LOWELL, Mass. – The Cornell women's basketball team was a beast on the boards, doubling-up UMass Lowell in the rebounding category en route to a 70-56 victory over the Riverhawks on Wednesday afternoon at the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Mass. With the win, the Big Red notched its fourth-straight victory, improving to 5-2 on the season.

The Big Red has put its opponents in their place on the glass all season, and today was a prime example of this, as Cornell's success on the boards facilitated an offense that saw four Big Red student-athletes score in double-figures. The Big Red out-rebounded the Riverhawks 42-20, including 19-3 in offensive rebounds, for the game. With 19 second chances on missed baskets via its offensive rebounds, Cornell capitalized, notching 18 second-chance points as compared to UMass Lowell's five.

Samantha Widmann made the Riverhawks pay, recording her second double-double of the season and pacing four Big Red student-athletes in double figures. Widmann notched a game-high 16 points, including 14 in the first half when the Big Red was finding its rhythm, to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds. Her defense was also on point, as she notched two steals.

With Widmann as the catalyst, Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, Kate Sramac, and Halley Miklos followed suit. Bagwell-Katalinich's efficiency continues to be impressive, as she collected 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting while going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. In the last three games, Bagwell-Katalinich is 17-of-18 from the charity stripe.

Sramac had the hot hand for the Big Red all day, knocking down big shots, often as the shot clock was running low. On multiple possessions, she quickly turned what looked like a stop for UMass Lowell into a dagger. Sramac connected on 4-of-7 shots from beyond the arc en route to 12 points while collecting a team-high three steals, three rebounds, and two assists.

Miklos notched her first double-figure scoring game of the season, notching 10 points and adding five rebounds and three assists. With four Big Red student-athletes in double figures, this marks the fifth time this season that Cornell has had at least three people score at least 10 points.

As the game began, Cornell struggled to get in a groove offensively. UMass Lowell locked down on defense in the opening minutes of the game, pushing Cornell's possessions deep into the shot clock. This is when the Big Red's rebounding instincts took over, and the Big Red bought itself time to find its offensive rhythm by hitting the boards hard. Within the first three minutes of play, Cornell had already collected three offensive rebounds, two of them belonging to Miklos.

The first quarter was very back-and-forth for the Big Red and Riverhawks, and while UMass Lowell held a 19-16 advantage at the end of the opening period of play, Cornell dominated on the boards. The Big Red out-rebounded UMass Lowell 13-6 in the first quarter and 8-1 on the offensive side of the basketball.

With the onset of the second quarter, Cornell flipped a switch, opening the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 24-21 lead. UMass Lowell responded with two straight buckets to go back up 25-24, but Widmann connected on a 3-pointer on the next possession to get the Big Red back on top, 27-25. From this point on, the Big Red would go on a 16-4 run over the final 6:45 of the half to take a 10-point lead into the locker room, 39-29.

Overall, Cornell outscored the Riverhawks 23-10 in the second quarter. Widmann (14), Miklos (8), and Bagwell-Katalinich (8) were a big reason for this, as the trio combined for 30 of the Big Red's 39 first half points.

The Big Red kept it rolling out of the half, opening the third quarter on a 12-0 run. From the 6:45 mark in the second quarter to the 2:16 mark in the third, Cornell went on an impressive 28-4 run, giving the Big Red its biggest lead of the game at 51-29. Just as impressive, the Big Red held UMass Lowell without a field goal for over ten minutes, allowing just one third quarter Riverhawk field goal.

In the closing seconds of the third period of play, Ania McNicholas secured an offensive rebound and sank the put back, giving Cornell a 53-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Bagwell-Katalinich paced the Big Red early in the fourth quarter, scoring six of Cornell's first eight points to extend Cornell's lead to 61-43. However, UMass Lowell would not go away, going on a 5-0 run to cut the Cornell lead to 61-48. Out of the media timeout, Sramac got the Big Red back on track, hitting her fourth 3-pointer of the contest as the shot clock was expiring to give Cornell a 64-48 advantage.

UMass Lowell once again showed life, hitting back-to-back threes and going on a 6-0 run to get the game back within 10 points at 64-54. Dylan Higgins put the nail in UMass Lowell's coffin, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers of her own in the final 1:30 of play to secure a 70-56 victory for Cornell. Higgins finished the contest with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting, including a perfect 2-of-2 from long range.

The Big Red women's basketball team will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 1 when it hosts Lafayette at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.