ALBANY, N.Y. -- Senior Samantha
Widmann had a double-double and Cornell got its 2019-20 season off to a great start, posting its first season-opening win on the road since 2012 with a solid 71-51 victory over UAlbany on Friday evening at
SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.
Widmann had a game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five assists, pacing three double figure scorers for the Big Red. Widmann was on fire on Friday night, only missing two field goals over the entire contest and going 10-of-12 from the floor. Laura
Bagwell-Katalinich and Kate
Sramac each
chipped in 11 points and Theresa Grace
Mbanefo had eight, making four of the five field goals that she attempted. Ania
McNicholas made her presence known in her collegiate debut, notching seven points.
The Big Red had great success offensively because of how well they shared the basketball, as four Cornell players tallied at least four assists. Widmann and Bagwell-Katalinich recorded five assists apiece, while Sramac and freshman point guard
Shannon Mulroy each collected four assists. Sramac helped the Big Red in every area of the game, collecting a game-high four steals as well.
As a team, Cornell shot 55 percent from the floor overall, limited the Great Danes to 32 percent shooting, and held a 29-22 edge on the backboards. Cornell dominated the home team in the paint, outscoring Albany 46-20.
After trailing in the opening minutes,
Widmann hit a jumper with under four minutes to play in the first quarter, giving Cornell a 5-4 advantage that it would never surrender. The senior's basket triggered a 22-2 run to end the first period and start the second, turning a one-point deficit into a 25-6 edge early in the second. Cornell hit 7-of-8 shots during a four-minute spurt to end the first half, building a 35-21 advantage heading into the locker room. The Big Red ran away with the victory in the second half, leading 56-33 by the end of the third quarter and cruising to a 71-51 win.
Cornell's win on Friday night was the largest margin of victory in a season opener since defeating
LeMoyne, 82-53 on November 27, 1989 at home.
Albany's Morgan Haney had a team-best 14 points and Alexi
Schecter added 10 with six rebounds in the loss. With the loss, the Great Danes drop to 1-1 on the season.
The Big Red will be back in action on Sunday, Nov. 10 when it heads south to take on TCU at 2 p.m. ET at Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
