ITHACA, N.Y. – UMass Lowell's (3-3) scrappy defense was a consistent on Wednesday night, keeping the Cornell women's basketball team (4-4) off-balance and allowing the Riverhawks to go on to the 53-44 victory over the Big Red at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
Shannon Mulroy and Theresa Grace Mbanefo both scored in double figures for Cornell, with Mulroy scoring a game-high 12 points and Mbanefo notching 10 to go along with a game-high eight boards, marking the sixth game this season that she's scored in double figures. Olivia Snyder added eight points and seven rebounds for the Big Red.
With UMass Lowell constantly applying pressure, both on the perimeter and inside, Cornell had a hard time settling in on offense, shooting just .254 (15-of-59) from the floor on the contest as compared to UMass Lowell's .348. The Big Red excelled on the offensive glass, outrebounding the Riverhawks, 15-8, on the offensive end of the floor, but Cornell wasn't able to convert on as many second chances as it would have liked, notching 11 second chance points on the game, just two more than UMass Lowell.
The Big Red gave itself the opportunity to claw back into the contest with its ability to turn the Riverhawks over, forcing 22 UMass Lowell turnovers and scoring 18 of its 44 points off of the Riverhawks' miscues. Ania McNicholas has had a knack for stealing the basketball all season-long, and that was no different tonight, as she notched a game-high three steals to go along with four points, three rebounds, and a block.
UMass Lowell continued to fend off the Big Red, however, and it wasn't one star that stole the show. The Riverhawks had five players score at least nine points, with three of those players coming off the bench. This allowed UMass Lowell to outscore Cornell in bench points, 28-6.
After the Riverhawks won the tip and got on the board in its opening possession, Mulroy answered two possessions later, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Cornell the early 3-2 lead. The Big Red found itself leading, 5-4, several possessions later after McNicholas grabbed a steal and converted the layup on the other end. This would be the last time that Cornell would lead in the contest, as UMass Lowell would close the first quarter on a 9-2 run to build a 13-7 advantage that it would never relinquish.
Cornell didn't go down without a fight, however, and finding itself trailing by 10, 22-12, with 3:43 remaining in the second quarter, the Big Red outscored the Riverhawks, 9-2, to cut UMass Lowell's lead to three at the half, 24-21. Four different Cornell players scored in the run, which started with a Samantha Will 3-pointer, including Snyder, Mbanefo, and Mulroy.
The Big Red stayed strong out of the locker room, scoring two of the first three buckets of the second half to get to within one, 26-25, with 8:28 remaining in the third. Mbanefo and McNicholas knocked down the baskets to get Cornell right on UMass Lowell's heels. But the Riverhawks responded with a 12-3 run over the next seven minutes to re-extend its lead to 10, 38-28. UMass Lowell held Cornell without a field goal over this time period, as the Big Red went nearly eight minutes without a field goal.
Trailing, 40-32, the Big Red scored the last four points of the third quarter to cut UMass Lowell's lead to six, 40-34. Mbanefo's pair of free throws after getting fouled on a mid-range jumper from the right corner as time expired helped Cornell open the door once more.
The Big Red continued to hang in the fourth quarter, trailing by just four, 44-40, with 2:35 remaining in the contest after Olivia Snyder sank a step-back jump shot in the paint. Just like that, UMass Lowell's Ivory Finley hit a dagger from deep. The Riverhawks' only 3-pointer of the second half, and just their fourth of the game, gave UMass Lowell a seven-point lead that it would ride to the 53-44 victory.
The Cornell women's basketball team will look to bounce back when it travels to Niagara on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tip in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
