By JOEL COOPER
The women’s basketball team recorded another mixed weekend, losing to Harvard on Friday, 70-66, before bouncing back to earn a strong 63-50 win over Dartmouth Saturday.
The Red (14-12, 6-6) also celebrated Senior Night, as Stephanie Long, Selby Lyman, Aspen Chandler, Joelle Davidson and Allyson DiMagno played their last home regular season game for Cornell.
In Friday’s loss to the Crimson, DiMagno reached 1,200 points and 900 rebounds in her career to became the first Cornell woman to do so. DiMagno’s performance was not enough to steal the win for Cornell, however, as Harvard secured its second win of the season over the Red.
Cornell started the game strongly, jumping out to an early 15-point advantage. Soon Harvard was in the game, using its defensive power to shut out the Red, holding Cornell scoreless for six consecutive minutes at one point in the first half.
With a 35-30 lead heading into the break, the Crimson continued its pressure in the second half, scoring eight unanswered points to push its lead to 20 with 7:29 to play. The Red, however, did not give up, and embarked on a 16-0 run to make it a four-point game with 52 seconds left to play. Despite Cornell’s valiant effort, Harvard managed to hold on to its lead in a tense last minute to secure its 70-66 victory.
The Red was led by DiMagno, who recorded a double-double, as well as Long and freshman Nia Marshall, who finished with 13 points each.
According to DiMagno, the Red was upset to let the early advantage go, but used that to focus the team heading into the Dartmouth match.
“Obviously the loss to Harvard was very difficult, as we let a large lead slip away, and then made a great push at the end to give ourselves a chance,” DiMagno said. “Going into Dartmouth, we really focused on our transition defense and our post defense.”
The focus showed the next day, as DiMagno recorded a 20-point game, closely followed by Long with 19 points. The game started slowly, with both teams matching each other, until Long and DiMagno sparked a crucial 14-0 run. Dartmouth attempted a comeback after the break, going on a 9-2 run to come within five points of the Red, but an 11-2 run by the Red led Cornell back to its double digits advantage, a lead the Red maintained until the end.
Cornell wraps up its season next weekend with trips to Princeton on Friday and Penn the following day.