ITHACA, N.Y. – After a back and forth battle that saw six lead changes and five ties, the Dartmouth women's basketball team took a slim 47-45 lead with 2:15 to go in the third quarter and never trailed again as it held off the Big Red for the 63-56 victory this evening in Newman Arena. The win was the first by the Big Green in Ithaca since 2009-10, as Cornell had won eight straight on its home court against Dartmouth.
 
Cornell forced the Big Green into 18 turnovers, with just 14 miscues of its own, and held the edge in points in the paint (28-14), points off turnovers (24-14), second chance points (12-5), fast break points (8-2) and points from the bench (22-9).
 
But in the end, the game was decided by 3-pointers, as Dartmouth hit 11 shots from beyond the arc against a Cornell squad that ranks 11th in the nation in 3-point field goal defense (.259). The Big Green entered the game shooting .308 on the season from 3-point range, but tonight managed to connect on 11-of-22.
 
Three Cornell players finish in double-digits – Laura Bagwell-Katalinich (14), Samantha Clement (13), and Kate Sramac (11). Clement went 3-of-5 from 3-point range and finished with two assists and two steals in a season-high 30 minutes. Samantha Widmann pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds, while Bagwell-Katalinich tallied nine to help Cornell to the 39-36 advantage on the boards.
 
Dartmouth (9-9, 2-3 Ivy) was led by Cy Lippold and Isalys Quinones 21 and 19 points, respectively, after the duo combined to shoot 10-of-17 from 3-point range. Quinones also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
 
The Big Green set the stage early, as it jumped out to a 6-0 lead on back-to-back treys from Lippold and Quinones, but Cornell went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the contest off a layup from Dylan Higgins at the 5:26 mark. The teams traded shots before Dartmouth closed the quarter on an 11-3 run to go up 19-13 at the break.
 
The visitors stretched their lead to eight points (26-18) with 5:48 to go in the second quarter, but a late surge by Cornell, including a steal and finish at the buzzer by Clement cut Dartmouth's lead to 32-30 at halftime.
 
Cornell carried the momentum into the third quarter and tied the contest on a tough lay-up from Bagwell-Katalinich. The teams traded shots before back-to-back layups from Sramac and Theresa Grace Mbanefo handed Cornell its largest lead of the game (45-41) with 3:18 to go in the quarter. But once again, the deep ball got Dartmouth out of trouble as consecutive treys form Lippold and Quinones restored the lead to the Big Green.
 
Trailing by five at the start of the fourth, Cornell battled back to tie the contest at 50-50 with 8:54 to play after a jumper from Sramac and a traditional three-point play from Caitlyn Smith. But once again Quinones connected from downtown and the visitors never trailed again.
 
Cornell (7-9, 1-4 Ivy) is back in action when it welcomes Harvard for a 5 p.m. contest tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 9, in Newman Arena.