Last night was one to remember for women’s basketball senior guard Do Stevens. In leading the Red (2-5) to a 65-54 road win against St. Francis (1-4), Stevens became just the ninth player in Cornell history to reach 1000 points. In the process, she also became the Red’s all-time leader in free throws made, surpassing Karin Dwyer ’86.
Stevens, who came in averaging 19 points a game in her last three games, put in another vintage performance, recording her first double-double of the season (18 points, 10 rebounds). Sophomore guard Karen Force chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds to continue her stellar season. Force was averaging 12.5 points a game and converting on 39.5 percent of her 3-pointers prior to the St. Francis game.
The Terriers were led by Caitin O’Malley’s 10 point, 13 rebound effort — the fifth double-double the Red has allowed in the last five games.
After an indifferent 1-5 start to the year marred by inconsistent play, the Red finally put in a complete performance, taking advantage of solid rebounding and 27 turnovers by the Terriers to ease to an 11-point victory. The win snaps a three-game losing streak and will give the women renewed confidence ahead of this weekend’s Cornell Classic.
The story was quite different for Cornell on Saturday, however, as it was beaten by a 31 point performance from a junior who averaged 4.6 points per game entering the contest and was outrebounded by 20 boards despite averaging a seven-rebound margin over its opponents coming into the match.
Colgate, which had lost its three previous games against Cornell, ended that slide with a decisive 85-70 victory.
Entering the contest, the Red knew it was going up against a squad of
talented shooters and knew that the competitive bar would rise in the
upstate match-up. It anticipated a tough match, but Cornell thought it
would be able to focus primarily on its own game, with the victory naturally
following suit.
What it did not and certainly could not anticipate was Colgate’s uncanny
accuracy from the field and its surprising defensive surge.
In the first half, Cornell turned in a solid offensive performance, hitting
32.3 percent of its field goals and 36.4 percent of its 3-pointers.
Most importantly, the Red made a dramatic improvement from the free throw line and hit 75 percent (6-for-8) of its opportunities, a stark contrast from last Tuesday’s unsuccessful contest with Binghamton, in which Cornell made only two of its 12 opportunities at the charity stripe during the first half.
Although the Red’s effort under the basket was better than average, Colgate’s numbers were mind-boggling. Sinking a whopping 56.3 percent of its field goals and 54.5 percent of its 3-pointers, the Raiders ended the half with a 44-30 advantage.
In the second half, Colgate built its lead to as many as 23 points, but the
Red refused to go down without a fight and closed the gap to single digits
with 6:47 remaining. But Cornell’s comeback was negated over the
next two minutes as the Raiders went on a 9-0 run to put the game out of
reach, pushing their lead to 80-62.
Both Cornell and Colgate had similar statistics in the second half of play.
Cornell improved to 35.1 percent efficiency from the field, but dropped from 27.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. The Red continued to find
triumph at the free-throw line as it hit 61.1 percent (11-for-18) of its
opportunities.
The Raiders maintained their dominance at the net and shot 55.6 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from beyond the arc to close out the game by a final score of 85-70.
The Raiders combined to make 55.9 percent of their field goals during the game and 50 percent of their 3-pointers.
While both teams grabbed 12 offensive rebounds, Colgate picked up 20 more
defensive rebounds than Cornell, which meant the Red was deprived of many
second- and third-chance shots.
Twenty-two turnovers committed by the Raiders, compared to 11 of its own,
helped the Red stay in the game and remain within striking distance.
Additionally, Cornell seized 10 steals to Colgate’s three, which also
assisted the Red in its struggle to regain the lead.
For Cornell, senior tri-captain and guard Do Stevens had a team-high 19
points and seven rebounds, which included a 9-for-14 performance from the
free-throw line. Sophomore tri-captain and backcourt mate Karen Force put in
15 points, with a 5-for-7 effort from the field and a 3-for-5 endeavor from
3-point land. Senior guard and tri-captain Breean Walas added 10 points
and had team-highs in steals (three) and assists (four).
Junior guard Jaime Glenn was Colgate’s top player on the night as her
31 points and 13 rebounds were both game-highs. She also went 13-for-17 from the field. Freshman guard Allison Lipinski contributed 17 points and landed five 3-pointers that gave her a new school-record.
On Friday, the action returns to Newman Arena, as the women host the annual Cornell Classic involving Centenary College, Coppin State, and Delaware.
Archived article by Katherine Granish