ITHACA, N.Y. – After a three-game road stretch, capped off with a victory over Binghamton and head coach Dayna Smith's 200th career win, the Cornell women's basketball team returns to Newman Arena for a clash with Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.
Game Information:
Cornell vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
DATE/TIME: Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021 at 1 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 2-2, 0-0 Ivy League / Fairleigh Dickinson 0-3, 0-0 NEC
BROADCAST: ESPN+ (es.pn/32jaJ2v)
STATS: cornellbigred.com (bit.ly/3bTZ3oo)
GAME NOTES
What's on Tap:
• After a three-game road stretch that saw the Big Red travel to Wake Forest on Nov. 12 (L, 64-42), East Tennessee State on Nov. 14 (L, 66-54), and Binghamton on Nov. 17 (W, 67-57), the Cornell women's basketball team returns to Newman Arena for a clash with Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Ithaca, N.Y.
• The 67-57 victory against Binghamton that Cornell is coming off of was a monumental one for Dayna Smith, the Rebecca Quinn Morgan '60 Head Coach of Women's Basketball, who notched her 200th career win.
How to Watch:
• The game against Fairleigh Dickinson will be broadcast on ESPN+, along with all of Cornell's home contests and its entire slate of Ivy League games over the course of the season. ESPN+ is available to fans in the U.S. for $4.99/event, $6.99/month, or $69.99/year (http://plus.espn.com/). A similar international platform at the same price point is available for fans outside of the U.S., featuring both live and archived games.
Last Time Out:
• Cornell defeated Binghamton, 67-57, on Wednesday night in Vestal, N.Y. to even its record to 2-2 on the season and give head coach Dayna Smith her 200th career victory.
• The win was also a night to remember for senior Theresa Grace Mbanefo, who poured in a game- and career-high 27 points on 13-of-19 shooting to go along with 13 rebounds, including eight offensive.
• Mbanefo went off, crushing her previous career-high of 15 points that she notched on Nov. 10 against Colgate and securing her second double-double of the season.
• Mbanefo paced three Cornell scorers in double figures, including junior Olivia Snyder, who secured her first-career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 14 boards, both of which were career-bests. Snyder also dished-out a game- and career-high six assists.
• Ania McNicholas joined Mbanefo and Snyder in double figures with 10 points, adding five rebounds, a pair of steals, a block, and an assist.
• As a team, Cornell demolished Binghamton inside, out-rebounding the Bearcats, 49-21, including 18-7 on the offensive glass.
• The Big Red made Binghamton pay for those 18 offensive rebounds, scoring a whopping 50 points in the paint as compared to Binghamton's 18.
The Series vs. Fairleigh Dickinson:
• Saturday's match-up between the Knights and the Big Red will be just the third meeting between the two schools.
• Cornell has won both of the prior meetings, holding a 2-0 record in the all-time series.
• Cornell and FDU haven't squared off in 19 years, with the last meeting between the two teams coming during the 2002-03 season, in what was Dayna Smith's first season at the helm of the Big Red.
• The Big Red emerged victorious the last time the two teams met by a score of 71-49 in the consolation game of the Seton Hall Basketball Classic on Nov. 23, 2002.
• The win gave head coach Dayna Smith her first-career victory.
Cornell vs. the NEC:
• Cornell holds a 24-7 all-time record against current members of the Northeastern Conference (NEC).
• The Big Red holds a winning record over seven of the eight current NEC institutions that it has faced historically, including Bryant (3-0), Fairleigh Dickinson (2-0), LIU (3-1), Mount St. Mary's (1-0), Sacred Heart (1-0), St. Francis Brooklyn (6-2), Saint Francis (Pa.) (5-2), and Wagner (2-1).
• Cornell and Central Connecticut State are 1-1 in their two meetings.
• The Big Red has never faced Merrimack.
• Coach Smith is 12-5 all-time vs. the NEC.
Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson:
• FDU is seeking its first win this season after falling to St. John's (89-68), Loyola (Md.) (68-59 OT), and Bucknell (66-56) in its first three outings.
• FDU was predicted to finish fifth in the NEC this season in the conference's preseason poll, having made back-to-back NEC Tournament semifinal appearances.
