ITHACA, N.Y. — In the moment when it mattered most, junior guard Shannon Mulroy had ice water running through her veins, hitting the game-winning 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Cornell women's basketball team (3-3) to a thrilling 47-46 victory over UAlbany on Wednesday afternoon at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
It was a wild finish after UAlbany had taken the lead with a 3-pointer by Helene Haegerstrand from the left wing with just 7.8 seconds remaining. With Cornell trailing, 46-44, head coach Dayna Smith called timeout to draw up a play and give the Big Red one last shot. But when the inbounds pass with 5.6 seconds remaining was deflected by an UAlbany defender, the game was suddenly in Mulroy's hands, as she was forced to flag down the ball in the back court.
With just a couple strides, she was able to power past the UAlbany defender and get her on her hip, giving her an open look at the hoop from the left wing. Mulroy fired up the shot and delivered, sinking the 3-pointer to give Cornell the victory in exciting fashion.
While it was Mulroy who provided the late game heroics, Olivia Snyder and Theresa Grace Mbanefo put in work in the paint against the Great Danes that was impossible to overlook. Outside of Mulroy's buzzer beater and a Snyder mid-range jumper from the foul line, the Big Red got all of its offense from the paint in the second half. Out-working UAlbany in the paint was a common theme for Cornell for the game, as the Big Red outscored the Great Danes, 28-16, in the paint for the contest.
Snyder posted her second double-double of the season, finishing the contest with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds while adding four assists. Mbanefo added 12 points with nine rebounds and a game- and career-high five blocks. She was a menace to any Great Dane that drove her way, as her five blocks rank third all-time in Cornell women's basketball history for a single game. It's also the most blocks that a Big Red player has notched in a single game since Nia Marshall stuffed five shots against Colgate on Nov. 8, 2013.
Mulroy finished the contest with seven total points and a game-high five assists, while Ania McNicholas notched a game- and career-high six steals to go along with six points and four rebounds. McNicholas alone accounted for half of Cornell's 12 steals and posted more in the contest than UAlbany did as an entire team with four. She also played a vital role in making the Great Danes pay for their turnovers, as Cornell scored 21 of its 47 points in the contest off of UAlbany's miscues.
It was the Great Danes who came out of the gates firing on all cylinders in the early going, however, as UAlbany opened the contest on an 11-0 run over the first 3:50 of the contest. The Big Red showed UAlbany that they could do just the same, as Cornell pieced together its own 11-0 run to knot the game up at 11-11 with 2:40 remaining in the first quarter. Snyder and Mbanefo each scored a pair of baskets in the run, with Samantha Will notching a bucket of her own.
The game was a neck-and-neck affair the rest of the way, featuring 11 lead changes. Cornell took its first lead of the game at the four-minute mark of the second quarter, as a Mbanefo layup from Snyder gave the Big Red a 22-21 lead. The Big Red carried a two-point lead into the half, 26-24, after outscoring the Great Danes 11-5 in the second frame.
With Cornell more than back in it at this point, both teams battled to the wire in the second half, with Mulroy putting the final nail in the coffin.
The Cornell women's basketball team will be back in action when it travels to Lafayette on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tip in Easton, Pa.
