1,249 high school seniors were accepted to Cornell’s class of 2013 as early-decision applicants in mid-December. Of them, five will join the women’s basketball team next season as the newest members of the Red, including a McDonald’s All-American.

“The recruiting process in the last four to five years has really expanded,” said head coach Dayna Smith. “The process to recruit a freshman is a two, three, four-year process now. The recruits we’ve seen we’ve known about for a few years and we’ve, been corresponding with them. The entire month of July, we’re on the road almost the entire 30 days.”

[SIDEBAR]Although its defense was formidable, Cornell produced its worse offensive performance of the season in a loss to Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., Saturday night, 55-36.

Shooting only 21 percent from the field, the Red (7-13, 3-5 Ivy) was unable to get into any offensive rhythm in the face of the Green’s (12-9, 7-0 Ivy) defensive pressure, and was unable to reach 20 points in either period. The loss is Cornell’s fourth-straight against an Ivy opponent, following the team’s 3-1 start in conference play.On the run: Freshman forward Allison Abt (34) dribbles away from a Princeton defender Feb. 6. Abt scored 11 points against Dartmouth, with six rebounds.

After starting conference play strong, Cornell lost back to back games at Newman Arena to Princeton and Penn this past weekend, falling to fifth in the Ivy League standings.

“We messed up big. You don’t lose on your home court like this,” said senior forward Shannan Scarselletta, also a Sun columnist.

“This weekend was a tough two games,” added junior guard Virginia McMunigal. “We’re just hoping to go in this week and have a strong week of practice.”

Following the doubleheader, the Red’s record on the season dropped to 7-11 overall, and 3-3 in conference play.

The last time Penn and Princeton visited Ithaca, Cornell needed to beat both teams to stay alive in the race for the Ivy title. They did just that, outscoring the Tigers and Quakers by a combined 32 points before triumphing over Dartmouth for the right to represent the Ivy League in the NCAA Tournament.

The Red (7-9, 3-1 Ivy) are again already battling Dartmouth (8-9, 3-0) for first place in the conference standings, and this weekend is Cornell’s last opportunity to log some more wins before traveling to play Ivy powerhouses Harvard (10-7, 2-1) and Dartmouth.

As the old cliché goes, it can be lonely at the top. For senior forward Shannan Scarselletta, it can be lonely down low as well.

On a team that is heavy on guard-play, and features only one other senior on the roster, Scarselletta has emerged this season as a natural leader because she not only provides a consistent presence at her position, but because she is also the only four-year player in the starting lineup.

“I knew I was going to have to be a go-to player, but I didn’t know I had to be the go-to player,” Scarselletta said. “This is a role I had to step into and be for my team.”

Prior to last weekend, the last time the Red won a game away from Newman Arena was over ten months ago when Cornell beat Dartmouth for the right to play in the NCAA tournament. The women’s basketball team finally ended the away losing streak, beating Brown, 74-62, and Yale, 57-42, which were also the team’s first wins outside of New York in over 11 months.

The Red (6-9, 2-1 Ivy) opened the weekend at Brown (3-14, 1-2) where it had its highest scoring game of the season with 74 points. Junior captain Lauren Benson also had her highest scoring performance of the season, leading the Red with a career-high 20 points.

The Red will hit the road this weekend in search of its first win away from Newman Arena, as the team travels first to Providence, R.I. to face Brown, and then to New Haven, Conn. to meet Yale. Cornell will look to build on its win against Columbia last Saturday and gather momentum as it gets into the thick of Ivy play.

The Bears (3-13, 1-1 Ivy League) have had a rough opening to their season, suffering losses to several nationally-acclaimed basketball programs such as Georgetown, Rhode Island and the University of Massachusetts. After beating Yale in thrilling fashion, 64-62, on January 16, the Bulldogs came back to clobber Brown, 71-37, back on the Bears’ home court less than a week later.

Last year, the women’s basketball team could do no wrong. The Red rewrote Cornell’s record book en route to the Ivy League Championship, earning the program its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

A lot has changed since last year. At 5-9 overall, the Red (1-1 Ivy) has already matched last year’s loss total. The drastic changes can be attributed to the loss of Jeomi Maduka ’09 and Moina Snyder ’09 in the paint — last year’s two leading scorers.

After finishing up her athletic eligibility last year, Snyder is now a volunteer assistant coach with the team. Despite being named the Ivy League Player of the Year last season, Maduka decided to focus on her track and field career — where she is a 13 time Ivy champion as well as a three-time All-American.

After spending much of the early part of the season looking for consistent performance in the paint and on the glass, the Red got just the inside presence it needed from a young forward who has spent much of the season on the outside looking in. Freshman Allie Munson helped lead the Red past Columbia, 53-58, in a close home contest Saturday at Newman Arena.

Averaging only about 10 minutes a game coming into the contest against Columbia, Munson, came off the benchfor career-highs in points and rebounds (17 and seven, respectively), helping to power Cornell (5-9, 1-1) past the Lions (8-8, 1-1).

For the women’s basketball team, last weekend’s loss to Columbia marked its third straight loss to a team that the Red beat last season. While Cornell will have to wait at least a year to avenge its losses to Binghampton and Bucknell, the Red will get another chance to take down the Lions tomorrow at Newman Arena.

During Cornell’s Ivy League championship run last season, Columbia (8-7, 1-0 Ivy) was one of only three teams to beat the Red (4-9, 0-1 Ivy). After beating Columbia 73-57 to open its conference schedule last year, the Red traveled to Columbia the next weekend and lost 76-59 at Levien Gym.