Cornell's women's basketball team opened its season with a 100-35 loss to No. 2 UConn on Monday night at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut. Rachel Kaus led the Big Red with eight points before a crowd of 10,409.
Simone Richmond added seven points and a team-high four rebounds in her Cornell debut, according to Cornell's game recap. Ally Pape also scored seven points, while Katie Leonard had five points, three rebounds and a block in her debut.
UConn takes control after Cornell's early lead
Kaus hit a 3-pointer off an Ashley Childers assist to give Cornell a 3-2 lead with 8:52 remaining in the first quarter. UConn answered with 21 consecutive points. Pape's basket with 2:20 left was Cornell's only other field goal of the quarter, which ended with the Huskies ahead 27-5.
UConn put together another 21-0 stretch across the quarter break. Richmond ended Cornell's roughly 10-minute scoring drought with a 3-pointer with 2:19 remaining in the second quarter. The Big Red closed the half on an 8-2 run, including a Childers jumper and Leonard's 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but trailed 46-13 at halftime.
Cornell scored 16 points in the third quarter. Pape and Kaus each made a 3-pointer, and Pape added a steal and layup as the Big Red reached the fourth quarter down 67-29. UConn outscored Cornell 33-6 in the final period.
Strong, Popovic lead Huskies
Sarah Strong and Jovana Popovic each scored 19 points for UConn. Strong added eight steals and five assists, while Popovic shot 8-for-12 from the field and 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. KK Arnold and Marine Dursus each scored 11 points.
The Huskies shot 54.9% from the field, forced 29 turnovers and scored 43 points off those mistakes. They also held a 52-12 advantage in points in the paint.
UConn improved to 1-0, while Cornell fell to 0-1. It was the teams' second meeting. The 65-point margin was Cornell's second-largest defeat, and UConn became the fourth opponent to score at least 100 points against the Big Red, the first since Miami scored 101 in 2009.
Fredonia visits Thursday
Cornell returns to Newman Arena to face Fredonia at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5. The game will stream on ESPN+. The teams last met during the 1976-77 season.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.
