Following a loss against Brown on Jan. 20, Cornell women’s basketball (6-11, 0-5 Ivy) took the floor against Princeton (15-3, 5-0 Ivy) on Jan. 27. Having lost its first four conference games and five straight, the Red looked to rebound and pick up a win against a strong Princeton team.
The strength and speed of the Tigers was ultimately too much for the Red to handle, as Cornell fell to Princeton by a score of 85-47. Since beginning its season with a 6-5 record, the Red has dropped its last six games.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 9-0 lead after Cornell committed three turnovers and went 0-4 from the field to start the game. After a timeout, the Red cut into the lead with jumpers from junior forward Summer Parker-Hall and freshman guard Clarke Jackson.
While freshman guard Rachel Kaus added two more to the point total after draining a pair of free throws, Cornell failed to match Princeton’s buckets and dropped the first quarter 20-8.
The second 10 minutes featured a strong effort from Princeton guard Madison St. Rose as she led the quarter with seven of the Tigers’ 26 points. On the other side, freshman guard Azareya Kilgoe put up eight of the team’s 11 points.
Princeton’s bench and points in the paint proved to be the difference in the second quarter with the Tigers out gaining Cornell 15-0 and 20-4 respectively to grow the halftime lead to 27.
The final two quarters trended in similar directions with Princeton once again dominating bench points and second chance points. St. Rose netted four more points in the third quarter, while senior guard Kaya Ingram put up seven of her own in attempts to keep pace with the explosive Tigers’ offense.
Ingram’s leadership has been one of the bright spots of Cornell’s rebuilding 2023-24 season. After a 2022-23 campaign where Ingram started each of the team’s 27 games, the senior captain leads the team in minutes per game this season with 28.9, and her 10.0 points per game places her second-best on the team.
The Red shot better in the third at 46.15 percent but could not continue the hot hand as they went 3-12 from the floor over the final 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Princeton continued its strong shooting performance, hitting 53.85 percent of their shots to seal the game, beating the Red 85-47.
The Red will look to snap their six-game losing streak as they return home to take on Dartmouth (6-11, 0-5 Ivy) at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2 at Newman Arena. Both teams will be searching for their first conference wins. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.