Women's Basketball News Releases
Paczosa pulls down 18 rebounds against No. 6 UW-Whitewater
Coming up - Tuesday, Dec. 30, at Monmouth, Monmouth, Ill., 2 p.m.
Ram review - Cornell concluded its pre-Christmas schedule in fine fashion, rallying from a double-digit deficit in the second half to push past Grinnell, 68-64, Saturday in Grinnell. The Rams bounced back from a 79-50 loss to sixth-ranked UW-Whitewater Thursday in Mount Vernon.
The Rams (5-3 overall, 0-1 Iowa Conference) enter a 16-day layoff before taking the court again Dec. 20 at Monmouth.
"The most exciting thing about the first half of the season has been our progress as a program to really become a team off the court," Cornell head coach Brent Brase said. "The entire team has really embraced this concept. Our two captains, Tiffany (Cowan) and Charlotte (Milas), have done an excellent job moving this team forward. I think the players sense how special this team togetherness makes the program and will protect it from here on forward."
Cornell freshman Teresa Cecchetti (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) chalked up her first career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds - including seven offensive boards - against Grinnell. Her layup gave the Rams the lead for good at 57-55 with 3 minutes, 37 seconds remaining. After Grinnell pulled to within 66-64, Cecchetti put the game on ice with two free throws with nine seconds left to play.
Junior Kristin Paczosa (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) matched her career high with 19 points against the Pioneers. She also posted eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Cowan (Independence, Mo./Truman) chipped in 16 points, behind 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.
The Rams faced a 40-30 deficit at halftime and trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second half. Cornell overcame a stellar shooting display from Grinnell's Jessica Shotts, who tied a school record with nine 3-point goals and finished with 34 points. The Rams forced 22 turnovers and held a 40-32 advantage on the boards.
"The Grinnell win was good because we had to fight back from a deficit," Brase said. "Everybody did a nice job to raise their level of play in the second half. Teresa had a good overall game."
Cornell put up a fight for one half against perennial power UW-Whitewater, which finished third in the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament. The Rams limited the Warhawks to eight field goals in the first stanza and trailed only 31-30 at halftime. The game quickly got away from the Rams after intermission, when UW-Whitewater went on a 39-2 spurt over the first 11 minutes of the second half.
"We played about as well as we could for the first half against Whitewater before we became physically tired, which caused us to tire mentally," Brase said. "Once we lost this edge we really struggled against a great Whitewater team to start the second half. I do believe the team saw a glimpse of how good we can be as we continue to move the program forward."
Paczosa had a huge game on the glass, snaring a career-high 18 rebounds - 14 on the defensive end. Cowan led Cornell's scorers with 13 points to go along with six rebounds. Paczosa and Milas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows) finished with nine points apiece.
The Rams were pressured into 28 turnovers and struggled with 27.4 percent shooting for the game. UW-Whitewater won the battle on the boards, 47-41.
Big on the boards - Paczosa's 18 rebounds against UW-Whitewater tied Melanie Manz for the fourth-best single-game total in school history. It was the highest rebound mark by a Cornell player since Cowan grabbed 19 boards against Central on Jan. 27, 2007. Sheryl Gatewood holds the all-time mark with 23 rebounds, set against Monmouth in 1983.
Paczosa leads the IIAC in total rebounds (9.6 rpg) and defensive rebounds (6.3 rpg). The 5-foot-10 forward is averaging 12.3 rebounds over her last three games. Paczosa ranks 10th on Cornell's career list with 334 rebounds.
Defense delivers - Defense has been the key to Cornell's successful start to the season. The Rams lead the league in field goal percentage defense (35.0) and rank second in scoring defense (59.2 ppg).
Cornell held nationally-ranked UW-Whitewater to 39.3 percent shooting from the field. It was the first time the Warhawks had shot less than 40 percent in their first eight games this season. The Rams are allowing 50.2 points per game in their five wins.
