This past weekend, women’s basketball (9-14, 2-8 Ivy) faced Brown (10-12, 3-7 Ivy) at home.
Cornell started strong by winning the tip-off, but Brown was the first team to put points on the board.
The first quarter proved tough for the Red, who missed 12 consecutive shots at one point during the opening frame. Brown capitalized on Cornell’s slow offensive start and scored 16 during seven minutes of unanswered points.
Towards the end of the quarter, Cornell began to find its stride, with freshman forward Emiy Pape getting fouled and making both shots. Junior guard Kaya Ingram closed out the quarter, scoring a field goal with five seconds left.
“We got outside ourselves a little bit on the defensive end, which has a lot to do with [Brown’s] run. […] We took really poor shots in the first quarter,” said head coach Dayna Smith.
The Red trailed 19-6 at the end of the first.
Cornell utilized its passing game and successfully worked Brown’s defense around the key, but they still needed to adjust their gameplan going into the second quarter.
The Red found some success at the start of the second quarter, with Pape hitting a jumper in the first 45 seconds of play.
Cornell capitalized on two fast breaks, each leading to points scored by senior guard Shannon Mulroy. At the half, the Red’s score looked promising, as they went into the locker room down 27-37.
The Red saw a significant comeback during the third quarter. Cornell managed to capitalize on multiple rebounds and narrow Brown’s lead further. The third quarter ended with a score of 49-45, with the Red scoring 18 in the frame.
“Defensively, we shut down their leading scorer… We did a much better job finishing possessions with smart defense, not fouling, not bailing them out and rebounding,” Smith said. “We found ourselves and that’s what we really focused on in the third quarter.”
The game turned a corner when the fourth quarter started. With Pape committing a foul in the first 10 seconds, Brown made both free throws, setting the tone for the rest of the game. The Bears made all five of their free throws in the fourth quarter, pulling themselves significantly ahead of the Red.
Cornell faltered during the last leg of the game. Fouls were occurring left and right, giving Brown nine foul shots in the fourth quarter alone.
“We have to move our feet and play defense with our feet and our hands. If we do that, then the fouls will cut out a bit,” Smith said.
Offensively, Cornell could not could not find an answer late in the game.
“They made a push and responded to our third quarter… We made poor decisions on the offensive and they capitalized quickly,” Smith said.
The Red only scored one jumper and one free throw throughout the entire quarter. In comparison, Brown scored 27 points and finished the quarter with an overall field goal accuracy of 75 percent.
In the end, Cornell’s third quarter comeback was not enough to pull ahead of the advantage Brown gained in the fourth quarter, leading to a 76-48 loss for Cornell.
This weekend, the Red will play on the road, first facing Dartmouth (2-22, 0-10 Ivy) on Friday, Feb. 17 in Leede Arena and then Harvard (14-8, 7-3 Ivy) on Saturday, Feb. 18 in Lavietes Pavilion.