ITHACA, N.Y. – Since the 2010-11 season, the Cornell/Penn women's basketball game has been defined by defense and today's contest was no exception as the Quakers earned a hard-fought 53-39 victory at Newman Arena. The contest marks the 10th time in the last 15 meetings that one team was held below 50 points, and sixth time in that span that both teams combined for fewer than 100 points.
 
Samantha Widmann lead the Big Red with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Danielle Jorgenson chipped in eight points and registered a career-high six steals, a mark good for 15th in Cornell history.  
 
Penn (17-6, 8-2 Ivy) was led by Michell Nwokedi's 20-point, 13-rebound double-double.
 
The Quakers shot 38.8 percent from the floor (19-49) and just 20 percent from beyond the arc (3-15), but held Cornell to 32 percent overall (16-50) and a mere 13.3 percent from 3-point range (2-15). Penn also held the 37-30 edge in rebounds and had two fewer turnovers than the Big Red (16-14).  
 
Penn jumped out to a 9-2 lead, but Cornell responded when it closed the first and opened the second quarter with seven unanswered points to make it a two-point game (17-15). The teams traded baskets before the Quakers used a 14-3 run to take a 33-20 lead into halftime.
 
The visitors carried at least a 12 point lead into the fourth quarter when Cornell made one final push. The Big Red got back-to-back buckets from Widmann to make it a 44-35 contest, but Penn responded with a trey from Beth Brzozowski to quell the home team's momentum.
 
Cornell (6-17, 2-8 Ivy) hits the road for a pair of contests at Yale (Feb. 23) and Brown (Feb. 24).