ITHACA, N.Y. – For the first 20 minutes of play against Yale on Saturday, it was the Cornell women's basketball team who appeared to lay the foundation for success. The third and fourth quarters proved to be problematic for the Big Red, however, as the Bulldogs outscored Cornell, 48-27, in the second half en route to a 74-67 victory over the Big Red at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.

The first half of the contest was all about Cornell, who entered the locker room at halftime with a 14-point advantage, 40-26. After a bit of a rocky first quarter for both teams, Cornell combined red-hot 3-point shooting and steady free-throw shooting to pull ahead in the second. The Big Red literally couldn't miss from behind the arc in the first half, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from deep, while Yale was ice-cold, going 0-for-5 from 3-point land. Shannon Mulroy was one of the hot hands for Cornell, knocking down both of her 3-point attempts in the first two quarters of play.

With a high number of fouls being called in the first half, the bonus became a factor, and Cornell seized the moment, getting to the line 12 times and converting 10 attempts. Samantha Widmann, who finished the contest with 20 points, accounted for seven of these free throws, going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the second quarter.

Cornell was cruising, with every player that entered the game in the first half scoring at least a point, and after a Danielle Jorgenson 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the second quarter, it seemed as if Cornell had all of the momentum.

But Yale came back out of the locker room with a second-life, stopping Cornell in its tracks. The Bulldogs outscored the Big Red, 28-14, in the third quarter, tying things up, 54-54, heading into the final period of play.

At the onset of the fourth quarter, both teams were scoreless for the first three and a half minutes of play until Kate Sramac sank a baseline jumper to give Cornell a 56-54 advantage with 6:30 remaining in the game. Yale's Camilla Emsbo hit the equalizer on the next possession, sparking a 7-0 run for the Bulldogs that was capped off by a Roxy Barahman 3-pointer that forced a Cornell timeout.

With the score at 61-56 coming out of the timeout, the Big Red responded, and after four straight Widmann points, including a three-point play, Cornell was within one, 61-60. That would be as close as Cornell would get however, as Yale continued to hit daggers and went on to a 74-67 victory.

The Bulldogs took a page out of Cornell's first half playbook, shooting an impressive 7-of-10 (70.0%) from behind the arc and going 9-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half. The Yale duo of Barahman (26) and Emsbo (24) made Cornell pay, combining for 50 of the Bulldogs' 74 points. Emsbo also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double double.

With her 20 points, Widmann notched her second-straight 20-point performance and her fourth of the season. She played a very well-rounded game, shooting 6-of-10 from the floor and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe while adding six rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block. Kate Sramac (14) and Shannon Mulroy (10) joined Widmann in double figures.

With the loss, Cornell drops to 9-7 on the season and 2-2 in the Ivy League. The Big Red will return to the court next week when it plays a pair of road match-ups against pre-season conference favorites Princeton on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. in Princeton, N.J., and Penn on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in Philadelphia.