By OLIVA MATTYASOVSZKY

Though most Cornell fans were home for the holidays, the womens basketball team did not let a smaller home crowd affect its play. The Red played a total of seven games since classes ended, including its first Ivy League competition. Out of those seven games, the squad won six, beating Robert Morris, Loyola, Vermont, Youngstown State, Howard and Ivy rival Columbia. The teams only loss was to a tough Syracuse team on the road.

Sophomore Kerri Moran attributed the recent bout of strong play to the teams uninterrupted focus.

I think our games over break went really well. We got to really focus on basketball without having to worry about schoolwork or anything else, which really helped us work on ourselves, she said. We got a huge win in Vermont and continued to play well in our final non-conference games.

On December 20, the Red had its first competition at Newman Arena after finals against Robert Morris University. The home team walked away with an 11-point margin of victory. Sophomore forward Nia Marshall continued her stretch of top-notch performances, scoring 20 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. In the first half the Red shot 100 percent from beyond the three point line, making all three attempts. Shooting in the second half fell sharply, and the Red was 0-3 from beyond the arc and only 16.7 percent from within. However, the team out-rebounded RMU, snagging 42 boards compared to the oppositions 39.

Two days later Cornell traveled to Loyola in Baltimore and came out with another win, despite being on the road. Marshall once again scored 20 points, this time accompanied by five rebounds. Moran led the team in rebounding with six, all of them defensive. This time, the Red had a strong second half, shooting better in the period from outside the three point line as well as inside, with 28.6 percent and 58.6 percent, respectively.

The one loss of the stretch since classes ended came when the Red traveled to Syracuse to play the Orange. The home team ousted Cornell 76-59, improving to 9-3, while Cornells record stayed just above .500 at 6-5. Seven different Red players put points on the board, but nobody shot above 50 percent. The team as a whole was 32.3 percent from inside the arc and 30.8 percent from the three-point line. The Orange grabbed twelve more rebounds than the Red with 50 off the boards, while the Red only had 38.

The Red traveled to Burlington next for a nail-biter of a game against Vermont, walking away with a 90-87 victory. The Catamounts outshot the visitors in the first half, but Cornell came out of halftime hot, shooting better than the Catamounts both inside and outside the three point line. The trend continued in overtime. allowing the Red to squeak out a win.

Our games against Syracuse and Vermont were certainly highlights with Vermont allowing us to really come together as a team and exhibit a refuse to lose mentality, while the Syracuse loss really showed us what we are capable of despite the final score not being in our favor, said sophomore forward Nicholle Aston. The two final non-conference games came on January 2 against Youngstown State and on January 7 against Howard. Cornell scored 75 points in both games, beating Youngstown State by 12 and Howard by 19.

The Red opened its Ivy League competition with a home match against Columbia on Saturday. The home team held the Lions to less than 40 points with a stellar defensive performance. Sophomore guard Megan LeDuc had eight steals and eight assists, as well as six rebounds, making a bid for a triple double. The frontcourt tandem of Aston and Marshall dominated the Lions paint, scoring a combined 24 points and grabbing thirteen rebounds.

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WOMENS BASKETBALL | Red Heads Into Ivy Play On Hot Streak