The Columbia women’s basketball team, currently riding a four-game winning streak, is looking to make it five straight with a win over Cornell in Ithaca this Saturday. Although the Lions came away with a win over the Big Red last week, it was not an easy victory, and the Big Red will surely be looking for revenge at home after losing an eight-point lead in the second half.
The Big Red was successful last weekend in the opening half as it was able to force the Lions to turn the ball over multiple times. It was also one of the first times that the Lions were almost evenly matched in rebounding. What keyed Cornell’s first-half lead, however, was the team’s ability to put pressure on Columbia by playing tough defense.
“The strongest part of Cornell’s team is their outstanding team defense,” head coach Paul Nixon said. “They held us to a season-low 47 points last Saturday.”
The strongest aspect of the Big Red’s offensive game plan, meanwhile, was pushing the ball continually inside to its star post player, senior forward Shannan Scarselletta, who scored a season-high 17 points last week.
“They [Cornell] have a number of offensive weapons, starting with Shannan Scarselletta in the post,” Nixon said. “We did not do a good job of containing her in the first meeting, and we need to improve on that Saturday.”
Cornell’s offensive weapons are not limited to its post players—it boasts several skilled shooters as well.
“They also have a number of capable perimeter scorers, led by Lauren Benson, their starting point guard, who does a great job of getting her own points as well as setting up their shooters—Lacey Workman, Virginia McMunigal, and Allie Federowicz—for threes,” Nixon said.
The Lions were able to come away with the win last weekend because they put pressure on the Big Red’s offense in the second half. If the Lions wish to be successful this weekend, they will have to make sure that they play tough defense for the entire game, not just one half, as well as dictate the speed of play.
“Our game plan is to do a better job of controlling the tempo,” Nixon said. “We played the first game at Cornell’s pace.”
In these teams’ previous meeting, the Light Blue was able to get valuable points from the charity stripe. Scoring free throws was an integral component of Columbia’s ability to pull ahead at the end of the game, so the team will need to create opportunities to get to the free throw line.
The final tactic that will help lead Columbia to victory is to cut down on its total number of turnovers. The Lions committed 23 turnovers last week and average nearly 21 turnovers per game on the season, one of the worst marks in the Ivy League.
“We have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and limiting our turnovers if we want to have a chance,” Nixon said.
Columbia will face off against Cornell on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Ithaca.
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