Box Score Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. – The Big Red women's basketball team got off to a great start and then came back from  a late deficit, but could not maintain the lead over the final 2:13 of the contest, as it fell to Longwood, 68-61, this evening in Willett Hall in Farmville, Va. The game was an exciting one, with six ties and five lead changes, all of which came in the final 10 minutes of the contest.

Cornell (0-2) had three players in double-digits, led by Allyson DiMagno's 13 points. The sophomore guard also registered four rebounds and handed out two assists. Senior forward Maka Anyanwu chipped in 12 points and played a solid game defensively, while Taylor Flynn hit the Big Red's only three treys of the game en route to 11 points. Sophomore guard Stephanie Long was the team's top rebounder with six caroms, while Spencer Lane ran the offense and handed out four assists.

Longwood (1-1), coming off a close loss to No. 11 Georgetown on Friday night, was led by Mieke Elkington's 14 points. Brittani Billups scored 12 points, while Chlesea Coward and Mina Javanovic chipped in 11 points apiece. Elkington, Billups and Coward each registered seven rebounds to lead the Lancers and help the home team to a 41-36 advantage on the boards.

Cornell completely dominated the first half, controlling the flow of play and using outstanding interior defense to hold Billups to just six points and force the Lancers to take outside shots at just a 26 percent clip overall and a 22 percent mark from 3-point range. Over the first 20 minutes, the Big Red outrebounded the home team, 25-15, and shot 30 percent overall, but didn't hit its first trey until the 3:31 mark, finishing at 14 percent for the half (2-of-14).

The Big Red continued to play well offensively in the second half, hitting 44.4 percent from the floor, but Longwood found its shooting touch and racked up 51 second-half points thanks to a 53.6 percent performance overall and a mark of 66.7 from 3-point range. The Lancers finished the game shooting better than 40 percent both overall (21-51) and from beyond the arc (6-15). The home team also benefitted from 20 points at the free throw line (20-of-36), as compared to Cornell's 14 points from the stripe (14-of-19). 

Both teams finished the game with 17 turnovers.

Six unanswered points by DiMagno, Lane and Clare Fitzpatrick gave Cornell a 6-0 lead in the opening moments of the game before Billups finally got the Lancers on the board at the 14:32 mark. A baseline drive by Flynn put the Big Red back up by six (8-2), but Billups answered again, opening a 5-2 run that brought Longwood within one possession of knotting the game at 12-9 with just over 10 minutes to play. A jumper by Long and a spectacular move by Anyanwu, who pumped faked at the top of the key and then drove to the bucket for the easy lay-in, put the Big Red back up, 16-11.

Once again, the Lancers fought back and a trey by Elkington made it a one-point game (16-15) with 4:47 to play, but Flynn answered with Cornell's first trey of the half to help Cornell end the opening stanza on a 6-2 run, which included a pair of made free throws from Joelle Davidson, another 3-pointer by Flynn and a single made free throw from Long to give the visitors the 25-17 halftime lead.

Back-to-back buckets by Billups and Erin Neal to open the second half made it a 25-21 game at the 19:04 mark, but consecutive three-point plays from Fitzpatrick and Anyanwu restored a comfortable eight-point lead (31-23) with 17:33 to play.

The Big Red eventually extended its lead to a game-high nine points moments later on a deep jumper from DiMagno but back-to-back treys from Elkington and Crystal Smith made it a 33-30 Cornell lead at the 15:29 mark.

Four consecutive points by DiMagno gave the Big Red back some breathing room , but an 11-3 run, capped by a layup from Cowherd, gave the Lancers their first lead of the contest, 41-40, with 9:29 to play.

Longwood eventually stretched its lead to five points (47-42), thanks to Elkington, who scored six points during a two-minute stretch, but the Big Red wasn't done and the visitors clawed their way back to even when DiMagno hit a deep jumper to knot the game at 50-50 with 4:24 to play.

The teams traded baskets for the next 2:14 with a Danielak jumper from the right elbow giving Cornell its final lead of the contest (59-58) with 2:10 to play. From there, five unanswered points by Jankovic and Elkington forced the Big Red to start fouling and the Lancers were able to put the game away from the charity stripe.

Cornell is back in action on Tuesday, Nov. 15, when it plays its home opener against instate rival Colgate at Newman Arena at 7 p.m.