ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior tri-captain Catherine Ellis scored four goals in the second half while classmate Renee Poullott made eight saves total to help the women's lacrosse team outlast Brown, 11-8, in an Ivy League matchup on Saturday at Schoellkopf Field. The win was the Big Red's eighth straight and moves Cornell to 9-1 overall (4-0 Ivy) while Brown drops to 4-7 (0-4 Ivy).

Ellis also had one assist to finish with a game-high five points and senior Amie Dickson added four points on two goals and two assists. Tri-captain Catie Smith anchored the defense, causing two turnovers and picking up two ground balls to help Cornell hold an opponent to single-digit goals for the seventh time this season. The senior defender also led the Big Red with four draw controls.

Cornell opened the scoring 1:03 into the game when sophomore Sarah Phillips backed a Brown defender down towards the goal before turning and positioning herself to fire a shot into the lower left corner of the net.

It took just 14 seconds for Cornell to find the net again. After senior tri-captain Kristy Gilbert swooped in to control the draw, she lobbed a pass down the right flank to sophomore Tomasina Leska. Leska was able to center the ball to junior Joey Coffy, who swiftly found Dickson on the run for a low finish and a 2-0 lead.

Junior Ida Farinholt and Phillips then sandwiched goals around an unassisted tally from Brown's Carolyn Paletta to give the Big Red a 4-1 lead midway through the first half. The Bears would outscore the Big Red, 2-1, over the rest of the opening stanza to give Cornell a 5-3 lead at the break.

Brown's fourth goal of the day – just over two minutes into the second half – could've sparked the visitors on a comeback, but the Big Red instead used it to spark its own offensive run and put up four unanswered goals.

Dickson netted her second of the game a minute after Brown pulled within one and then Ellis scored her first of four to make it 7-4. Six minutes later, Leska scored her 10th goal of the season to give Cornell its biggest lead of the game.

Ellis then single-handedly netted the game-winner when she alertly cut off a Brown clearance pass attempt on the goal line and then turned and fired to beat Maggie Bigelow up high for the 9-4 lead.

The Bears kept fighting back, scoring two sets of two unanswered goals around Ellis' third tally of the day to make it 10-8 with less than eight minutes to play. But with 1:28 to play, Ellis fired a free-position shot past Bigelow and then the defense hurried Brown into a turnover off of the ensuing draw to ice the win.

Bigelow finished with eight saves for the Bears. Cornell out-shot Brown (33-23) and also picked up more ground balls (21-11) but the Bears held the small edge in draw controls (11-10).

Cornell hosts UAlbany on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the penultimate non-conference matchup of the season.