By wpengine February 21, 2003
The last time the women’s basketball team played Yale, it won. Since then, wins have been elusive for the Red (7-14, 1-7 Ivy), which will look to snap a four-game skid when it hosts Yale tonight and Brown tomorrow in its final home weekend of the season. Cornell enters the weekend following a thriller against Harvard last weekend. After trailing by 17 points at halftime, the Red fought all the way back to tie the game at 71 with under a minute left to play. The Crimson finished the game with a 6-0 run to remain perfect, but the game conjured memories of last season’s thrilling double-overtime game between these two teams at Newman Arena. Yale (4-17, 1-7), on the other hand, enters the game following a triple-overtime loss at Princeton last Saturday, the longest game in school history. Like Cornell, the Bulldogs trailed by 17 at the half and fought back to tie the game. However, Yale was able to force overtime, and even held a lead late in the second overtime before Princeton pulled out the 94-92 win. Several Elis set career marks last weekend. Forward Christina Phillips scored 28 points against Princeton to lead all scorers. Guard Morgan Richards chipped in 16 on Saturday, also a career high. In addition, Julie Cohen set a personal best with 16 boards against the Tigers. Phillips and forward Lindsay Page lead the team in scoring, each averaging 11.6 ppg on the season. Page is also averaging 5.8 rebounds per game to lead the team. Tomorrow night, the Red will meet second-place Brown (12-9, 6-2), which will attempt to move up in the league standings after beating Penn last Saturday. Center Holly Robertson led Brown against Penn, putting up her third career double-double, scoring 22 points with 10 rebounds. Nyema Mitchell is the Bears’ leading scorer, averaging 14.5 ppg. Sarah Hayes is the Bears’ leading rebounder, averaging 6.8 per game. Prior to tomorrow’s game against Brown, Cornell will celebrate National Women and Girls in Sports Day. Before the game, members of the women’s crew, track, field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, squash, volleyball and rugby teams will be on hand to meet with aspiring female athletes in the Ithaca community. Following the game, members of the basketball team will be available to sign autographs. For the Red, junior Karen Force will look to continue riding the hot streak she has enjoyed over the first run through the league schedule. She is averaging 21.6 points over her last five games. She ranks sixth on the Red’s career free throw list with 230 and fifth on the assists list with 295. Senior Lynell Davis has played 101 career games for the Red through this past weekend. If she plays the season’s remaining four games as expected, she will finish her Cornell career with 105 games, the most of any Red player. It will be crucial for the Red to continue its consistent foul shooting this weekend as well. Over the past 11 games, the Red has shot .719 from the line, for a 40-point advantage over its opponents in that stretch. Archived article by Owen Bochner
By wpengine February 21, 2003
The women’s hockey team played to a 1-1 tie against its travel partner Colgate in the first game of the home-and-home series last night at Lynah Rink. The Red (4-16-2, 2-9-2 ECAC) still remains in eighth place, one point behind the Raiders (11-17-1, 3-9-1 ECAC) in the ECAC standings. The result of tomorrow’s game will most likely determine the Red’s final playoff seeding. Back in the lineup for the Red was freshman Caitlin Warren, who did not travel with the team last weekend due to a concussion she suffered two weeks ago against Yale. The Raiders dominated the opening stanza, keeping the puck constantly in the Red’s zone. The penalty-killing unit was tested early, as Colgate went on the power play at 1:23. Senior Sanya Sandahl looked sharp from the start, and made a great save on an early Colgate breakaway. “I’m disappointed with [our performance] in the first period. I didn’t think we showed up in the first period, and it could have really hurt us in the end,” commented head coach Melody Davidson. The Red’s best scoring chances in the first came on its two power plays, but the icers were unable to solve the goaltender. At the start of the second period, Cornell came out with a lot more intensity, and completely controlled the puck in Colgate’s zone. Freshman Jen Munhofen nearly netted a goal on the power play midway through the period. Colgate’s Rebecca Lahar gave up a rebound to her right, and the puck dribbled across the crease. Munhofen raced in to tap the puck in, but Lahar dove and got her glove on it. The Raiders had a 5-on-3 power play with seven minutes remaining in the period, but were unable to capitalize, as the Red’s penalty killers came up big to keep the game scoreless. Midway through the two-man advantage, Colgate’s Avery McGlenn went down with a leg injury, and had to be helped off the ice. She did not return to the game. With only seconds left in the second period, the Red held the puck in the Raider zone. Sophomore Jamie Ramenofsky received a pass from junior Briana Jentner, and took a hard shot from the high slot. The traffic in front of Lahar provided a good screen, and the Red got on the board with only 14.6 seconds left on the clock. The tally was Ramenofsky’s first collegiate goal. “It helps the confidence [of the team] to get a goal late in the period. You know you can put one past that goaltender, so it gives you that big moral boost. They worked so hard in the second period, and that goal was huge for us,” said Davidson. The Red continued its offensive push in the third period, but it was Colgate who came away with the goal. After Sandahl made a sprawling save, Kristy MacDonald knocked the puck home at 12:18 to tie the game at one. The last five minutes of third were very intense, with both teams generating plays in the offensive zone. With Colgate going in on a breakaway, Ramenofsky came from behind and knocked the puck away to prevent a shot. Cornell nearly lit the lamp as Lahar gave up a big rebound on freshman Emily Cabral’s shot from the right point, and the Red collected the puck on the right side of the goal, but couldn’t finish. Neither team could score in the closing minutes of the third, and the game went to overtime. The Red controlled the extra frame, registering five shots while the Raiders had none. “We pretty much controlled the overtime, and the last part of the third. We just couldn’t find the back of the net, which has been sort of our Achilles’ heel all year,” remarked Davidson. Sandahl finished the game with 29 saves, while Lahar stopped 35 for Colgate. “[Sanya’s] been playing really well. She’s taking away the bottom half of the net, and making good decisions on her saves, not going down early, and outwaiting the shooter. I’m really happy with how she played,” lauded Davidson. The Red will travel to Hamilton on Saturday for a 4 PM showdown against the Raiders. The icers then wrap up the regular season next week at home against Harvard and Brown. Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach