The first weekend of February will be a weekend to forget for women’s basketball, which lost by more than 20 points in two separate Ivy matchups.
The Red struggled to get going offensively right from the start, as Princeton kicked the game off with a 7-0 run. Freshman guard Shannon Mulroy was the first to put up points for the Red with 7:30 left in the first quarter.
Still, the Red did not find a way to get to Princeton’s basket, and the first quarter ended 20-8 in the Tigers’ favor. Despite multiple timeouts and time to regroup after the first quarter, the Red could not find its way out of the pit it fell in, as the team failed to convert any field goals during the second quarter.
Cornell’s only three points of the quarter came from free throws, and Princeton extended its lead to 31-11.
Sophomore guard Samantha Will and senior forward Stephanie Umeh continued to fight throughout the game. Will finished with a career-high seven points, and Umeh caught three rebounds and converted all four of her free throws. Even after regrouping during the half, the Red couldn’t find a way to crack Princeton’s solid defense, and the road game ended 60-29.
Reflecting the Red’s dismal performance in its first game of the doubleheader, no players scored in double digits, while Cornell converted only seven field goals and two three-pointers. Overall, it shot a mere 15.6 percent from the field and 15.4 percent of three-pointers.
The Red also had 26 turnovers, with Princeton converting those turnovers into a total of 36 points.
Cornell attempted to rediscover its groove against the Quakers but was overpowered by the Penn offense, and dropped 63-41. The same problem of failing to capitalize in the first quarter and not being able to convert field goals served as the main cause for the second consecutive loss.
The Red found itself in a 0-8 deficit after the Quakers scored eight straight. During the first quarter, the Quakers shot 10-of-16 — 62.5 percent — from the floor and 4-7 in three-pointers.
Phoebe Sterba led Penn’s run, sinking three three-pointers in the opening minutes. Though senior forward and captain Laura Bagwell-Katalinich, sophomore forward Theresa Grace Mbanefo and senior guard/forward and captain Samantha Widmann scored to put the Red back within seven points, the Quakers ended the first quarter with a 9-2 run, leading 24-10.
The Red got its rhythm back and played more competitively in the second and third quarters, scoring only one point fewer than the Quakers.
However, it was not enough to overcome the 14-point deficit in the first quarter. The gap increased when Cornell was outscored 13-6 in the fourth. Bagwell-Katalinich and junior forward Halley Miklos finished with 10 points and seven rebounds each, but it wasn’t enough to take the game home.
With this 41-63 loss, the Red is now 2-4 in the Ivy League, ranking sixth in the Ancient Eight.
The Red will look for its third Ivy win of the season against Harvard on Friday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. at home.