PRINCETON, N.J. -- After trailing by just nine at half, Cornell women's basketball could not hang on and fell to the Ivy League preseason favorite, Princeton, 70-48. Freshman Emily Pape led the Big Red scoring charge for a second night in a row, this time tallying 15. She also notched a team-high five boards.

Princeton's big height helped them win the tip, but was not able to get on the boards until 8:56 after scoreless possessions by both squads. the Tigers expanded to a 7-0 lead before Shannon Mulroy got the Big Red scoring with a deep three ball. Princeton continued to pull away with a 12-3 lead, forcing a Cornell timeout with 5:52 on the clock in the opening quarter. The timeout began disrupt the Tigers' momentum, as they outscored only outscored the Big Red by three to close the quarter 24-12. The Tigers hit 58.8% from the field in the opening quarter, including 3-7 from behind the arc.

Cornell opened on a 6-0 run in the second, bringing the game to 24-18 at 7:06 following a jumper from Ania McNicholas. Princeton responded with a 7-0 stretch that included a pair of free throws before Mulroy could get another basket for the Big Red. A defensive stop for Cornell was followed up by a big layup from Pape to bring up a 31-22 deficit for Cornell, but Princeton hit a three just 21 seconds to build the lead back. Pape, McNicholas, and Vivienne Knee combined for a 6-3 Cornell run to close the quarter training by just nine at 37-28.

The Tigers were first on the boards in the second half with a layup down inside the paint, but Anna Hovis had the answer with a powerful driving layup. The Big Red fell cold after, not scoring again until the 5:35 mark while Princeton tallied a 9-0 run. Knee ended the drought with a driving layup. The Big Red trailed 48-32 at the media timeout with 4:36 left in the third. Princeton kept the pressure on, expanding their lead with a 8-2 run to close the quarter 56-36 in their favor.

Princeton's Madison St. Rose and McNicholas traded jumpers to open the final quarter of play. Mulroy and Pape powered a 4-1 Cornell stretch, but another set of free throws for Princeton allowed then to get the lead to 19 again at 61-42 with 6:33 on the clock. The Tigers allowed just six more Cornell points the rest of the way, and added nine of their own, seven of which came from the free throw line.

OF NOTE

• Mulroy earned her 22nd career game recording double-digit points with 11 points.
• Pape shot over 50% from the field for her third straight game, going 7-11 against the Tigers.
• Pape had the highest points per minute for the Big Red, averaging .500.

UP NEXT
Cornell gets one more road test when it travels to Yale on Saturday, January 14 for a 3 p.m. tip in New Haven. The Big Red then return home to host top of the conference Columbia on MLK Jr. Day, Monday, January 16.