ANAHEIM, Calif. — With 13:40 left in the first half and Stanford leading 11-4, sophomore Ryan Wittman finally freed himself at the top of the key, and more than a yard behind the line, fired up a 3-pointer with a defender coming at him. Hitting the floor from contact in time to watch the shot fall in, Wittman hurried back on defense, not knowing it would be his only made shot of the half.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — While the verdict is still out on which is the better academic institution, Stanford proved to field a better basketball team as it knocked Cornell out of the NCAA tournament this afternoon, 77-53. In its first NCAA tournament appearance in 20 years, the Red fell victim to what many of the Cardinal’s opponents have this year: its defense. The Red, who came into the game as one of the better shooting teams in college basketball, shot 30 percent from the field — including an NCAA tournament low 15 percent in the first half.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — At 7 p.m. on Easter Sunday the women’s basketball team strode confidently onto the biggest stage to take on the biggest opponents: UConn, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and the No. 1 in the country. The size of the crowd didn’t fluster the Red’s play or decision-making, nor did the importance of the game. The size and speed of the Huskies did in the Red’s 89-47 loss in its first ever tournament appearance.

“[The players] were a little surprised with [UConn’s] speed,” said head coach Dayna Smith. “They talked about it in the timeout: ‘She’s just so quick.’ We knew their speed, but it doesn’t look that way on tape, it’s a greater speed when they’re out on the court. They needed to get over that initial disbelief. After that we calmed ourselves down a little bit. Not enough, but a little bit.”

NEW YORK CITY — Senior co-captain Gretchen Gregg grabbed a rebound and dribbled straight for sophomore point guard Lauren Benson at the top of the arc. You would have thought the game was still in contention, until the two players smiled with joy, and Benson heaved the ball to the ceiling as the clock expired and the team mobbed the floor.

Using unmatched efficiency on both ends of the floor, Cornell never relinquished the lead and toppled Dartmouth, 64-47, in the playoff game to determine the Ivy League’s NCAA bid. The win capped the greatest season in Cornell women’s basketball history, with the team scoring 1889 points and winning 20 games, an Ivy title and an NCAA Tournament invite: all for the first time in its 37-year history.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — One team is making its first appearance in 20 years; the other is battling for its first NCAA Tournament win since hiring a new coach in 2004. The pressures faced by Cornell and No. 11 Stanford couldn’t be more divergent, and it was evident in the answers given by the teams at media day today.

“You know, now, if you lose, there’s no second chances, no tomorrows,” said Stanford junior guard Mitch Johnson. “So I think everyone’s playing with their backs against the wall.”