ITHACA, N.Y. – The Cornell women's basketball team will take the floor at Newman Arena for the first time this season when it hosts Colgate on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y. The Big Red will stay home to square off against NJIT on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. in its second contest of a three-game home stand.

GAME INFORMATION:

GAME #3: Cornell vs. Colgate
GAME TIME: Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
GAME SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 22-16
LAST MEETING: Colgate won, 74-70, Nov. 16, 2017 (Ithaca, N.Y.)
2019-20 RECORDS: Cornell (1-1, 0-0 Ivy League), Colgate (2-0, 0-0 Patriot League)
Live Video (ESPN+): es.pn/34Rr9er
Live Stats: bit.ly/32JKaxH
Tickets: bit.ly/2NEwjEI

GAME #4: Cornell vs. NJIT
GAME TIME: Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m.
GAME SITE: Newman Arena (Ithaca, N.Y.)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 3-0
LAST MEETING: Cornell won, 61-46, Jan. 3, 2018 (Newark, N.J.)
2019-20 RECORDS: Cornell (1-1, 0-0 Ivy), NJIT (0-3, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
Live Video (ESPN+): es.pn/33IoUtD
Live Stats: bit.ly/32JKaxH
Tickets: bit.ly/33J9Goq

*Records prior to Thursday's contest.

FULL GAME NOTES - COLGATE

SUPPLEMENTED GAME NOTES - NJIT

QUICK HITS:

• The Big Red went 1-1 in its opening weekend of play, winning its season opener against UAlbany on Friday, Nov. 8, 71-51, before putting up a great fight but ultimately falling to TCU on Sunday, Nov. 10, 59-49.
• Cornell's season-opening win over UAlbany was...
   *The first for the Big Red since the 2016-17 season, when Cornell beat the University of New Hampshire, 61-56.
   *The first season-opening road win for Cornell since 2012.
   *The largest margin of victory for the Big Red in a season opener since defeating LeMoyne, 82-53, on Nov. 27, 1989.
• Samantha Widmann went off in the Big Red's victory over UAlbany, posting a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) and adding five assists and a block.
• Laura Bagwell-Katalinich's performance against TCU could not be overlooked, as the senior forward posted a game-high 17 points and game-high and collegiate-best 17 rebounds for the seventh double-double of her career.

THE SERIES VS. COLGATE:

• Standing at 38 meetings all-time, Cornell's series with the Raiders is the longest in women's basketball history, excluding Ivy League games.
• The two teams were supposed to face off last year in Hamilton, N.Y., but the game was postponed and not rescheduled.
• The Big Red has won 10 of the last 12 games against the Raiders to take the lead in the all-time series, 22-16.
• Since the 1992-93 season, the Big Red is 18-6 against Colgate.
• Colgate won the last meeting, 74-70, on Nov. 16, 2017 in Ithaca, N.Y., snapping a six-game win streak for the Big Red against the Raiders.

A WIN OVER COLGATE WOULD:

• Improve the Big Red's record to 2-1 on the season.
• Be the second-straight year that Cornell won its home opener.
• Make Cornell 23-16 in the series.
• Improve Coach Smith to 11-4 all-time in the series.
• Make Coach Smith 23-21 vs. the Patriot League.

CORNELL VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE:

• Cornell is 47-62 all-time vs. the current members of the Patriot League.
• The Big Red owns the advantage in the series with Colgate (22-16).
• Cornell holds a slim advantage over Lafayette (9-8) and is tied with Loyola (Md.) (3-3).
• The Big Red has a losing mark vs.  American (1-2), Army (5-6), Bucknell (5-19), Lehigh (2-6), and Navy (0-2).
• Cornell has never faced Boston University or Holy Cross in women's basketball.
• Coach Smith's record vs. the conference stands at 22-21.

SCOUTING COLGATE:

Colgate has gotten off to its first 2-0 start since 2009-10 after beating NJIT, 79-52, and UMass-Lowell, 73-51. Preseason All-Patriot League selection Rachel Thompson guided the Raiders to its victory over UMass-Lowell, notching a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Thompson became Colgate's first Preseason All-Patriot selection since 2005, as the Raiders were selected to place sixth in the league this season. The Raiders' victory over NJIT was a total team effort, as Keelah Dixon (11), Alexa Brodie (11), Nia Ahart (10), Haley Greer (10), and Taylor Langan (10) all scored in double figures.

THE SERIES VS. NJIT:

• Saturday's matchup between the Big Red and Highlanders will be only the fourth time the two teams have met.
• All four matchups between the Big Red and the Highlanders have come during Coach Smith's tenure.
• Cornell holds a perfect 3-0 record over NJIT, dating back to the 2006-07 campaign.
• The two teams last met during the 2017-18 season, when the Big Red defeated the Highlanders, 61-46, on Jan. 3, 2018 in Newark, N.J.

