In Emily Garner’s debut as head coach of women’s basketball on Nov. 4, the team pulled off a 60-54 victory against Army West Point. Its next two games — at Rutgers and Marist — didn’t result so favorably for the Red, as it fell 72-61 and 62-56 respectively.
The Red held onto a lead for the first half of its match against Army, until a 10-0 run by the Black Knights in the third quarter tied the game at 39. After briefly surrendering its advantage in the fourth quarter, the Red regained control with a three-pointer by sophomore guard Azareya Kilgoe and protected the lead until final time.
The match at Rutgers proved to be much more of a challenge for the Red, with the first and second quarters ending in ties at 15 and 34 points. With under a minute left in the third, a layup by junior forward Emily Pape put Cornell up, and the team widened the margin to 52-47 by the end of the quarter. A breakdown of the Red’s defense in the fourth allowed the Scarlet Knights to go on six- and 13-point runs to lock down a victory.
Though Cornell came out on top for the first and second quarters of its game at Marist, an eight-point run in the beginning of the second half put the Red Foxes up 33-26. The Red was able to tie the match at 53 with a free throw by sophomore guard Clarke Jackson, but the Red Foxes quickly regained the lead after draining back-to-back threes, and Cornell failed to pull even before the end of the match.
In the team’s first three games, Pape established herself as standout with 27 points against Rutgers and 21 points against Marist. 16 rebounds against Marist secured Pape the squad’s first double-double of the season.
Jackson, top scorer in the victory against Army with 16 points, scored second –– behind Pape –– for the next two games, netting 10 and 12 points. Jackson is the only Cornell player who has consistently scored double-digits in every game so far this season. Kilgoe and senior forward Summer Parker-Hall also proved to be players to watch, securing 55 points between them over the opening matches.
Garner, who was named head coach in April, was most recently the head coach of Division-III Trinity College, where she led the squad to NCAA appearances in her last two seasons. She may bring some much-needed rejuvenation to Cornell, which ended the 2023-24 season with a 7-19 record and won just one of 14 conference matches.
The Red returns for its home opener on Thursday, taking on Binghamton. The Bearcats posted victories for its first two games but are coming off an 82-61 loss to St. Bonaventure.
During its last matchup against Binghamton, in November 2023, the Red narrowly secured a 58-57 victory off of a free throw by Kilgoe with just seconds remaining on the clock.