Heading into Saturday, women’s basketball had only one Ivy League team left to face in the 2024-2025 season: Yale. The last time the Red beat the Bulldogs was March 1, 2019, but this year it broke that five-year drought with a 57-40 victory in New Haven.
Yale (2-19, 1-7 Ivy League) was first on the board with a three-pointer from Avery Lee, and a jumper from Mackenzie Egger gave the Bulldogs an early lead. Cornell (6-15, 2-6 Ivy League) responded with two six-point runs to jump ahead 12-8 by the end of the first quarter.
The Red widened its lead in the second quarter, ending the half with a seven-point run. Halfway through the third quarter, a layup from senior forward Summer Parker-Hall kickstarted a ten-point run for Cornell — with two minutes left in the third, the Red had scored as many points as the Bulldogs would for the entire match.
Both teams saw a breakdown in shooting in the final ten minutes. After a three-pointer from Yale’s Lola Lesmond and two free throws by Parker-Hall, three consecutive scoreless minutes froze the board at 54-34 in favor of the Red. Ke'iara Odume and junior forward Emily Pape took two each before the teams faced another three minutes with no successful shots until the last minute of play.
Three-pointers from Yale’s Ciniya Moore and Abigail Long and Cornell’s freshman guard Audrey Chen, within the minute mark, closed out the game.
The Red had a dominant offensive performance, shooting 47.9 percent while the Bulldogs shot 25.9. They also showed up defensively, taking 42 rebounds — 33 of which were offensive — whereas Yale had 28 total, 17 offensive.
Parker-Hall led the Red with 17 points and six rebounds, shooting 7-7 from the field. Freshman guard Paige Engels, hot off of two consecutive recognitions as Ivy League Rookie of the Week, also broke double digits with 10 points and contributed four assists.
Cornell heads back to its home court for its first Ivy rematches of 2025 as it takes on Harvard and Dartmouth on Friday and Saturday respectively. Though the Red fell to the Crimson in Cambridge during their meeting earlier in the season, it took away a 60-48 victory at Dartmouth.
The Red will take on Harvard at 6 p.m. on Feb. 14 in Newman Arena and then face Dartmouth at 5 p.m. on Feb. 15. Coverage of both games will be available on ESPN+.
