Women's Basketball Drops Meeting With Cornell

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Ithaca, N.Y. – Allie Fedorowicz scored a game-high 19 points, including a key three pointer late in the game to lead Cornell to a 50-46 win over UAlbany in non-conference women’s basketball action on Wednesday evening at Newman Arena. The Big Red moved to 1-1 in the young season, while the Great Danes dropped to 0-3.

UAlbany, which held a one-point lead at halftime, built up a six-point advantage, 42-36, halfway through the second half on a Janea Aiken jumper in the paint. Cornell would then embark on an 11-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 47-42 lead with 3:05 left to play. Aiken, who scored a team-high 14 points, ended the Big Red rally, converting an assist from Tiffanie Johnson into a jumpshot to cut the Cornell advantage to three.

With under a minute to play, Fedorowicz knocked down her fifth trey of the night to keep the Big Red ahead, 50-44. UAlbany senior Amira Ford hit a layup with 22 ticks remaining to cut the lead to four, but would miss a wide-open opportunity in the waning seconds that would allow Cornell to seal up its first win of the season.

UAlbany used a strong first half by Johnson to take a halftime lead. Cornell built up a seven-point advantage, 15-8, at the 12-minute mark, but the Great Danes used a 9-3 run to cut the lead to one with just under six minutes to play. After Britney McGee hit a layup to end a Cornell run, Aiken recorded a block on the defensive end to put the ball back in UAlbany’s hands. McGee passed the ball ahead to Johnson, who hit a jumper to cut the lead to three. Fedorowicz took a pass from Lauren Benson and hit a shot from beyond the arc, but Johnson nailed one of her two three-pointers in the contest to slash the advantage to one, 18-17, with 5:57 left to play.

The Great Danes took their first lead since the opening minutes at 4:14, as freshman Shelby Coon took a backdoor pass from Ford on the baseline and laid the ball in off the glass to put UAlbany on top, 19-18. Consecutive baskets by Aiken, followed by a free throw, put the Great Danes ahead by six, 24-18 with just over two minutes on the clock. Fedorowicz, who shot 55.5 percent from behind the arc, nailed a long-range basket at 2:06 to cut the lead to three. UAlbany missed two three-pointers of their own in the closing minutes, while Christine Vlasic hit a layup with 16 seconds remaining, but the Great Danes were able to hold onto the 24-23 advantage heading into the locker room.

"This loss was a tough one to swallow,” said UAlbany head coach Trina Patterson, whose team was held to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, despite causing 16 Cornell turnovers. “We still have to find the right combination of players and play the full 40 minutes."

McGee and Johnson both finished with 10 points for the Great Danes, while both players also grabbed a team-high five rebounds, along with sophomore Kim Clements. Shanna Scarselletta grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Cornell, while Benson finished with seven points, nine assists and two steals.

"This was supposed to be our game to take home,” said Aiken, who shot 6-of-15 from the floor and handed out a team-high five assists. “When we have a lead, we need to learn how to keep it. We can't go five or six minutes without scoring. We need to be able to grind it out for the second half and the whole game."