Women's Basketball News Releases
Rams give nationally-ranked Simpson scare in 66-59 setback
Coming up - Wednesday, Feb. 4, vs. Coe (11-9, 5-6), Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 7, at Buena Vista (14-6, 7-4), Storm Lake, 2 p.m.
Ram review - Cornell battled Luther and nationally-ranked Simpson down to the wire, but had second-half leads slip away in two tough Iowa Conference losses last week.
The improving Rams (5-14 overall, 0-11 IIAC) nearly avenged their two most lopsided losses in league play earlier this season. Cornell led Luther (6-12, 5-5) with less than nine minutes to play in a 55-48 setback Wednesday. The effort came 2 1/2 weeks after the Norse recorded a 33-point win over the Rams in Decorah.
Cornell put up a fight in a 66-59 loss Saturday at defending IIAC champion Simpson (18-2, 10-1), ranked 12th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll and 15th in the D3hoops.com Poll. The Rams held a lead with 12 minutes remaining in regulation against a strong Storm squad that beat the Rams by 37 points earlier in the season. Cornell is only the second IIAC team to play Simpson to a single-digit game this season.
"I am really proud of the attitude and effort of the team, but I wouldn't expect anything different from this group," Cornell head coach Brent Brase said. "It starts with leadership of the captains (Tiffany Cowan and Charlotte Milas). A team goes as its leaders go and they are both doing a great job on and off the court.
"Right now, our lack of depth really hurts us as evidence by our past seven games, all of which we held a lead during the second half only to have difficulty holding on down the stretch. This will change as more depth is added next year, but for now the team continues to battle every day in practice and is excited about what they are establishing as a culture within the program."
#12 Simpson 66, Cornell 59 (Jan. 31, at Indianola)
The Rams had a major upset on their minds well into the second half before Simpson pulled away with a game-breaking run down the stretch.
Freshman Caitlyn Book (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) hit a 3-pointer that gave the Rams a 46-45 lead with 12:09 remaining in the game. The Storm responded with a 17-2 spurt over the next seven minutes to build their biggest lead at 62-48.
Freshman Teresa Cecchetti (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) had a stellar all-around game with 13 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in 26 minutes. It was her second double-double of the season.
Cowan (Independence, Mo./Truman) netted a game-high 15 points and collected seven rebounds. Morgan Woods (Milwaukee, Wis./University School of Milwaukee) and Book finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Milas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows) contributed four assists.
The Rams made a season-high eight 3-point goals on 15 attempts. Cornell outrebounded the Storm, 39-37, but also committed 26 turnovers to Simpson's 10.
"We got good play out of everyone and got good perimeter shooting from Caitlyn and Morgan. It was really nice to see their progress on the floor," Brase said. "Kristin (Paczosa) battled some type of bug and gave us everything she had, but was definitely not 100 percent. Tiffany and Teresa did a nice job scoring and on the boards."
Luther 55, Cornell 48 (Jan. 28, at Mount Vernon)
The Rams surrendered a seven-point lead in the final 10 minutes of a home loss to the Norse.
Cornell appeared to be in control of the game when Marissa Johnston (Torrance, Calif./North) buried a jumper that put the Rams ahead, 36-29, with 10:09 remaining in regulation. Luther charged back with a 17-0 run over the next five minutes that quickly turned momentum back over to the guests. Cornell closed the margin to 51-48 with 39 seconds left before the Norse put the game away from the foul line.
Paczosa (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) paced the Rams with 12 points and eight rebounds. Cowan added 11 points and six boards. Johnston pitched in eight points off the bench.
Cornell forced 26 turnovers and held the Norse to 29.2 percent shooting from the field. The difference was at the foul line, where Luther hit 20-of-33 attempts while went 11-of-17 from the stripe.
Cowan second on school scoring list - Cowan climbed into a tie with Bindy Comito (1998-2002) for second place on Cornell's career scoring list with 1,036 points. The 5-foot-10 senior passed Marni Chandlee (1,031 points, 1998-2002) with her 15-point effort against Simpson.