• Graduate forward Madison Stanley is among the faces to watch for FDU, having been named Preseason All-NEC after earning a nod to the All-NEC First Team during the 2020-21 season.
• FDU is led in scoring so far this season by junior guard Dahomée Forgues, who is averaging an NEC-best 18.7 points per game.
• Forgues is shooting .525 from the floor, including leading the NEC in 3-point field goal percentage at .625 (10-of-16).
• Chloe Wilson leads FDU in rebounding at 6.3 per game and is also averaging double-digits in scoring with 13.3 points per game.
• Devyn Scott is pacing the Knights in the assist column with 4.00 per game, a mark which ranks fourth in the NEC.
• Scott leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio (2.40), with teammate Rachael Niles ranking just behind in second (2.00).
A Win Over Fairleigh Dickinson Would:
• Improve Cornell's record to 3-2 on the season.
• Make the Big Red and head coach Dayna Smith a perfect 3-0 against Fairleigh Dickinson.
• Make Cornell 2-0 at Newman Arena on the young season.
• Improve head coach Dayna Smith to 13-5 all-time against the NEC.
The Big 2-0-0:
• Dayna Smith, The Rebecca Quinn Morgan '60 Head Coach of Women's Basketball, who is in her 20th year at the helm of the program, notched her 200th career victory on Nov. 17 with the Big Red's 67-57 victory over Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y.
• With her 200th victory, Smith will became only the sixth coach in Ivy League women's basketball history to amass 200 career victories at an Ivy school.
• The winningest coach in Cornell women's basketball history and the sixth-winningest in Ivy League history, she is the second-longest tenured active women's basketball coach in the conference (Harvard's Kathy Delaney-Smith, 40 seasons).
• She is also fourth all-time in years served as a head coach in the Ivy League.
Cleaning the Glass:
• After a monster night on the glass against Binghamton, Cornell ranks 50th in all of Division I in rebounds, pulling down 146 as a team in its first four contests.
• Cornell's 49 rebounds against the Bearcats is the most by a team in the Ivy League for a single game so far this season.
• Theresa Grace Mbanefo (9.3 rpg) and Olivia Snyder (7.8 rpg) are leading the blocking brigade for Cornell, sitting second and fourth, respectively, in the conference in rebounds per game.
• At the same time, Cornell is holding its opponents to an Ivy League-best 31.5 rebounds per game.
Dishing Out Helpers:
• The Big Red has shared the basketball well through its first four games, ranking 55th in the nation in assists (53). Cornell's assist per game average of 13.25 ranks fourth in the Ivy League.
• Shannon Mulroy currently ranks third in the Ivy League in assists per game (3.3).
Block Party:
• Led by Theresa Grace Mbanefo's seven blocked shots on the season, a mark which ranks second in the Ivy League and 31st in all of Division I, Cornell sits second as a team in the conference in blocked shots per game (4.75).
• Thanks in part to Cornell's ability to stuff shots, combined with tough defense, the Big Red is limiting its opponents to just 55.3 points per game, a mark which ranks third in the conference.
NCAA Individual Rankings:
• Theresa Grace Mbanefo ranks 12th in double doubles (2), 17th in field goals made (27), 21st in rebounds (37), and 31st in blocked shots (7).
• Olivia Snyder ranks 37th in minutes played (130:14) and 51st in rebounds (31).
• Samantha Will ranks 28th in minutes played (135:11).
Ivy League Individual Rankings:
• Theresa Grace Mbanefo ranks first in the conference in field goal percentage (.600), second in rebounds per game (9.3), second in blocks per game (1.8), and fifth in points per game (14.8).
• Shannon Mulroy ranks third in the conference in assists per game (3.3) and fifth in assist to turnover ratio (0.9).
• Olivia Snyder ranks fourth in the conference in rebounds per game (7.8), fifth in blocked shots per game (1.0), sixth in assists per game (2.8), and seventh in minutes played per game (32.8).
• Samantha Will ranks fifth in the conference in minutes played per game (33.5).
• Ania McNicholas ranks sixth in the conference in steals per game (2.0).
• KC Carter ranks eighth in the conference in 3-point field goals per game (1.5).
