ITHACA, N.Y. – No matter what it tried, the Cornell women's basketball team (2-3) couldn't find its offensive footing in its game against Fairleigh Dickinson, falling to the Knights, 63-32, on Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
Theresa Grace Mbanefo and Shannon Mulroy led the Big Red in scoring with nine points apiece. Olivia Snyder netted six points to go along with five rebounds, and freshman Lexi Green scored her first collegiate points with four of her own.
Cornell was led in rebounding in the contest by junior guard Ania McNicholas, who pulled down a game-high eight boards and added a game-best three steals and three points. Freshman forward Jada Davis made the most of her minutes, corralling a career-best five rebounds and notching a block in a game for the third time this season.
It was all FDU offensively, however, on Saturday afternoon, as Cornell's cold shooting made it difficult to gain any momentum. After scoring the first five points of the contest on a Snyder transition jumper and a Mulroy 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions, FDU put together a 13-0 run over the next four minutes and 24 seconds from 6:31 remaining in the first quarter to 2:07 left in the opening period of play.
FDU led 13-7 after the first quarter, and after the Big Red managed just five points in the second quarter, Cornell found itself training at the half, 27-12. Cornell was never able to gain traction, shooting just 19.6 percent from the floor on the contest as compared to FDU's 41.9 percent.
Where FDU truly excelled, however, was from the foul line. The Knights shot 81.8 percent from the charity stripe (18-of-22), including a perfect 9-of-9 in the first half. FDU put Cornell on the free throw line 20 times, but the Big Red was unable to achieve the same success, shooting only 40.0 percent.
FDU was led in the victory by Devyn Scott and Rachael Niles, who scored 14 and 11 points, respectively. Scott went 7-of-8 from the free throw line, while Niles shot 3-of-4 from long range. Forward Madison Stanley secured a team-high seven rebounds.
The Cornell women's basketball team will look to bounce back when it hosts UAlbany on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
