ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior Samantha Widmann and freshman Shannon Mulroy were firing on all cylinders on the offensive end of the floor, each dropping 20 points and propelling the Cornell women's basketball team to a grind-it-out 74-63 victory over Brown on Friday evening at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
It was Widmann who laid the foundation for the Big Red's success, coming out guns blazing in the first half. She scored 23 of her game-high 25 points in the first two quarters of play, including shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from long range. Widmann's hot shooting was contagious, as the Big Red shot the best it has all year from 3-point land, shooting a season-best 60.0 percent (9-of-15) from behind the arc as a team.
Kate Sramac and Mulroy were feeling it from downtown as well, both knocking down three 3-point field goals for the contest. Sramac also went a flawless 3-for-3 from deep, finishing the game with 11 points to go along with five rebounds, two steals, and an assist.
When Widmann cooled off in the second half, it was Mulroy who heated up, notching 14 of her 22 points in the third and fourth quarters. While the 20-point performance marked Mulroy's second-straight, her assist total was just as impressive, as she dished out a career-high seven assists while committing only two turnovers. With Widmann and Mulroy both surpassing the 20-point plateau, this marks the first time since 2014 that the Big Red had two players score 20 points in a contest. The last to do so was Nia Marshall (24) and Nicholle Aston (21) in a 79-61 win at Loyola (Md.) on Dec. 22, 2014.
As a team, the Big Red did a great job of taking care of the basketball against a Brown team that hung around for much of the contest, committing a season-low 13 turnovers as compared to the Bears' 19. Cornell made Brown pay for its giveaways, notching 24 points off of the Bears' turnovers. Brown scored just 10 points off of the Big Red's turnovers.
Laura Bagwell-Katalinich and Halley Miklos paced the Big Red on the boards in the win, each collecting a game-high eight rebounds. Bagwell-Katalinich also notched a game-high four steals, matching her career-high.
With the victory, Cornell is now winners of three of its last four contests, with all three of these victories coming at Newman Arena. The Big Red improves to 9-6 on the season and 2-1 in Ivy League play and will be looking for its third-straight win when it welcomes Yale to town tomorrow night.
The Cornell women's basketball team's contest against the Bulldogs is scheduled for a 5 p.m. tip at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