Team Leaders:
• Points – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 14.8 points per game
• Field Goals Made – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 6.8 per game
• Field Goal Percentage – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, .600
• 3-point Field Goals Made – KC Carter, 1.5 per game
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage – KC Carter, .462
• Free Throw Percentage – Shannon Mulroy, .750 (9-of-12)
• Rebounding – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 9.3 rebounds per game
• Assists – Shannon Mulroy, 3.3 assists per game
• Assist-To-Turnover Ratio – Shannon Mulroy, 0.90
• Blocks – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 1.8 blocks per game
• Steals – Ania McNicholas, 2.0 steals per game
• Minutes – Samantha Will, 33.5 minutes per game
A Look Back in Time:
• The last time the Big Red was in action in 2019-20, Cornell finished the season with a 10-16 overall record and a 3-11 mark in conference play, finishing seventh in the Ivy League.
• Cornell notched a historical win over Harvard that season, defeating the Crimson, 55-47, at Lavietes Pavilion on Feb. 29, 2020 for the team's first win over Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. in program history. Theresa Grace Mbanefo posted her first-career double-double in the contest with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
• The Big Red will look to get back to the Ivy League Tournament this year for the first time since the 2018-19 season, when the team qualified for its first conference tournament after its creation in 2016-17.
Starting from (Almost) Scratch:
• The Cornell women's basketball team will have a new look this season, returning only 27 percent of its minutes, 27 percent of its scoring, and 22 percent of its rebounding from the 2019-20 season.
• Of the 14-player roster, eight suit up for the Big Red for the first time in the 2021-22 campaign.
Oh Captain, My Captain (s):
• Senior forward Theresa Grace Mbanefo, senior guard Samantha Will, and junior guard Shannon Mulroy will serve as tri-captains of the team for the 2021-22 season.
• Mulroy returns as the team's top scorer from 2019-20 when she averaged 8.3 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 rebounds per game. She appeared in all 26 games and made 23 starts while averaging 25.2 minutes of playing time per game, the most among all returners. She led the Big Red in 3-point makes (35) and shooting percentage from behind the arc (33.0) in her rookie season. She also ranked second on the team in assists and free throw percentage (.750) in 2019-20.
• A guard with a calming presence on the floor, Will came into her own at the end of the 2019-20 season when she scored double-digits in back-to-back games for the first time of her career against Yale on Feb. 21, 2020 and Brown on Feb. 22, 2020.
• Mbanefo is one of two forwards that returns from the 2019-20 roster. She played in all 26 games as a sophomore, making four starts and averaging 18.2 minutes per contest. She led Cornell in blocks (18) and ranked third on the team in rebounding, averaging 5.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest.
The Lay of the Land:
• In addition to Mbanefo, Mulroy, and Will, junior guard Ania McNicholas, junior guard KC Carter, and junior forward Anna Hovis return invaluable collegiate experience to a roster that is laden with newcomers.
• Junior transfer Olivia Snyder will add an offensive mentality and knack for scoring the basketball to the Big Red roster.
• Sophomore guards Mia Beam, Val Garcia-Martinez, and Kaya Ingram, as well as freshmen Jada Davis, Lexi Green, Arianna Linoxilakis, and Summer Parker-Hall will all take the floor for Cornell for the first time this season.
Ivy Preseason Rankings:
• The Big Red was picked sixth overall in the 2021-22 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll with 41 voter points.
• The 2019-20 Ivy League Regular Season Champion Princeton was once again picked as the favorite to win the league this year, collecting 12 of a possible 16 first place votes and 122 points.
• Penn, who returns the 2019-20 Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first team All-Ivy selection Kayla Padilla, was chosen second with three first place votes and 108 points.
• The race for third, fourth, and fifth was close from there, with Columbia being picked third (87 points), Yale being chosen fourth (82 points), and Harvard's single first place vote helping the Crimson come in fifth (81 points).
• Dartmouth (29 points) and Brown (27 points) rounded out the poll in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Up Next:
• The Cornell women's basketball team will welcome UAlbany to town on Wednesday, Nov. 24 for a 1 p.m. tip-off at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. The game will be the first of a double-header with the Big Red men's basketball team, who will face off against Saint Francis at 4 p.m.
