Women's Basketball Hosts Bucknell

STREAKS, STORYLINES & SIDEBARS 

• The Cornell women’s basketball team opened the 2022-23 season against its longest non-Ivy rival at Colgate on Monday, Nov. 7 where it fell 62-48 to the Raiders at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y.
• The Big Red tallied the first win of the season when it battles Lafayette at home after trailing by five at half.
• Picked sixth in the Ivy League Preseason media poll, the Big Red is coming off a 9-16 season and a sixth-place finish among the Ancient Eight.
• Theresa Grace Mbanefo and Samantha Will were the lone 2022 grads for the Red, opening up new court opportunities for the returners.
• Freshman Emily Pape has neared double-double territory in both of her first two collegiate outings (13 pts, 7 rebounds at Colgate; 7 pts, 10 rebounds at FDU).
• Cornell returns 11 athletes from last year, while adding four new faces.
• A win over the Bison would mark the first Cornell win in the series since the 2011-12 season.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Bucknell leads, 13-5
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads, 5-4
Current Streak: Bucknell, 3 games
Last Meeting: Bucknell won 59-51, 11/29/2014 in Lewisburg, Pa.
Smith vs. Lafayette: 3-6
Series Notes: 

• Cornell has lost 3 straight matchups against Bucknell, with its last win coming in 2011 with a score of 65-45.
• Wednesday's matchup between the Big Red and the Bisons will be the 19th meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1981-82 season.
• Cornell leads in home matchups against Bucknell by only one game and the Bisons are coming into this matchup looking to tie the record at Newman Arena.

A WIN OVER BUCKNELL WOULD ... 

• continue and undefeated home streak.
• be the first back-to-back wins since Dec. 29, 2021 and Jan. 2, 2022.
• up Cornell’s record vs. Bucknell to 6-4 all-time when at home.
• be the 458th win in program history (457-747 in seasons, .379).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 62, Lafayette 60
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I GALLERY

• The Big Red tallied the first win of the 2022-23 season when it took down Lafayette on the home court.
• Ania McNicholas tallied a season-high and team-best 12 points in the outing, marking the 13th time in her career.
• Freshman Ruby Grace Williams also tallied double-digits in her third collegiate game.
• Sophomore Summer Parker-Hall also notched 10 in the outing.
• Freshman Emily Pape notched a game-high 12 rebounds, totaling half the Lafayette team total.

Photos by Dave Burbank, Eldon Lindsay, Patrick Shanahan and Darl Zehr