Jan. 20, 2007

Box Score

NEW YORK - The Cornell University women's basketball team remained perfect in Ivy League action this afternoon as it soundly defeated Columbia, 67-51, at Levien Gymnasium in New York city. The Big Red took a 4-3 lead just under two minutes into the game and led the rest of the way, cruising to the victory.

Junior Moïna Snyder (Nice, France) and sophomore Jeomi Maduka (Arlington, Texas) led the Big Red with 14 points each, while sophomore Kayleen Fitzsimmons (Wheeling, W.Va.) chipped in 10 points in the victory. With her 14 points, Maduka, who registered a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds, reached the 500-point plateau in just the 35th game of her career, reaching that mark faster than anyone other than the Big Red's all-time leading scorer, Karen Walker '91.

Columbia's Megan Griffith led all scorers with 15-points, while Brittany Carfora added eight points.

The Lions scored on its first possession as Carfora nailed a 3-pointer, but the Big Red used an impressive 15-2 run, scoring on nearly every possession to go up, 15-5, with 13:55 remaining in the first half. During the run, Cornell got six points from Snyder, as she scored at will against the smaller Lions' frontcourt.

The teams would trade baskets for the next two minutes before back-to-back layups by Perry and Maduka would give Cornell a 13-point advantage, 24-11, with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening stanza.

The Big Red extended its lead to 16 points at the 3:18 mark as junior Megan Hughes (Charlottesville, Va.) hit a layup, and the visitors took an 18-point lead into the intermission when Benson nailed an 8-foot jumper as time expired to make it a 37-19 game.

Columbia came out of the break on fire, scoring five unanswered points in the first 47 seconds to make it 37-24, but the Big Red answered with an 11-4 scoring run, capped by a fast-break 3-pointer by junior Gretchen Gregg (Marienville, Pa.), to take a 20-point lead, 48-28, with 13:09 to play.

Cornell took its largest lead of the game, going up 53-32 on a made foul shot by Fitzsimmons with just over 10 minutes to play in the game.

The Big Red would keep a comfortable 20-point advantage for the next three and a half minutes before a 12-2 scoring run by Columbia would make it interesting, as the home team pulled within 10 points, 59-49, with 2:20 to play.

That was as close as it would get, however, as Cornell outscored the Lions 8-2 down the stretch to come away with the 67-51 victory.

For the game, the Big Red shot 50 percent from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range while holding the Lions to 44 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from beyond the arc. Cornell held the 33-27 advantage on the boards and forced 26 Columbia turnovers.

Cornell (7-9, 3-0) is back in action next weekend as it plays host to the Lions at Newman Arena on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 1 p.m.