ITHACA, N.Y. – After three weeks away from competition, the Cornell women's basketball team will return to the hardwood when it takes on Lock Haven on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y. in what will be the Big Red's final tune-up before Ivy League play commences at Dartmouth on Jan. 2.

Game Information:

Cornell vs. Lock Haven
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2021 at 2 p.m.
SITE: Newman Arena – Ithaca, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 4-6, 0-0 Ivy League / Lock Haven 4-3, 1-3 PSAC
BROADCAST: ESPN+ (es.pn/3eulBxm)
STATS: cornellbigred.com (bit.ly/3bTZ3oo)
GAME NOTES
SPECTATOR INFORMATION

What's on Tap:

•   The Cornell women's basketball team will return to the hardwood for the first time in three weeks when it hosts Lock Haven on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.
•   After making it through final exams, COVID-19 concerns led to the cancelation of the Big Red's next three contests against Washington State on Dec. 19, at Duquesne on Dec. 21, and against Clarion on Dec. 28. The last time Cornell hit the court was on Dec. 8 in an 85-55 loss to Syracuse at the Carrier Dome.
•   The Big Red was able to add Wednesday's contest against the Bald Eagles to the schedule, providing Cornell with one last tune-up before Ivy League play starts at Dartmouth on Jan. 2 at 2 p.m.

How to Watch:

•   The game against Lock Haven will be broadcast on ESPN+, along with Cornell's entire slate of Ivy League games for the remainder 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:

•   The last time the Big Red was in action, Cornell fell to Syracuse, 85-55, on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
•   Senior forward Theresa Grace Mbanefo notched her fourth double-double of the season in the loss, pacing Cornell in points (12), rebounds (14), and blocks (2). Her 14 boards were the game-high and matched her career-high.
•   Behind Mbanefo, Olivia Snyder and Samantha Will scored seven points apiece, with Snyder adding four rebounds and a team-high three assists.
•   The Big Red went deeper into its bench against the Orange, as 10 different Cornell players scored to help the Big Red hold the advantage in bench points for the contest, 19-17.
•   Summer Parker-Hall and Kaya Ingram were among them, both scoring four points. Parker-Hall earned all of her points from the charity stripe, shooting 4-of-5 from the free throw line. Ingram's pair of baskets marked a career-high.
•   The Big Red challenged Syracuse on the boards, as both teams finished the game with 39 rebounds. Cornell won the battle outright on the offensive glass, however, securing 17 offensive rebounds as compared to Syracuse's eight. 
•   Mbanefo alone accounted for six of the Big Red's offensive boards, just two shy of the entire Syracuse team for the contest.
•   Cornell has won the battle on the offensive glass in eight of its 10 games so far this season. The Big Red is averaging an Ivy League-best 14.1 offensive boards per game.

The Series vs. Lock Haven:

•   Wednesday's match-up between Cornell and Lock Haven will be the first meeting between the two teams.
•   The contest between the Big Red and Bald Eagles will also be the first time Cornell has gone head-to-head with a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent.
•   Head coach Dayna Smith's teams have won both of its two-prior match-ups against Division II foes, including a 62-54 win over Winston-Salem State University on Nov. 22, 2010 and a 75-55 victory over Daemen College (N.Y.) on Jan. 13, 2013, both in Ithaca, N.Y.

Scouting Lock Haven:

•   Lock Haven enters Wednesday's contest with a 4-3 overall record and a 1-3 mark in conference action.
•   After winning three of its first four contests, the Bald Eagles have lost three of its last four games, including a 62-58 loss to Pitt-Johnstown in Lock Haven's most recent outing on Dec. 19.
•   Lock Haven ranks fourth in the 18-school PSAC in rebounding, averaging 40.6 boards per game as a team. Ahnera Parker leads the Bald Eagles on the glass, averaging 8.4 rebounds per game, a mark which ranks fifth in the PSAC.
•   Parker is one of three Lock Haven players averaging double figures in scoring, averaging 12.4 points per game behind teammates and Taylor Leidy (14.5 ppg) and Brooke Lawyer (13.9 ppg).
•   Carly Fitzmorris holds an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.8, ranking second in the PSAC. She leads Lock Haven in assists, averaging 3.8 per game.
•  Jackie Fetsko leads Lock Haven in blocks at 1.3 per game, a mark which sits seventh in the PSAC.    

A Win Over Lock Haven Would:

•   Improve Cornell's record to 5-6 on the season.
•   Snap a three-game losing streak for the Big Red.
•   Improve head coach Dayna Smith's record to 13-6 in the team's first game following final exams.
•   Make Cornell 3-0 against Division II schools under Smith's tenure.

Big Red Blurbs:

•   Cornell's effort on the offensive glass so far this season has been relentless, as the Big Red leads the Ivy League at 14.1 offensive boards per game. Theresa Grace Mbanefo (40) and Olivia Snyder (29) have combined for nearly half of Cornell's 141 offensive rebounds, helping the Big Red hold the advantage in the category in eight of the 10 games it has played so far this season.
•   Mbanefo (8.9) and Snyder (8.1) both rank among the top-five of the Ivy League in rebounds per game, sitting third and fourth, respectively.
•   Mbanefo's four double-doubles this season is the second-most in the Ivy League and ranks 44th in all of Division I.
•   Mbanefo has also been a blocking machine, as her 1.9 blocks per game ranks third in the conference and 46th nationally. She is a key reason why the Big Red ranks third in the Ivy League as a team in blocked shots per game (4.30).
•   Mbanefo has scored in double figures in eight of Cornell's 10 games so far this season and is currently shooting .500 from the floor, a percentage which sits second in the Ivy League.
•   Shannon Mulroy has done a great job of distributing the basketball so far this season, leading Cornell and sitting third in the conference in assists per game (2.8).
•   Ania McNicholas' pesky defense has wreaked havoc on her opponents, as the junior's 2.8 steals per game sits second and the Ivy League and ranks 31st in all of Division I. McNicholas has collected at least three steals in half of Cornell's contests so far this season.

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 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.
•   Smith's record sits at 202-299 for her career.

Team Leaders:

•   Points – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 12.2 points per game
•   Field Goals Made – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 5.3 per game
•   Field Goal Percentage – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, .500
•   3-point Field Goals Made – KC Carter, 1.2 per game
•   3-point Field Goal Percentage – KC Carter, .400
•   Free Throw Percentage – Olivia Snyder, .760 (19-of-25)
•   Rebounding – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 8.9 rebounds per game
•   Assists – Shannon Mulroy, 2.8 assists per game
•   Assist-to-Turnover Ratio – Samantha Will, 1.14
•   Blocks – Theresa Grace Mbanefo, 1.9 blocks per game
•   Steals – Ania McNicholas, 2.8 steals per game
•   Minutes – Olivia Snyder, 32.1 minutes per game

A Look Back in Time:

•   The last season the Big Red was in action in 2019-20, Cornell finished the year with a 10-16 overall record and a 3-11 mark in conference play, finishing seventh in the Ivy League.
•   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 has 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 have been elected as tri-captains of the team for the 2021-22 season.
•   Mulroy is the team's top returning 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 adds 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 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 open up Ivy League play at Dartmouth on Sunday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H.