BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The Cornell women's basketball team outscored Western Kentucky 22-15 in the fourth quarter on Monday evening from the E.A. Dibble Arena, but it was not enough, as the Big Red fell to the Lady Toppers, 62-56. Cornell dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-0 in the Ivy, while Western Kentucky improved to 3-0 and 0-0 in Conference USA.

Kaya Ingram led the Big Red offense for the second time in the three games, finishing with 15 points and a team-high four steals. The senior captain was not the only one in double figures, as Mia Beam recorded a new career-high with 13 points on five of ten shooting, including three three-pointers. Freshman Rachel Kaus rounded out the top scorers for the Big Red, as the Lake Bluff, Ill. native had 13 points off the bench and was a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. Sophomore Emily Pape was held to just four points but picked up 10 rebounds with nine on the defensive end.

Western Kentucky was led by Preseason All-USA pick Acacia Hayes, who tallied 18 points. Aaliyah Pitts was the other Lady Topper in double figures with 10 points. Karris Allen grabbed a team-high six rebounds for WKU, who tied the all-time series at one apiece. 

FIRST QUARTER

• Cornell won the opening tip and scored the first bucket of the game, as Kaya Ingram found a cutting Mia Beam for a layup to put the Big Red up early, 2-0.
• Western Kentucky immediately countered, going on a 5-0 run to take its first lead of the contest.
• Emily Pape hit the charity stripe after being fouled, knocking down both to cool the 5-0 run by the Toppers and put Cornell within one. The Toppers would battle back though, going on another 5-0 run to go up by six and force a Big Red timeout. 
• The Big Red did not back down, as a Beam bucket and a three from Ingram snapped almost a three minute scoring drought, trimming the Toppers lead to 10-9.
• Both teams struggled to find the cylinder thereafter, until a 5-2 run stretched WKU's lead back out to four.
• Cornell continued to stay within a basket, as a Clarke Jackson miss led to a Rachel Kaus putback attempt for which she was fouled. The freshman would hit both from the charity stripe to put the Big Red within two. 
• Jackson made up for the miss less than a minute later, hitting a tough jumper in the paint for the last bucket of the quarter, making the score 18-15 WKU after the first 10 minutes.  

SECOND QUARTER

• The Big Red started the second stanza in a rough patch, as the Toppers forced three consecutive turnovers that led to five points, extending its lead to 23-15 and force a Cornell timeout.
• Summer Parker-Hall scored the first Cornell bucket of the second, cleaning up a contested layup by Ingram with a putback, pushing the deficit down to six. 
• Ingram would pick up her second steal of the night and coast to the basket for an easy layup to keep the red and white within reach at 25-19. 
• Mia Beam continued to do it all for Cornell in the opening half, forcing a jump ball call and knocking down her first three-pointer to trim the deficit down to five. 
• The Toppers had the last laugh of the first half, holding the Big Red scoreless for the last 2:37 while also going on a 5-0 run, putting Cornell in its largest deficit of the half at 32-22. 

THIRD QUARTER

• The freshman-to-freshman combo stopped the scoreless streak for the Big Red after nearly seven minutes carrying over from the second, as Azareya Kilgoe broke the press and found Kaus all alone for the layup, putting Cornell within 12. 
• WKU continued to add cushion to its lead, as three consecutive layups pushed the lead to its largest of the contest at 44-26. 
• Cornell would do its job though late in the quarter, holding WKU scoreless for the last 2:07, along with back-to-back three pointers from Beam as part of an 8-0 run to end the third, putting the Big Red behind by 13 heading into the fourth. 

FOURTH QUARTER

• Emily Pape picked up her first points since the first quarter, taking a bounce bass from Beam and knocking down a 15-footer to put the Big Red within 11 to start the fourth. 
• Cornell continued to chip away at the deficit, as an Azareya Kilgoe layup followed up by a nifty steal and score by Ingram cut WKU's advantage down to seven, forcing a Toppers timeout. 
• WKU followed the timeout by holding Cornell scoreless for almost four minutes while extending its lead back up to 11 on two layups. Ingram and Kaus would break the momentum again in favor of the Big Red though with buckets on consecutive possessions to push the deficit back down to nine. 
• Ingram finished the game with her second three pointer as time expired, but Cornell would leave Bowling Green with its second loss of the season, as WKU picked up its first win in three tries over the Big Red with a 62-56 victory.

UP NEXT

• Cornell will close out its three game road trip against Mount St. Mary's (Md.) on Saturday, Nov. 18 from Knott Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. and the game will be available to stream on ESPN+.