Big Red Headed to Big Dance

In the final game of the Ivy League women’s basketball playoffs, Cornell dominated Dartmouth from the beginning of play and did not let up in an impressive 64-47 victory. The Big Red scored the first 11 points of the game, while Dartmouth could not get a shot to fall until 14:10 remained in the first half.

Having the first-round bye did not have any noticeably negative impact on Cornell, as the team scored 32 points and held Dartmouth to 19 in the first period. The Big Green not only had trouble putting points on the board but also struggled to defend against the Big Red. With 13 minutes to play in the first half, Cornell junior Lacey Workman missed a three-pointer, but the guard grabbed the offensive rebound and made a lay-up to extend the Big Red’s lead to 13 points.

Cornell started the second period just as strongly as it had the first. The Big Red opened the final 20 minutes with a 12-2 run to hold a comfortable 23-point advantage over Dartmouth with just over 13 minutes to play. Cornell’s lead never dipped below 16 points for the rest of the game.

“Dartmouth was never really able to get in any kind of rhythm offensively. Their players were not able to get shots from the positions on the floor where they normally like to get shots,” Columbia women’s basketball head coach Paul Nixon said. “Cornell came out of the gates a little hot, and their defense was able to allow them to maintain the lead.”

As a result of its final-round playoff victory, the Big Red received the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. However, all three teams that participated in the playoffs—Cornell, Dartmouth, and Harvard—finished the season at the top of the Ancient Eight standings and, therefore, are all conference champions for the 2007-2008 season.

Cornell will face top-seeded Connecticut in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, while Dartmouth will continue its season in the NIT in the first round against Vermont.