SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Cornell Big Red women's basketball team fought against Central New York foe Syracuse but ultimately fell 78-71 to the Orange on Monday night from the JMA Wireless Dome. Cornell drops to 5-5 while Syracuse improves to 9-1.

Emily Pape matched her career-high for the Big Red with 27 points on 13 of 17 shooting to go along with five rebounds and five assists. Summer Parker-Hall also had an impressive night in her second appearance for Cornell at the dome with a career-high 18 points, including eight free throws. Azareya Kilgoe rounded out the scoring with 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the loss for the Big Red, who outrebounded the Orange 40-36 and led for over three quarters.

The Orange were led by Dyaisha Fair, who had 24 points, with 16 coming from the free throw line. Fair was not the only Syracuse player in double figures, as Georgia Woolley had 23 points and five rebounds for the Orange, who have now won nine straight contests over the Big Red dating back to 2003. 

First Quarter

• Summer Parker-Hall got the scoring started for either team with a clean jumper on the block to put Cornell up 2-0. Syracuse would counter though, taking its first lead of the game at 4-2 on back-to-back buckets by Kyra Wood and Alaina Rice. 
• Cornell continued its habit of bleeding down the shot clock and making it work, as Kaya Ingram found a cutting Emily Pape for her first bucket of the contest, cutting the deficit back down to one. 
• The Orange countered the Pape bucket with its first run of the evening with a 7-2 push to grab its biggest lead of the first at 14-8 and putting Cornell in a scoring drought. Despite the run, Pape broke the scoreless streak of over two minutes on a Pape layup off the glass to trim the deficit back down to four. 
• Pape's layup lit a spark for the Big Red offense, as it went on a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the game since its opening possession at 15-14. Parker-Hall had four of those six points for the red and white over that stretch.
• The Big Red defense continued to stand tall, as it held the Orange scoreless for the last 5:20 of the opening 10 minutes to keep the 15-14 advantage after one. 

Second Quarter

• Cornell would get the first laugh in the second stanza, as Pape and Parker-Hall secured consecutive buckets in its offensive end to grab a 19-14 lead. Dyaisha Fair responded right after, snatching a pass away from Kaya Ingram to glide to the rim and break the Orange scoring drought at just over seven minutes, cutting Cornell's lead down to a possession.
• Ingram and Kilgoe would respond to Fair's layup, cruising to the rim for consecutive layups to stretch its lead back up to seven. The Orange continued to put more pressure on the Big Red with a 5-0 run to slash Cornell's lead back to a possession. 
• Once again, Cornell's offense responded again, this time with a 6-0 run, with four of those coming from the freshman Kilgoe, stretching the Big Red advantage to 31-22. 
• Syracuse would hold the slight point advantage over the last 2:32, outscoring the Big Red 7-6. However, Cornell had the last laugh of the quarter, as Pape grabbed her fourth rebound off a Kilgoe miss and notched her eighth field goal of the first half and her twelve point of the quarter, giving Cornell a 37-29 lead after 20 minutes of action, making it the first time the Big Red has held a halftime leader over a Power-5 team since a 17-14 advantage over Pittsburgh on Nov. 13, 2017. 

Third Quarter

• The Orange started the scoring in the third with a Georgia Wooley jumper. Parker-Hall would match the bucket with two from the charity stripe to push the lead back to eight. Despite a bucket by Saniaa Wilson, Emily Pape continued to have a lights-out performance by finding the bottom of the bucket with her ninth and tenth bucket of the evening, including her first three-pointer to keep the lead at eight. 
• Pape's bucket was another spark plug for the Big Red offense, as her basket from downtown sparked the second 6-0 run of the game for the Red and White as Parker-Hall, Rachel Kaus, and Clarke Jackson added buckets to push Cornell to its largest lead of the night at 50-36. 
• Syracuse would begin to claw its way back into the picture as Kennedi Perkins' four points sparked a 6-1 run to slide the deficit down to three possessions. 
• The 6-1 run proved to be a spark that the Orange needed, as it ended the last 2:30 on a 6-0 run to cut the Big Red's lead down to five heading into the final frame. 

Fourth Quarter

• Cornell's offense broke the scoreless drought early in the fourth, as Ingram found Beam alone in the left corner for her first three-pointer of the night to put the Big Red back up by eight. Once again, the Orange came knocking again, as it matched the Big Red bucket with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit in half. 
• Both teams continued to trade buckets until a scoreless drought of over two minutes ensued for the Cornell offense paired with an 8-0 run for the Syracuse offense, giving them its first lead since 1:40 to go in the first quarter at 65-63. Pape would immediately answer for the Big Red, absorbing the contact and getting a friendly roll into the cylinder to tie things back up at 65. 
• Despite the back-and-forth battle between the Central New York foes, the Orange would take control with an 8-0 run over 0:52 to grab its biggest lead of the game at 74-69. The Big Red finally broke its scoring drought with a reverse layup by Pape to push the deficit back down to five. 
• However, Syracuse never surrendered the lead back, as the Orange secured the 78-71 come-from-behind win.

Big Red Notables

• Sophomore Emily Pape now has double-digit points in three straight games for the Big Red. Her 27 points also matches her career-high set in a 66-61 win over Brown on Jan. 28, 2023.
• Junior Summer Parker-Hall took down her previous career of 17 set last season against Bucknell. Parker-Hall also has six or more rebounds in six of ten games in 2023. 
• Cornell's 78-71 loss is the closest game against the Orange since a 70-69 decision on Dec. 29, 2005 in Newman Arena. 

Up Next

The Big Red returns to the court on Thursday for a matinee against the Marist Red Foxes. Tip off is set for Dec. 21 at 2:00 p.m. in Newman Arena. Following the game, the Big Red embarks on winter break before returning to host Stony Brook at 1:00 p.m. on December 30, 2023.