GAME INFORMATION
GAME #8: Cornell vs. Delaware State
GAME TIME: Saturday, Dec. 15, at 7:00 p.m.
GAME SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 4-1
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 72-51 (1/5/17 in Dover, Del.)
2018-19 RECORDS: Cornell (2-5, 0-0 Ivy); Delaware State (2-5, 0-0 MEAC)
LIVE STATS: https://bit.ly/2PYqZhG
LIVE VIDEO: https://es.pn/2RUIAVo
 
Full Game Notes (PDF)
 
THE MATCHUP: The Big Red women's basketball team returns from the University study break when it welcomes Delaware State to Newman Arena for a 7 p.m. contest on Saturday, Dec. 15. Both teams enter the weekend with identical records of 2-5.
 
QUICK HITS:
• The Big Red plays in Newman Arena for the first time since Nov. 17, after a four-game road trip.
• Cornell is undefeated in Ithaca so far this year (2-0) and won its final home game of the 2017-18 season to bring its current streak to three consecutive wins in Newman.  
• Samantha Widmann and Laura Bagwell-Katalinich led the Big Red its last time out with 19 and 18 points, respectively, vs. Stony Brook. 
• Widmann also had her first double-double of the season vs. the Seawolves with 13 rebounds.
• Bagwell-Katalinich and Widmann have combined to lead Cornell in scoring in six-of-seven games this season.
• Delaware State is the first of two MEAC teams the Big Red will face this season. Cornell is also slated to host Hampton on Saturday, Dec. 29. 
 
THE SERIES VS. DELAWARE STATE: Cornell played the Hornets three times in the early 1990s, losing the first meeting in 1991, before taking back-to-back victories in 1992 (64-58) and 1993 (70-56).
• The series resumed with consecutive meetings in 2015-16 and 2016-17, with the Big Red winning both to improve to 4-1 in the series.
 
A WIN WOULD:
• be the third in a row against the MEAC.
• end a four-game skid and improve the Big Red to 3-5 on the season.
• give Cornell its fourth consecutive win at Newman Arena.
• keep the Big Red undefeated at home this season.
• improve Cornell to 5-1 in the all-time series with Delaware State.  
• make Coach Smith 9-4 vs. the MEAC.
• give Coach Smith a 3-0 record against the Hornets.
 
CORNELL VS. THE MEAC: Cornell has a 12-7 record all-time against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, including a mark of 4-1 vs. Delaware State.
• The Big Red also has a winning record against Howard (3-1), Maryland Eastern-Shore (1-0), and Morgan State (2-1).
• Cornell has a losing record against Bethune-Cookman (0-1) and Coppin State (2-3).
• The Big Red has never faced Florida A&M, Hampton, Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Savannah State and South Carolina State.
• Coach Smith is 8-4 all-time against MEAC teams.
 
HEAD COACH DAYNA SMITH: In her 17th season at the helm of the Big Red program, head coach Dayna Smith 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 (36 yrs), ranks ahead of Cornell's Smith.
• 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 178 career victories.
 
STUDYING THE OPPONENTS: Since the 1980-81 season, the Big Red is 15-22 coming out of Cornell's two-week study break. However, Coach Smith's teams have fared much better, posting a record of 10-6 in the first game back from exams.
 
WINNING OPPONENTS: Of Cornell's first seven opponents of the season, five owned at least a .500 record or better entering the contest. 
 
NCAA STATS:
• Cornell ranks inside the top 100 in fewest fouls (49th – 123), 3-point field goal defense (58th – .269) and scoring defense (80th – 58.7).
• Laura Bagwell-Katalinich ranks 116th in rebounds per game (8.3) and 202nd in field goal percentage (.442).
• Danielle Jorgenson (1.47) and Samantha Widmann (1.40) rank 197th and 212th, respectively, in assist/turnover ratio.
• Danielle Jorgenson also ranks 229th in assists per game (3.6).
 
