of the Big Red's Senior Day on March 1, 2014.
 
GET A GRIP: Cornell turned the ball over just five times vs. Columbia on Jan. 14, matching the second fewest turnovers in a single game in program history (at Penn, Feb 6, 2015). The Big Red set the school record a year ago with a mere four turnovers vs. Yale on Feb. 6, 2016.
 
10 ASSISTS CLUB: Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc are the 11th and 12th players, respectively in Cornell history to have 10 assists in a single game, with Moran doing so vs. Towson on Dec. 2, 2015 and LeDuc doing so vs. Penn on Feb. 26, 2016 and vs. New Hampshire on Nov. 11, 2016. In total, 12 Big Red players have accounted for 24 double-digit assist performances in Cornell history.  
  
UP NEXT: The Big Red will play its final games of the regular season, and honor the team's five seniors – Nicholle Aston, Taylor DePalma, Megan LeDuc, Nia Marshall and Kerri Moran – when it welcomes Yale and Brown to Newman Arena. Cornell will take on the Bulldogs on Friday, March 3 at 6 p.m., before welcoming the Bears on Saturday, March 4 at 5 p.m.