The men’s and women’s basketball teams both dropped tough non-conference games on Monday night. The men couldn’t hold on to a 13-point first half lead as St. Joseph’s used a late 11-3 run to come out on top, 71-67. St. Bonaventure trounced the women, 70-49, in their first game after a 21-day break.

The 2007-08 season will certainly be a tough act to follow — the team captured the school record for wins, the Ivy League Player of the Year award, and not to mention Cornell’s first Ivy League title and trip to the NCAA Tournament. But with its three incoming freshman, two returning starters and one new assistant coach, this very different team is looking for very similar results.

Heading into last night’s game against Fairfield, senior captain Shannan Scarselletta was the only player on Cornell’s roster with a 20-point performance under her belt. In the Red’s 58-54 win to extend its school-record home win streak to 11, Scarselletta became the only current Red player with a 20-point half under her belt.

On a roster that features only one other senior, Shannan Scarselletta will see an increased role this year not only because of her on-court play, but because of her reliable leadership for the young squad.

Most Cornellians’ idea of a double-header over the Thanksgiving break was following up the turkey with pumpkin pie — there may never be a greater one-two punch in the realm of holiday feasting. But for the women’s basketball team, it was two full servings of hard-nosed basketball as the Red took on Central Connecticut State and Bryant at the Rhody Classic. Cornell dropped its first contest before beating Bryant on Satur

The women’s basketball team played some tight defense and continued its streak of hot shooting in a home court defeat of St. Francis last night, 59-48. With the victory, the Red evened out its season record at 2-2. Senior captain Shannan Scarselletta, also a Sun columnist, had a stellar night in Newman Arena, with a superb statistical performance that encapsulated her “do-it-all” playing style. The 6-1 forward finished with a team-high 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steal

This weekend, the women’s basketball team will head to Kingston for the annual Rhode Island “Rhody Classic” tournament. On Friday, in the first matchup, the Red will face the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut St. (1-2). CCSU has had a rough start to their season, scoring an average of only 56.3 points per game behind a poor 33 percent field goal percentage, while opponents have scored 75.7 points per game and have shot 44 percent. The Blue Devils will look to several of their young players to help inspire an early turn-around, such as freshman guard Shontice Simmons, who scored a team-high 15 points and five assists in the win against Maine.

Prior to Saturday’s game against IUPUI, it had been four years since senior captain Lacey Workman played a game of basketball in her home state of Indiana. The last time she played in the Hoosier state, Workman helped lead Ben Davis High to a sectional championship. Less than a year removed from the Ivy championship, Workman and the Red lost to IUPUI 66-57 in her bittersweet homecoming.

Only two games into the season, there’s already a buzzword floating around the women’s locker room at Newman Arena. “We need to continue to be aggressive,” said junior guard Virginia McMu­nigal. The women’s basketball team will take its new mantra to Indianapolis tomorrow determined to pull off an upset win against non-conference foe IUPUI.

The women’s basketball team tightened up its defense and played aggressively last night, defeating instate rival Albany at Newman Arena, 50-46, to begin the Red’s home schedule. Cornell (1-1) played a much more intense game than its lackluster season-opening matchup against Duquesne, when the Red forced only 17 turnovers and shot a poor 31.3%. Against the Great Danes (0-3) however, the Red won the rebounding battle, 41-37, and grabbed five steals as the team heeded the advice of its coach to raise the intensity.