MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Cornell women's basketball team (6-5) gave #19/21 West Virginia (10-1) all that it could handle, but despite a valiant effort, the Big Red fell to the Mountaineers, 68-62, on Tuesday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Big Red fought on every possession, and despite getting out to a slow start in the first quarter, did not let that define them for the rest of the contest. Cornell found itself down by 17 at the 7:18 mark in the second quarter and scrapped all the way back to bring the score to within one at 41-40 by the 5:13 mark in the third quarter. After making efficient adjustments at halftime and rattling West Virginia with intense full court pressure in the third quarter, the Big Red used a 19-8 run over the first seven minutes of the third period to get themselves back in the game and stay neck-and-neck with the Mountaineers. The Big Red pulled within one point of West Virginia three times in the third quarter, but ultimately could not get over the hump.
Although West Virginia came out on top, the Mountaineers were visibly troubled by Cornell's full court press in the third quarter. The Big Red forced seven third period Mountaineer turnovers, most of them coming off the Cornell press. This came after West Virginia turned over the ball just three times in the first half.
The Cornell defense wasn't the only thing that heated up for the Big Red in the second half. Senior guard/forward Samantha Widmann fueled the Big Red's offensive efforts in the third and fourth quarters, as she scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half. The 20-point performance marks the second of the season for Widmann, who also notched a game-high seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Widmann paced three Big Red student-athletes in double figures, as junior guard Kate Sramac (16) and senior forward Laura Bagwell-Katalinich (12) also scored in double digits. Together, the trio accounted for 49 of Cornell's 62 points. Sramac knocked down big shots all game when the Big Red needed her to the most, including a clutch 3-pointer in the closing minute of the second quarter to keep Cornell within striking distance as it headed into the locker room. Her 16 points marks a new career-high, and she didn't stop there, also tallying a season-best six rebounds and five assists.
As successful as the Big Red was as the game progressed, the first quarter came back to bite Cornell. After Cornell jumped out to a 5-3 lead to open the game on a Bagwell-Katalinich jumper and Widmann 3-pointer, West Virginia's Tynice Martin took over, guiding the Mountaineers to red-hot shooting in the opening period of play. Martin scored the first eight points of the game for West Virginia and went 3-of-3 from long range in the opening quarter of play. Martin's teammates fed off her, as West Virginia would go on to shoot 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) from the field, including 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from long range, in the first quarter, while limiting Cornell to a 23.5 (4-of-17) shooting percentage from the floor. The Mountaineers would outscore the Big Red, 21-9, in the first quarter, creating a hole that Cornell nearly made it out of, but couldn't quite overcome.
The Mountaineers were led by Martin, who scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-7 from behind the arc. Kysre Gondrezick (14) and Kari Niblack (10) also reached double figures.
Despite falling, Cornell once again won the rebounding battle, out-rebounding a much-bigger West Virginia squad, 39-34, including 15-8 on the offensive end of the floor.
The Cornell women's basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the season when it hosts East Tennessee State on Saturday, Jan. 4 at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
