ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell women's basketball team will close out the 2024-25 season when it visits Ivy League champion Columbia on Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.

• Cornell lost a pair of home contests by a combined four points last weekend, maintaining its continued improvement throughout the season.
• The Big Red allowed just 86 points (43.0 per game) in those two losses and now ranks 64th nationally in scoring defense on the season (58.7 ppg. allowed). 
• Its .396 field goal percentage defense stands among the top 100 (96th) in all of Division I.
• That's no surprise, as the defense has been the Big Red's calling card all season. Cornell has held 14 opponents to 60 points or fewer in regulation with six of its last 10 foes scoring 50 or less.
• The contest will serve as the final collegiate game for seniors Jada Davis, Lexi Green, Arianna Linoxilakis and Summer Parker-Hall.
• First-year head coach Emily Garner's fast-improving Big Red is 3-5 in its past eight contests while allowing just 52.9 points per game on the defensive end. 
• Picked seventh in the Ivy League Preseason media poll, Cornell remains alive for a spot in the Ivy League Tournament, standing at 3-8 (two games out of fourth place with three to play).
• Cornell has already matched last season's overall win total and tripled its amount of league wins from 2024.




GAME INFORMATION
Cornell at Columbia
DATE & TIME: Saturday, March 8 at 2 p.m.
SITE: Levien Gymnasium – New York, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 7-19 (3-10 Ivy); Columbia 21-5 (12-1 Ivy)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads 50-33
BROADCAST: ESPN+
STATS: CornellBigRed.com
DIGITAL PROGRAM: CornellBigRed.com
GAME NOTES: CornellBigRed.com

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Cornell leads 50-33
In Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell leads 28-13    
In Ivy League play: Cornell leads 45-32
On neutral courts: Cornell leads 3-0
Streak: Columbia, 7
Last 5: Columbia leads 5-0
Last 10: Columbia leads 9-1
Last meeting: Columbia 69, Cornell 44 (1/11/2025 at Cornell)
Last Cornell win: Cornell 80, Columbia 77 (OT) (1/25/2020 at Cornell)
First meeting: Cornell 67, Columbia 20 (12/6/1975 at Cornell)



A WIN OVER COLUMBIA WOULD ...
• close Cornell's record at 8-19 on the season and 4-10 in Ivy League play.
• improve its record to 4-5 over its final nine contests.
• snap the Lions' seven-game win streak in the series.
• improve the Big Red's series record over the Lions to 51-33.
• up its all-time record in Ivy League play to 192-420 (.314).
• be the 474th in program history (473-782 in 53rd season, .377).

LAST TIME VS. COLUMBIA
• The Cornell women's basketball team fell to 4-11 overall and 0-2 in the Ivy League with a 69-44 loss to Columbia at Newman Arena.
• The Big Red held the Lions close in the first quarter of play only being down by one point at the end. 
• Columbia then slightly extended its lead in the second quarter to go up 29-20 at halftime. 
• The Lions came out of halftime with a vengeance and outscored Cornell 40-24 in the second half to give Columbia a 69-44 victory.
• Rachel Kaus led Cornell in points with 13 and blocks with two. 
• Clarke Jackson led the team in rebounds with eight, Vivienne Knee led the team in assists with six, and Emily Pape led the team in steals with two.
• The Big Red shot 38.89 percent overall in the loss going 16-for-46 from the field (34.8 percent), 4-for-15 from three (26.7 percent) and 8-for-11 from the line (72.7 percent). 

LAST TIME OUT
• Brown's Grace Arnolie hit a pair of free throws with six seconds left and got one final defensive stop in a game full of them as the Bears grinded out a 38-36 victory over Cornell on Senior Day at Newman Arena. 
• In a game that saw both teams shoot 25 percent from the floor, it was the free-throw line that was the difference. 
• The visitors made 14-of-21 shots from the charity stripe, including the game winner, while Cornell missed six of nine, including two go-ahead attempts that missed with 20 seconds left. 
• In her final collegiate home game, senior Summer Parker-Hall led the Big Red with 13 points along with five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. 
• Emily Pape posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Clarke Jackson also had 10 rebounds. 
• Azareya Kilgoe netted four points with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. 
• Cornell turned the ball over just nine times and outscored Brown's bench 19-0 and 24-14 in the paint.
• Brown's Gianna Aiello posted 15 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots, while Arnolie scored 15 with seven rebounds. 

TRENDING UP
• Senior Summer Parker-Hall enters her final game near the top of the school's single-season field goal (.558) and free-throw percentage (.866) lists. Currently Jumana Salti's .570 field goal percentage from the 1999-2000 season ranks No. 1, while Claire Perry hit at an .889 clip from the charity shot in 2005-06. 
• In her past six games, Parker-Hall is shooting .554 from the floor (31-of-56), including a perfect 7-for-7 shooting day at Yale.
• She is averaging 13.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 steals over her past four contests.
• She is nearly the first Big Red player to shoot 50 percent from the floor (.558) and 90 percent (.866) from the line in the same season at Cornell — men's or women's.
• The Big Red ranks in the top half of the Ivy League and in the top 75 nationally in scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 58.7 points per game on .389 shooting, a mark that also ranks fourth-best in the Ancient Eight.
• Looking for a key number? It might be 40 percent. The Big Red is 7-4 when shooting 40 percent or better this season and 0-15 when hitting below that clip.

MILESTONE WATCH
• At 488 career rebounds, junior Emily Pape is 12 away from reaching 500 for her career.
• Pape is close to other milestones as well — she is five assists from 100 and 10 steals from 100.
• Senior Summer Parker-Hall enters the weekend one assist from 100.
• Sophomore Rachel Kaus is one rebound from hitting 150 for her career.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
• Freshman Paige Engels was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week twice since conference play started. She was honored on Jan. 21 after averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists against Penn and Brown, then the following week after scoring 10 points with two assists and a rebound in a narrow 62-54 loss at home to Princeton.
• Cornell's season-opening win at Army West Point is one of just six losses on the season for the Black Knights (21-6), who stand second in the Patriot League with a 13-4 mark. The 60-54 victory on Nov. 4 to open the season was also Emily Garner's first as head coach.
• It also closed the 2024 calendar year with a 76-73 triumph at Siena on Dec. 30. The Saints are 17-10 on the year and 14-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference - good for third place.
• Assistant coach LaSashia Connelly as named of the top 50 Most Impactful Women's Assistant Coaches by Silver Ways Media, a basketball media outlet.

HALL OF FAME
• Allyson DiMagno '14 was inducted into the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame this past fall. 
• A three-time All-Ivy League selection, including a second-team pick as a junior and senior and an honorable mention honoree as a sophomore, she was a three-time CoSIDA Academic all-district first teamer.
• DiMagno was the 10th player in conference history, and the first-ever in Cornell history, to reach 1,300 career points and 900 career rebounds. 
• DiMagno concluded her time on East Hill as the all-time career rebounding leader in Big Red history and set career records for offensive rebounds (347), defensive rebounds (591), games played (112) and minutes played (3663). 
• She ranked second in Cornell history for career free throw percentage (.837) and was third all-time in career points (1,329), behind only Karen Walker and Keri Farley.

UP NEXT
• The 2024-25 season is complete.
• The Big Red will return to practice in September and tip off the 2025-26 season in November to start the second season under head coach Emily Garner.