In their last weekend of play, the Cornell women’s basketball team suffered two losses against Yale and Brown and capped off their season with a record of 14-14 overall and 6-8 in the Ivy League conference for fifth place. It was senior Maddie Campbell’s last game as part of the Red.
“It was a rough way to end the season. No one wants to end on that note and we especially did not want to send Maddie out on that as well,” said junior Nicholle Aston.
On Friday, the team went down to New Haven, Conn. to take on the Yale Bulldogs. At their previous meetings, Cornell hosted the Yale team and beat them in Newman arena 74-63, with standout performances from Megan LeDuc with 20 points, and both Nia Marshall and Nicholle Aston scoring in the double digits.
This time, the Red lacked a strong presence in the paint with junior star Nia Marshall playing just seven minutes after getting into foul trouble.
In contrast, the Yale Bulldogs had two players score in the double digits, and as a combined team they shot .373 overall, as well as .333 from beyond the three point line. The Bulldogs were getting more rebounds than the visiting Red, but could not hold onto possession, turning the ball over 20 times. The final score was 56-38, Bulldogs.
The next night, Cornell played the Brown Bears in Providence, R.I. Last time against the Bears, the Red racked up 80 points. This time, Brown shot the lights out.
The Bears were on a hot streak and had sunk 13 three pointers on Friday night against Columbia. On Saturday, they were hot again, shooting .508 from inside the arc and an incredible .647 from beyond the three-point line.
The Red had to choose how far to stretch their defense and pressure out in order to stop Brown. However, Cornell failed to lock down on defense. The Bears racked up 91 points, compared to Cornell’s 69. Despite a late surge in the second half from junior Kerri Moran, the Red could not mount a comeback. Moran had a career-high 12 rebounds in addition to her 15 points.
“Kerri really tried to get us going against Brown, but in the end our efforts were too late,” Aston said. “This weekend was a great lesson to learn from and will certainly fuel our training in the offseason.”
Freshman standout Caroline Shelquist agreed that the games did not turn out as they had hoped.
“This weekend was disappointing, as it did not turn out as we had hoped,” Shelquist said. “It’s hard ending the season with two losses, but remembering how that feels and carrying that feeling into next year will motivate us to not let it happen again.”
Shelquist is looking forward to next year, but for senior Maddie Campbell, this was the end.
“The last two games were really tough,” Campbell said. “Both teams shot extremely well and played like they had nothing to lose, and it’s tough to beat a team when they play like that. We knew both teams like to penetrate, but they also shot the three really well. It’s disappointing to end the season on that note, but I hope it motivates the team to work hard next year.”