Nov. 30, 2002

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Cornell women's basketball team fell 79-57 in the Christmas City Classic to tournament host Lehigh Saturday at Stabler Arena. The Big Red drops to 1-3 on the season, while Lehigh earns its first win of the year. Cornell will face Tenn.-Martin, who fell to Ball St. earlier in the day, in tomorrow's consolation game at 1 p.m.

The first ten minutes of the first half were tight, as each team worked hard to put points on the board. After Katie Romey tied the game at 12-12 with 9:55 remaining in the half, Lehigh went on an 8-0 run to take a 20-12 lead. Each team utilized plenty of opportunities from the foul line for the remainder of the half and the Mountain Hawks were able to stretch their lead to 12 (37-25) heading into the break. At the half, Romey was Cornell's leading scorer with six and senior Lynell Davis had nine rebounds.

Cornell's Ify Ossai hit a 3-pointer to start off the second stanza and Romey connected on a jumper to cut the lead to seven. Lehigh would then go on a 19-6 run, including six points by Jana Ransom, over the next eight minutes to earn a 56-36 advantage. The Big Red would not give up, however, and were able to cut the deficit to single digits on a pair of free throws by Karen Force with 4:13 left in regulation.

The Mountain Hawks would then rattle off 10 straight points and secure the lead the rest of the way to earn their first victory of the year. Ransom led Lehigh with 14 points, all coming in the second half, and Cat Nicholson added 12.

Romey paced the Big Red with 15 points and added five rebounds and three assists. Force put in 13 and Davis recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards. Junior Dani Aretino dished out a career-high four assists.