GAME INFORMATION
Game #20: Cornell vs. Princeton
Tipoff: Friday, Feb. 10, at 6:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
2016-17 Records: Cornell (12-7, 3-3 Ivy); Princeton (9-9, 3-2 Ivy)
Series Record: Princeton leads, 52-20
Last Meeting: Princeton won, 94-57, on Feb. 27, 2016 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
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Game #21: Cornell vs. Penn
Tipoff: Saturday, Feb. 11, at 5:00 p.m.
Site: Newman Arena (4,473), Ithaca, N.Y.
* 2016-17 Records: Cornell (12-7, 3-3 Ivy); Penn (12-6, 5-0 Ivy)
Series Record: Penn leads, 54-21
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 51-46, on Feb. 26, 2016 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
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* records prior to Friday evening's games
 
Full Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team (12-7, 3-3 Ivy), coming off a critical weekend split with a loss to Brown and a victory over Yale, returns home for the first time in nearly a month and will play host to Princeton (9-9, 3-3) and Ivy League leader Penn (12-6, 5-0) at Newman Arena. The team will also hold two special events over the weekend – Athlete Ally Night vs. the Tigers on Friday at 6 p.m. and the annual Pink Zone game vs. the Quakers on Saturday at 5 p.m. 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 16-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. PRINCETON: The Tigers hold a 51-21 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 16 outings. Coach Dayna Smith is 7-21 vs. Princeton.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE TIGERS: In her final game at Newman Arena, Big Red senior Maddie Campbell had her best performance in a Cornell uniform, finishing with a career-high 22 points, but it wasn't enough as Ivy League leading Princeton earned the 94-57 victory on Feb. 27, 2016. Campbell became the fourth Cornell player on the season to record 20 points in a game, going 8-of-17 from the floor, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, and converting 4-of-5 free throws. She also chipped in three steals, two rebounds, one block and one assist in 32 minutes of action. Nia Marshall also finished in double-digits with 11 points and five rebounds, while Kerri Moran added six points and four assists. Princeton remained in first place in the Ivy League thanks to the outstanding play of Alex Wheatley and Annie Tarakchian, who finished with 23 and 20 points, respectively. Traakchian also added a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. The Tigers shot a blistering .673 percent overall (35-52) and .444 percent from 3-point range (4-9), while holding Cornell to just .328 percent overall (21-64) and .364 percent beyond the arc (4-11). Princeton also held the significant 41-23 advantage on the boards.
 
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, 54-21, but the Big Red has won 12 of the last 22 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 12-16 record.
 
LAST TIME VS. THE QUAKERS: The Big Red used stout defense, tough rebounding, and some timely shooting to hand Penn its first Ivy League loss of the season, 51-46, on Feb. 26, 2016 in Newman Arena. Forward Nicholle Aston finished with 16 points, including eight of Cornell's nine points in the final quarter, to lead the Big Red. Nia Marshall filled out the stat line with 13 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block, while senior Maddie Campbell had a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points. Point guard Megan LeDuc posted a career-high 10 assists, with no turnovers, to go along with six points and five rebounds, while Kerri Moran finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists. Penn was led by Sydney Stipanovich's 16 points and eight rebounds, but she was held to just four points after halftime. Anna Ross also reached double digits (12) and chipped in one assist, one steal and one block. Cornell held the 41-35 advantage in rebounding on a night when neither team shot particularly well. The Big Red connected on just .345 overall (19-55) and .375 from 3-point range (3-8), while Penn shot just .362 overall (21-58) and a meager .133 from beyond the arc (2-15). The teams battled through four ties in a back-and-forth effort before the Big Red used a 7-1 run late in the second quarter to snatch a lead it would not relinquish. With the game tied at 20-20 following a layup from Ross, the Big Red came up with a stop and a quick outlet pass from LeDuc led to a jumper in transition from Moran. On Cornell's next possession, the duo teamed up again, this time with Moran hitting LeDuc for a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Big Red completed the run after a turnover from Stipanovich led to jumper from Aston to make it a 27-21 game.
 
NOTING THE CLASS OF 2017:
• With 55 wins to date, the Class of 2017 is the second winningest class in program history … The group needs two more wins over the next eight 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 (1,572 points / 648 rebounds) and Nicholle Aston (854 points / 527 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 (793 points / 389 assists) and Megan LeDuc (762 points / 316 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.
• Arguably one of the best backcourt duo in Ivy League history, Kerri Moran and Megan LeDuc rank fifth and eighth, respectively, in career assists at Cornell. 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).  
 