A WIN OVER NJIT WOULD:

• Improve Cornell to 4-0 in the all-time series.
• Improve Coach Smith to 4-0 against NJIT.
• Make Coach Smith 4-1 against the Atlantic Sun Conference.

CORNELL VS. THE ATLANTIC SUN:

• Cornell is 6-3 all-time vs. current members of the Atlantic Sun.
• The Big Red holds the advantage over NJIT (3-0) and Stetson (2-1).
• Cornell has a losing record against Liberty (1-2) and Florida Gulf Coast (0-1).
• The Big Red has never faced Bellarmine, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, North Alabama, or North Florida.

SCOUTING NJIT:

NJIT is seeking its first win of the 2019-20 campaign after dropping its first three games to Colgate (79-52), Air Force (68-48), and Colorado (80-57). The Highlanders were selected to finish eighth in the Atlantic Sun this season, per the conference's annual preseason coaches' poll. NJIT has been led through three games by junior guard Ellyn Stoll and freshman guard Kenna Squier, who are averaging 12.3 and 10.0 points, respectively. Senior guard Danielle Tunstall has paced the Highlanders in rebounding, collecting 11.3 boards per game.

AT FIRST GLANCE:

Freshman point guard Shannon Mulroy and freshman guard Ania McNicholas saw their first action in a Big Red uniform this past weekend, and made an immediate impact. Mulroy started both contests, collecting four assists, five rebounds, four points, and a steal against UAlbany. She found her offensive rhythm against TCU on Sunday, reaching double figures and notching 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from long range. She contributed in other areas as well, dishing out five assists, corralling two rebounds, and stuffing one shot.

McNicholas provided a spark of the bench in both contests, chipping in seven points and four rebounds in the Big Red's victory over UAlbany.

STRENGTH COMES IN NUMBERS:

The Big Red have had at least three student-athletes score in double figures in both of its contests so far this season. Samantha Widmann (22), Kate Sramac (11), and Laura Bagwell-Katalinich (11) all posted double-digit points against UAlbany, while Bagwell-Katalinich (17), Shannon Mulroy (11), and Theresa Grace Mbanefo (10) reached double figures against TCU.

RECAPPING THE 2018-19 SEASON:

The Big Red finished the season with a 12-14 overall record and a mark of 6-8 in the Ivy League. After winning three of its final four contests, the Big Red finished in a tie for fourth place in the Ivy League and clinched a spot in the Ivy League Tournament for the first time since the tournament's inception three years ago.

WHAT WAS LOST:

• The Big Red graduated one senior from the 2018-19 squad in co-captain Samantha Clement, also losing one letter winner as well as one non-letter winner.

WHAT REMAINS:

• Cornell returns all five starters and nine letter winners from a year ago. 
• The team returns its top scorer (16.1 ppg) and rebounder (7.9 rpg) in Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, as well as its second leading scorer (10.8) and rebounder (6.9), Samantha Widmann.
• Widmann and Bagwell-Katalinich will serve as captains for the 2019-20 season.
• Widmann enters her third term as team captain, becoming only the second player in program history (Karen Force '04) to serve as a three-time team captain.
• Bagwell-Katalinich returns to the team after becoming only the 11th player in program history to be named first team All-Ivy League.
• Kate Sramac and Halley Miklos are back and ready to make an even bigger impact this season after starting 19 and 17 starts, respectively, a season ago.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:

•The Big Red added four freshmen to the 2019-20 squad.
• The group hails from four different states – California, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
• The group consists of one point guard (Shannon Mulroy), two guards (Ania McNicholas, KC Carter), and one forward (Anna Hovis).

IVY PRESEASON RANKINGS:

•  The Big Red was picked fifth overall in the 2019-20 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll with 60 voter points.
• This marked vast improvement from last season, when the Big Red were selected eighth in the preseason poll.
• Princeton and Penn tied for first in the poll, each collecting 125 voter points after sharing the regular season Ivy League crown in 2018-19.
• Princeton held a slight advantage in the voting after winning the 2019 Ivy League Tournament, receiving 10 first place votes as compared to Penn's seven.
• Harvard (95) and Yale (90), were selected to finish third and fourth, respectively.
• Columbia (47), Dartmouth (47), and Brown (23) rounded out the bottom three.

HEAD COACH DAYNA SMITH:

• In her 18th 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 (37th season), 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 189 career victories.

FRESH PERSPECTIVES:

Coach Smith welcomed two new assistant coaches to the staff for the 2019-20 season - Claire Mattox (Washington College '14) and Joe Rutigliano (Canisius '15).

UP NEXT:

The Big Red will return to Newman Arena for a matchup against in-state foe Niagara on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.