PROVIDENCE, R.I. – In a game that saw 13 lead changes, it was a late run by the home team that helped Brown edge the Big Red women's basketball team, 72-67, this evening at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence. With the loss, Cornell slips to 11-7 overall and 2-3 in Ivy League play, while the Bears improve to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in the conference.
Nia Marshall led the Big Red with 22 points, moving into 25th place in Ivy League women's basketball history, passing Ann Deacon of Dartmouth (1970-83). She added seven rebounds, two steals, and two assists to the effort. Freshman
Samantha Widmann had an outstanding game off the bench, registering 11 points, a team-high eight rebounds, three steals, and drew two charges before fouling out with just over five minutes to play in the contest.
Megan LeDuc finished with 10 points and five rebounds, while freshman
Maddy Reed chipped in five points and seven rebounds.
Nicholle Aston also had a solid game with six points, five rebounds, a career-high five assists, and one steal.
Justine Gaziano seemingly hit every big shot for Brown and finished with 27 points, going 11-of-16 from the floor, including a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range. Will Taylor was the only other Bear in double figures with 14 points.
Brown shot .474 overall (27-57) and a blistering .458 from beyond the arc (11-24). The homes team also assisted on 17-of-27 baskets. The Big Red got off to a slow start over the first 10 minutes (7-26) and finished at .338 percent for the game (24-71) and just .333 from beyond the arc (5-15).
Cornell's defense was impressive, forcing Brown into 18 turnovers with eight steals, leading to a 21-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
Marshall scored the first bucket of the game, but Brown used an attacking offense to score eight unanswered in the opening moments of the first quarter. A tough layup from Marshall ended the Cornell drought and Reed provided a spark with some tough rebounding and defense to open a 12-3 Cornell run, during which Marshall scored eight points. A steal from
Kerri Moran with just over one minute to play led to a traditional three-point play from Widmann and Cornell took a 17-13 lead into the first break.
The Big Red shot just .269 percent in the first quarter (7-26) but grabbed eight offensive boards and scored seven second-chance points.
Cornell opened the second quarter with eight unanswered points, as Aston threaded a brilliant pass through the lane to find Marshall for the finish, followed by treys from Janee Dennis and
Marie Hatch to put the visitors up, 25-13.
Brown responded with an 8-0 run of its own before Marshall knocked down a jumper from just inside the 3-point line. The Bears weren't finished and moments later Graziano hit a trey and knotted the game at 27-27.
Back-to-back treys from Gaziano returned the lead to Brown and the home team took a 35-34 lead into halftime. In the second quarter alone, Gaziano went 3-of-3 from 3-point range and the Bears hit 6-of-10.
Cornell regained the lead (38-37) early in the third when Marshall hit Widmann on a back-door cut and the teams traded baskets before the Bears closed the quarter on a 10-5 run to take a 58-52 lead into the final break.
Trailing by six points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Big Red scored the first seven points of the stanza to go up, 59-58 with 7:22 to play. Marshall started the scoring when she scored a layup to register the 21st 20 point game of her career. The Bears answered right back with five straight points to regain the lead and eventually stretched its advantage to seven points (70-63) on a layup by Gaziano with 3:36 to play.
Four straight made free throws from Marshall and Aston made it a three-point game with 1:00 to play. Cornell forced a shot clock violation on Brown's next possession to get the ball back with 29 seconds remaining, but a Big Red turnover led to a layup on the other end to seal the 72-67 victory for the home team.
Cornell is back in action tomorrow night when it travels to Yale to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m.
