NEW YORK CITY – After an unusually slow start saw the Big Red women's basketball team get into an 18-point hole, the visitors responded by limiting Columbia to just one field goal in the third quarter and nearly came all the way back before ultimately falling to the Lions, 65-57, this afternoon in Levien Gymnasium. With the loss, Cornell slips to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the Ivy League.
 
Laura Bagwell-Katalinich finished with a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double and Kate Sramac tallied a career-high 14 points, thanks to a 4-of-5 performance form 3-point range, to lead the Big Red. Samantha Widmann also finished in double-digits with 11 points to go along with five assists, three rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot. Theresa Grace Mbanefo was also solid off the bench, scoring five points to go along with seven rebounds, three blocked shots and one steal.
 
Columbia (5-10, 0-1 Ivy) was led by Janiya Clemmons' 16 points, 10 of which came in the decisive fourth quarter. Sienna Durre (13) and Riley Casey (11) also finished in double-digits.
 
The Big Red shot just .392 from the floor and .308 from beyond the arc, while the Lions connected at .429 overall but a mere .167 from 3-point range. The Lions held the 38-33 advantage on the boards but finished with one more turnovers than Cornell (17-16).
 
Both teams employed an aggressive press early in the first quarter and traded buckets with three ties and two lead changes over the first five minutes before Columbia held the visitors scoreless for a span of 4:40 and closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to take an 18-11 lead into the first break.
 
Cornell scored the first four points of the second quarter on back-to back buckets from Halley Miklos and Bagwell-Katalinich but the home team responded with 10 unanswered to push its lead to double-digits. The Lions took a game-high 18-point lead (34-16) at the 3:18 mark before going into the half up, 36-22.  
 
The Big Red held Columbia to just one field goal in the third quarter and outscored the Lions 21-9 to cut the Lions lead to 45-43 at the final break. Sramac hit a pair of treys to spur the offense during the quarter.
 
Cornell pulled within a single point twice early in the fourth quarter but each time Clemmons had an answer to restore a slim cushion to the home team. The Lions pushed its lead to five points (53-48) on another bucket from Clemmons, but the Big Red closed the gap once more with a trey from Sramac and a fastbreak lay-in from Bagwell-Katalinich to cut Columbia's lead to 55-53 with 4:11 to play. Casey hit a trey on the Lions' next possession to push the advantage back to five points (58-53). A pair of made free throws by Bagwell-Katalinich made it a one possession game (58-55) with 1:53 to play, but Columbia responded with five unanswered to seal the contest.
 
The Big Red returns home next weekend when it hosts Penn and Princeton in a pair of double-headers with the men's program also taking on the Quakers and the Tigers. Cornell will tip-off with Penn on Friday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m., before welcoming Princeton on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m.