ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's basketball team turned on the jets in the fourth quarter, outscoring St. Bonaventure 15-10 in the final frame to come from behind and take a 55-53 win on Tuesday night from Newman Arena. The Big Red improved to 5-4 overall, while the Bonnies dropped to 2-7. 

Three Cornell Big Red athletes hit the double figures mark in the victory, led by freshman Rachel Kaus, who netted 15 points on four of eight shooting from the field and six of eight from the free throw line. Kaya Ingram (11 points) and Emily Pape neared double-double territory with 10 points and nine rebounds in the win for Cornell, who has now won three straight games over the Bonnies. Cornell also had strong production from its bench, scoring 22 points compared to just nine for St. Bonaventure.

Nadechka Laccsen (16 points, seven rebounds) and Taylor Napper (12 points) led in the loss for St. Bonaventure, who had just four three-pointers made in 19 attempts by the Big Red defense. 

FIRST QUARTER

• An administrative technical was administered to Cornell before the opening tip, but Dani Haskell could not knock down the opening free throw. Both teams went scoreless for the first two minutes until a Taylor Napper layup gave the Bonnies a 2-0 lead.
• Emily Pape got the scoring started for the Big Red with her first three of the night, giving Cornell a 3-2 lead. But Bonaventure answered with a 6-0 run after the Pape triple to take the lead back, 8-3. 
• Freshman sensation Rachel Kaus stopped the run for Cornell a possession later, taking a Pape pass and converting a hook shot in the lane, putting the Big Red within three. She followed that up with a three-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock bleeding down, putting Cornell within two at 10-8. Clarke Jackson fed off the momentum from Kaus, sliding through the Bonaventure defense to convert a layup to knot the scoring at ten. 
• Bonaventure answered the 4-0 run by the Big Red with a 6-0 run, as Payton Fields and Nadechka Laccen knocked down back-to-back threes to jump back ahead by six. 
• Cornell had the last laugh of the opening quarter, as Azareya Kilgoe scored a running jumper right before the horn sounded to put the Big Red behind by four after 10 minutes. 

SECOND QUARTER

• Both teams held each other scoreless for almost three minutes until a Napper made her fourth bucket of the night to push the Bonnies back up by five. Cornell also broke its scoring drought on the next possession, as Pape drilled her second three-pointer with the shot clock bleeding down to bring the deficit back down to a possession. 
• The Big Red went cold again on the offensive end after Pape's three, as Bonaventure raced out with a 5-0 run to grab its largest margin of the game at seven. 
• Once again, Cornell had the last points of the half as Kaus drew a file driving in the lane to force a foul call. The freshman was ice cold from the line, knocking both down to stop the scoring drought at 4:22 to head into the locker room down by five. 

THIRD QUARTER

• Cornell started the scoring on its first possession of the half, as Kilgoe found Parker-Hall alone for an easy layup to cut the deficit to three. Rachel Kaus drew a shooting foul on the next possession on a hard drive into the lane, making one of two from the charity stripe to push the deficit back down to two. 
• Bonaventure pushed its cushion back up to four until Kaya Ingram showed up on the scorer's sheet for the first time on the night, knifing through the Bona defense with consecutive layups to tie things up at 29. 
• The Bonnies continued to be fits for the Big Red offense though, building its lead back up to four with less than a minute to go. Clarke Jackson would have the last points of the night for Cornell, as the freshman went 1-2 from the line to be within three heading into the final ten minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The final frame began with a Big Red bucket as Jackson swiped a Bonaventure pass and glided to the rim for an easy two, once again putting Cornell within one. But the Bonnies continued to not let the lead from its grasp, stretching it to five after consecutive points by Tianna Johnson.
• Cornell weathered the storm again as Kaus and Ingram teamed up for back-to-back buckets to push within one again. Paired with a 4:23 scoreless drought by the Bonnies, Cornell grabbed its first lead of the night on a Mia Beam layup to push the Big Red up by one. Pape followed Beam's bucket with her fourth bucket to become the second Big Red player with double figures to push the cushion up to three as part of a 10-2 run.
• With the game clock trickling down close to a minute to go, Bonaventure finally broke its scoreless streak with a Nadechka Laccen layup to push the Bonnies within one to put the pressure back on the Big Red. Kaya Ingram stepped up to the challenge, knocking down a clutch free throw to put Cornell back up by a possession.
• The Big Red needed one final stop on defense to secure the win. And it did just that, as a Dani Haskell three-pointer went over the backboard, allowing Cornell to escape with the 55-53 victory.

GAME NOTES

• With Tuesday's victory, Cornell has now won three straight games for the first time since beating Binghamton, UAlbany, and Hartford between Nov. 30 - Dec. 5 of last season.
• Senior Kaya Ingram now has double-digit points in six of Cornell's nine games in 2023. The Big Red are 4-2 when the Albuquerque, N.M. native has ten or more points. 
• Emily Pape has grabbed seven or more rebounds in three of the last four games for the Big Red.

UP NEXT

Cornell has almost two weeks off for final exams before returning to the hardwood on Monday, Dec. 18 against Central New York foe Syracuse from the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.