CAMBRIDGE, MASS. – The Big Red women's basketball team connected on just 3-of-15 shots in the first period and never recovered as Harvard lead wire-to-wire en route to an 80-58 victory this evening in Lavietes Pavilion.  
 
Cornell (5-14, 1-5 Ivy) was led by Samantha Widmann, who for the second straight contest came one rebound shy of a double-double, with 16 points and nine boards, to go along with three steals. She was joined in double-digits by Danielle Jorgenson, who finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals. Kate Sramac and Samantha Clement finished with eight points apiece.
 
Harvard (13-6, 5-1 Ivy) had four players finish in double-digits, led by Katie Benzan, who knocked down 5-of-7 from beyond the arc for 20 points.
 
The Crimson connected on 52.8 percent from the floor (28-53) and a blistering 56.3 percent from 3-point range (9-16), while Cornell hit just 35.5 percent overall (22-62) and 38.1 percent from long range (8-21). Harvard held the significant 46-23 advantage in rebounds, but turned the ball over 17 times to the Big Red's 10 miscues.
 
Harvard's offense clicked from the opening tip and the Crimson jumped out to an early 8-2 lead before eventually taking a double-digit (19-9) advantage on Benzan's buzzer beater to end the first quarter. The home team stretched its lead to 22 points on a pair of made free throws from Jadyn Bush with 1:56 to go in the second period, but the Big Red closed the stanza strong with seven unanswered points, four from Widmann and three from Clement, to trail 36-31 at the half.
 
The Crimson continued its hot-shooting and balanced offense to build a 24-point lead midway through the third quarter (52-28) and maintained a 20-point advantage the rest of the way.
 
The Big Red returns to Ithaca to open a four-game home stand vs. Brown and Yale on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday, Feb. 10, respectively. The game vs. the Bears tips off at 6 p.m., with the game vs. the Bulldogs slated for 5 p.m.