The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/womens-basketball/page/3/)
Awaiting its first game since March 7, 2020, Cornell women’s basketball marked its return to the floor with a dominant 53-32 victory over Colgate on Nov. 10.
After three consecutive home wins to begin the season, the Red will look to extend its streak when the team hosts Drexel (3-2) on Saturday. Cornell has not won its first four home games since the 2003-2004 season. “We feel that we need to defend our home court and use that advantage to its full potential,” said senior forward Nicholle Aston. “We know the space and are confident here the most.”
In six previous meetings all-time, Cornell (5-2) has never defeated the Dragons, with the last game between the two resulting in a 62-53 Drexel win in 2014. “This game is our biggest test thus far,” Aston said.
Despite playing a closely contested game, Towson guard Raven Bankston’s 30-point performance was simply too much for the Red to overcome, and ultimately the Tigers were able to outlast Cornell, 68-63, handing the Red its first loss of the year.
The all-senior starting five accounted for 61 of the Red’s 70 points in the win, Cornell’s third straight to start the season.
Despite trailing at halftime in each of its first two games, Cornell was able to pull out closely contested victories against New Hampshire and Loyola to open the season. Head coach Dayna Smith said she has relied on her seniors this year, comprising the entire starting lineup. “Our seniors are going to lead this team all year,” Smith said. “They have earned it, and have been through all types of games, and they are great role models for our younger players, so I hope we can ride our seniors all season long.”
Against New Hampshire (0-1), the Cornell trailed by double-digits for nearly the entire first half; however, the Red (2-0) was able to go on a 6-0 run in the final two minutes of the second quarter to cut the deficit to three at the half. “I think that since most of us are seniors, we understand that we are able to bounce back from a 10-point deficit, and we showed that tonight,” said senior guard Megan LeDuc.
For the first time in history, the Ivy League will host a four-team tournament to determine the conference’s NCAA tournament bid. The first tournament will be held next season in Philadelphia.
The Red were defeated by Yale and Brown on the road, failing to end their season on a high note. But the team is now motivated to work hard going into the offseason.
The Cornell women’s basketball team had a weekend of highs and lows as the team hosted Penn and Princeton for two very special nights. On Friday, the Red welcomed the Quakers, who entered the contest second in the league. The Quakers had previously beat the Red, 65-50, in the last meeting in Philadelphia.
One of the strengths of the Cornell women’s basketball team has been its team chemistry and balanced scoring. This Saturday however, the spotlight is on one player — guard Maddie Campbell. The team’s lone senior, Campbell, will play her last game in Newman Arena against the Princeton Tigers.
The women’s basketball team had another trip away from Ithaca this past weekend, traveling to Dartmouth on Friday and Harvard on Saturday. The women have four games left in the regular season but this was the last time they faced either the Green or the Crimson. Going into the weekend Cornell was ranked third in the Ivy League, but after losing both contests — on Friday to Dartmouth, 60-52, and then on Saturday to Harvard, 68-63 — the Red left sitting in fifth place in the conference standings with a record of 5-5 against Ivy League opponents. “It was an interesting shift being on the road,” said junior forward Nicholle Aston. “But that doesn’t account for the poor result we had.