CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The women's squash team took higher-ranked Columbia to the brink of a big upset on Sunday, but ulimately fell short to finish in eighth place at the Howe Cup.
 
The Big Red took four matches to the maximum five games, but the Lions won each of them for a 7-2 victory on Sunday at Harvard's Murr Center. Cornell finished the season 10-9.
 
Sophomore Madison Miles got the Big Red started with a tidy three-game win at No. 6, then the other two matches of the opening rotation went to five. Senior Margaux Losty stormed back from two down at No. 3, and junior Lauren Leizman had a back-and-forth battle at No. 9, but the Lions built an early 2-1 lead.
 
Senior Charlotte Knaggs won in four at No. 5 to give Cornell hope entering the final rotation, and senior Michele Garceau (No. 1) and sophomore Colby Gallagher (No. 7) went the distance in their matches, but Columbia (10-7) held on to win the College Squash Association's national championships seventh-place match.
 
While the dual season is complete, Cornell will send qualifiers to the CSA's Individual Championships from March 2-4 in Washington, D.C.
 
#6 COLUMBIA 7, #8 CORNELL 2
At Murr Center; Cambridge, Mass.
1. Tanvi Khanna (Clm) def. Michele Garceau, 9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-7, 11-7
2. Madlen O'Connor (Clm) def. Emma Uible, 11-7, 11-3, 11-13, 11-5
3. Nicole Kendall (Clm) def. Margaux Losty, 13-11, 11-4, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9
4. Jui Kalgutkar (Clm) def. Nghi Nguyen, 13-11, 11-7, 11-7
5. Charlotte Knaggs (Cor) def. Habiba Mohamed, 11-5, 4-11, 11-9, 11-4
6. Madison Miles (Cor) def. Jane Pincus, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5
7. Doria Chen (Clm) def. Colby Gallagher, 6-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6, 11-4
8. Addie Fulton (Clm) def. Lucy Martin, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9
9. Diana Masch (Clm) def. Lauren Leizman, 5-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9