STARTING STATS: The Big Red has used two different starting line-ups this season.
• Samantha Widmann and Danielle Jorgenson lead the team with 34 consecutive starts.
• Laura Bagwell-Katalinich made her first career start in the season opener at Binghamton.
• Dylan Higgins made her first career start in the contest vs. UAlbany on Nov. 12.
 
GET A GRIP: Cornell turned the ball over just four times at Colorado State, matching the school record of four turnovers vs. Yale on Feb. 6, 2016.
 
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Four new players saw their first action for the Big Red in the season opener at Binghamton – Laura Bagwell-Katalanich, Theresa Grace Mbanefo, Caitlyn Smith and Samantha Will.
• Freshman Annika Hoff saw her first collegiate action in her home state when she played six minutes vs. No. 23 Minnesota. She finished with six points and five rebounds.
 
WHAT WAS LOST: The Big Red graduated two seniors from the 2017-18 squad, and lost two other letter winners, as well as one non-letter winner.
• The five players accounted for just 25 percent of Cornell's points and rebounds.
 
WHAT REMAINS: Cornell returns three starters and 10 letter winners from a year ago.  
• The team returns its top scorer and rebounder in Samantha Widmann, as well as its second leading scorer, Samantha Clement.
• Overall, the squad returns 75% of its scoring and rebounding
• All but one returning letter winner played in at least 20 contests. 
 
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: The Big Red added four players to the 2018-19 squad, three freshman and one junior college transfer.
• The group hails from three different states – Minnesota (2), Florida and New Hampshire.
• The group consists of two forwards (Annika Hoff, Theresa Grace Mbanefo), one guard (Samantha Will) and one point guard (Caitlyn Smith).
 
IVY PRESEASON RANKINGS: The Big Red was picked eighth overall in the 2018-19 Ivy League media preseason poll.
• Princeton was selected to repeat, as the Tigers garnered 133 points and 14 first-place votes.
• Penn and Harvard were neck-and-neck for second and third, respectively, with the Quakers earning two first-place votes and 107 points and the Crimson receiving one first-place vote and 104 points. 
• Yale took fourth with 89 points, as the voters selected a repeat of last year's top-four teams.
• Brown was picked to place fifth with 66 points, followed by Dartmouth (55), Columbia (30) and Cornell (28).
 
LIVE AND ON THE AIR: The Big Red will have all 27 of its regular season games broadcast this season.
• 20 games, including 12 Ivy League contests, will be broadcast on ESPN+.
• Two Ivy League games will be broadcast on ESPN3.
• ESPN+ is available through the ESPN app and ESPN.com for $4.99 / month and $49.99 / year. The subscription includes over 175 Ivy League men's and women's basketball games as well as thousands of other live events from other collegiate conferences and professional sports leagues. 
• Three games will be broadcast on the Patriot League Network (Colgate, Lehigh, Lafayette).
• Cornell will have one game each on the Big Ten Network Plus (Minnesota) and the Mountain West Network (Colorado State).
 
DON'T I NOW YOU?: Shelby Lyman '14 returned to Cornell as an assistant coach prior to the 2017-18 season.
• One of the most prolific 3-point shooters in Cornell history, Lyman returned to East Hill after a successful three-year stint as an assistant coach at Division III powerhouse St. John Fisher College, helping the Cardinals to an Empire 8 championship in 2015 and a pair of NCAA DIII Tournament appearances.  
• Lyman still ranks among the top 20 in Cornell history in assists (14th – 219), steals (14th – 122), and minutes played (13th – 3096). She finished her career with 718 career points.
• A native of Snohomish, Wash., Lyman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government, before obtaining an MBA from St. John Fisher.
 
RECAPPING THE 2017-18 SEASON: The Big Red finished the season with a 7-20 record overall and a mark of 3-11 in the Ivy League.
 
UP NEXT: The Big Red hits the road for the final time in 2018 when it travels to Easton, Pa., to take on Lafayette at noon on Thursday, Dec. 20.