CORNELL CAREER TOP 30:
Nia Marshall
Points (2nd; 1,572) – 78 pts to move into 1st
Field goals made (2nd; 599) – 41 FG to move into 1st
Defensive rebounds (2nd; 456) – 154 defensive rebs to move into 1st
Free throws made (2nd; 366) – 28 FT to move into 1st
Blocked shots (4th; 94) – 9 blocks to move into 3rd
Steals (3rd; 196) – 1 steal to move into 2nd
Starts (4th; 102) – 5 starts to move into 3rd
Rebounds (5th; 648) – 74 rebounds to move into 4th
Offensive rebounds (5th; 192) – 24 offensive rebs to move into 4th
Minutes played (6th; 3227) – 105 minutes to move into 5th
Assists (27th; 155) – 1 assist to move into 24th
Games played (15th; 103) – 1 game to move into 12th
Kerri Moran
Assists (5th; 389) 4 assists to move into 4th
Games started (7th; 94) – 1 start to move into 6th
Minutes played (8th; 3174) – 15 to move into 7th
Defensive rebounds (16th; 271) – 7 to move into 15th
Steals (16th; 116) – 6 to move into 14th
Free throws made (17th; 187) – 3 FT to move into 16th
Points (22nd; 793) – 3 pts to move into 21st
Field goals made (26th; 276) – 10 to move into 25th
Games played (15th; 103) – 1 game to move into 12th
3-Point field goals made (27th; 54) – 1 to move into 26th
Megan LeDuc
3-Point FG (5th; 126) – 3 3FG to move into 4th
Assists (8th; 316) – 20 assists to move into 7th
Minutes played (14th; 2935) – 106 minutes to move into 13th
Games started (17th; 75) – 1 start to move into 14th
Defensive rebounds (17th; 266) – 5 defensive rebs to move into 16th
Steals (20th; 101) – 2 steal to move into 19th
Games played (15th; 103) – 1 game to move into 12th
Points (25th; 762) – 12 pts to move into 24th
Nicholle Aston
Defensive rebounds (7th; 352) – 25 defensive rebs to move into 6th
Offensive rebounds (10th; 175) – 6 offensive rebs to move into 9th
Field goals made (15th; 383) – 2 FG to move into 14th
Rebounds (14th; 527) – 14 rebs to move into 13th
Blocks (18th; 37) – 1 block to move into 17th
Points (19th; 854) – 32 pts to move into 18th
Games started (18th; 74) – 1 start to move into 17th
Minutes played (25th; 2455) – 93 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 – 85th (0.99)
• Fewest fouls – 20th (318)
• Fewest turnovers – 12th (281)
• Field goal percentage – 88th (.419)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 5th (39.8)
• Turnover margin – 85th (2.00)
 
INDIVIDUAL NCAA RANKGINGS: Entering the week, here's how Cornell players stack up nationwide …
Nia Marshall
• Field goal percentage – 195th (42.8)
• Points per game – 134th (15.8)
• Steals per game – 169th (1.95)
Megan LeDuc
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 165th (1.53)
• Assists per game – 201st (3.6)
• 3-point field goal percentage – 25th (.429)
• 3-point field goals per game – 156th (2.05)
• Minutes played per game – 120th (34.42)
Kerri Moran
• Assist/Turnover Ratio – 61st (2.12)
• Assists per game – 95th (4.5)
• Minutes played per game – 145th (34.16)
 
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.
 
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 victory at Yale on Feb. 4, Cornell improved to 5-2 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 19-1 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 10-1 this season when leading at halftime.
 
SCHOOL RECORD IN SIGHT: Nia Marshall enters the game ranked second in Cornell history, and 24th in the Ivy League rankings, with 1,572 career points. She needs just 78 points to break the school record, currently held by Karen Walker (1987-91).
 
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 69 of its 125 opponents (55 percent) to below 40 percent, including 10-of-19 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 165 career victories.
 
CLOSE CALLS: Since the beginning of the 2010-11 season, the Big Red has had 67-of-180 games (37 percent) decided by eight points or fewer. In those games, Cornell has posted a 35-34 record (.507).
 
STARTING STREAK: Senior Nia Marshall has the longest starting streak on the team, standing at 77 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 remains home and begins the second half of Ivy League play when it welcomes Dartmouth and Havard to Newman Arena. Cornell will host the Big Green on Friday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., before welcoming the Crimson on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m.