HANOVER, N.H. – The Cornell women's basketball (6-6, 1-0) team made the most of its return to Ivy League competition, leading from start-to-finish in a 45-36 victory over Dartmouth (1-12, 0-1) to open conference play on Sunday afternoon at Leede Arena in Hanover, N.H. With the win, the Big Red is now 8-2 in its last 10 conference openers.

Theresa Grace Mbanefo and Ania McNicholas played an integral role in helping the Big Red knock off the Big Green for just the sixth time in Hanover in program history. Mbanefo led all scorers with 16 points, finishing the game having shot 8-of-13 from the field and adding six rebounds and a pair of blocks. This marks the ninth time in 11 games that Mbanefo has scored in double figures.

McNicholas finished the game just one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring in double digits for the third time in the last four games with 10 points, a game-high and career-best nine rebounds, five of which were offensive, and a game-high six assists. McNicholas continues to make an impact for the Big Red in all facets of the game, averaging 12.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 2.0 steals in Cornell's two games this week.­

Samantha Will notched eight points in the victory to go along with four rebounds, a pair of assists, a steal, and a block. Will made Dartmouth pay from behind the arc, shooting 2-of-3 from long range. Olivia Snyder pulled down eight rebounds, helping the Big Red out-rebound the Big Green in the contest, 42-33.

Cornell utilized a fast start and a strong finish to down Dartmouth. The Big Red got right to it, jumping out to a 7-0 lead to start the game after baskets from Mbanefo and Snyder and a Shannon Mulroy 3-pointer. The hot start allowed the Big Red to build a 17-7 lead after the first quarter of play. The Big Red defense stifled the Big Green offense in the opening frame, as Dartmouth shot just 18.8 percent from the floor as compared to an impressive 58.3 showing from Cornell.

After a pair of Lexi Green free throws and an Mbanefo jumper to open the second quarter gave Cornell its biggest lead of the game, 21-7, Dartmouth found its footing, going on a 10-0 run from the 7:16 mark in the second to 4:34 remaining in the half to slice the Cornell lead to four, 21-17. The Big Red responded, however, outscoring the Big Green, 8-2, over the remainder of the first half to carry a 10-point lead into the locker room, 29-19. Will single-handedly built Cornell's halftime lead back to 10, scoring all eight points of the run on a pair of treys and two free throws.

In similar fashion to the second quarter, back-to-back baskets for Cornell on a pair of McNicholas feeds to Mbanefo to open the third period gave the Big Red a 14-point lead, 33-19. The Big Green used a 9-0 run over the next four and a half minutes of play to get within five, 33-28. Five points is as close as Dartmouth would get, however.

With Cornell leading by five at the onset of the fourth quarter, 35-30, the Big Red defense would once again shut down Dartmouth, holding the Big Green without a field goal for nearly the first six minutes of the fourth and re-extending its lead to as many as 13, 44-31. Dartmouth would try to chip back in, but couldn't find its rhythm, shooting just 20.0 percent from the floor in the fourth quarter. The Big Red would go on to the 45-36 victory, with the 36 points that the Big Red allowed being the second-fewest that Cornell has given up this season.

The Cornell women's basketball team will be back in action for its first back-to-back weekend of the Ivy slate when it hosts Penn on Friday, Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. and Princeton on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. at Newman Arena in Ithaca, N.Y.