Women's Basketball Returns Home to Host Binghamton

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 in the home opener when it battled Lafayette after trailing by five at half.
• Cornell is currently on a two-game win streak at home with W's over Mount St. Mary's (Md.) and Western Kentucky.
• 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 neared double-double territory in both of her first two collegiate outings (13 pts, 7 rebounds at Colgate; 7 pts, 10 rebounds at FDU). She tallied a remarkable 24 points in the 66-61 win over Mount St. Mary's.
• Cornell returns 11 athletes from last year, while adding four new faces.
• The Big Red and the Mountaineers are competing for only the second time ever. Cornell won the lone meeting in 2004.

THE SERIES 
Overall: Binghamton leads, 11-9
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Binghamton leads, 6-4
Current Streak: Cornell won one
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 67-57, on November 17, 2021
Smith vs. Binghamton: Binghamton leads, 10-7
Series Notes: 

• Wednesday will mark the 21st all-time meeting between the Big Red and the Bearcats.
• Binghamton is coming off an 9-20 season last year. The Bearcats lost in the first round of the America East tournament to close out the 2021-22 season.
• Cornell has won five of the last eight meetings.

A WIN OVER BINGHAMTON WOULD ... 

• move the Big Red back to .500 (4-4).
• be the first three consecutive home wins since Jan. 4, 2019 through Jan. 31, 2020, when Cornell tallied four straight wins.
• be the 460th win in program history (459-749 in seasons, .353).

LAST TIME OUT: Cornell 52, Rutgers 71
GAME STORY I BOX SCORE I GALLERY

• The Big Red fell to Rutgers 71-52 despite being tied after the first quarter and trialed by only eight at the half.
• Cornell led before tip off due to a rare administrative technical being administered against Rutgers, sending Kaya Ingram to the line for Cornell to shoot one free throw. Ingram drained the bucket, giving the Big Red a 1-0 lead before the game began..
• Juniors Ingram and Mia Beam each tallied a team-high 11 points in the outing.
• Senior Anna Hovis led Cornell in rebounds in the fifth start of her career.

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