ITHACA, N.Y. – After playing their finest first half of the season, the IUPUI women’s basketball team went cold over the game’s final 20 minutes, dropping a 73-57 contest to Cornell on Tuesday night at Newman Arena.
Briannica Tye was a sparkplug in the starting lineup for the Jaguars, finishing the night with 14 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.
After an impressive opening 20 minutes, the Jaguars went cold early in the second half after opening a quick 38-35 lead with 18:37 left in the game. A six-minute scoreless drought allowed Cornell (3-2) to assume control of the contest as the Big Red went bombs away from three-point range, led by Virginia McMunigal.
McMungial was 7-for-8 from three-point range en route to a game-high 26 points. The senior held IUPUI (0-4) at bay, connecting from downtown on three of four possessions to turn a 40-38 Cornell lead into a 51-44 advantage with 8:37 to play. The final long ball seemed to break the Jaguars’ back, as it came immediately after a Janna Eichelberger basket that brought IUPUI within four.
In contrast, the Jaguars were just 1-for-13 from three-point range while Cornell connected on 10-of-20 long-range attacks.
Cornell broke open a one-point game with 10-4 run spanning the under-12 and 8-minute media timeouts to take a 53-46 lead with 6:32 left on the clock. The Jaguars, who had hit 14-of-29 field goals in the opening half, could muster just 10 field goals in the final 20 minutes.
“We just lost focus,” IUPUI Shann Hart said following the game. “We talked all day about defending the three-point shot and we did a poor job of defending the line and they burned us on it.”
Given a chance to snatch the game, the Big Red never let off the gas pedal, building their lead to 15 with 2:50 to play; by the time Jessica Huffman hit IUPUI’s first three-pointer of the game with two and a half minutes left, the game was no longer in doubt.
“It’s our lack of experience,” Hart said. “We just didn’t have the discipline needed, offensively or defensively to overcome what was a manageable deficit. Once we didn’t focus, it snowballed.”
The Jaguars’ pressure clearly affected Cornell early on, as Tye was able to consistenly harass Cornell out of their offensive sets. In the first five minutes of play, IUPUI forced five Big Red turnovers, helping the Jags jump out to a five-point lead seven minutes into the contest.
In being physical, IUPUI clogged the lane, effectively eliminating Cornell’s offense from inside the three-point arc; however, the Big Red stayed alive by consistently knocking down opportunities from beyond the arc, going 6-of-11 from downtown in the opening 20 minutes to stay within shouting distance of the Jaguars.
Between the three-pointers and free throws, Cornell reeled in the Jags by the end of the half as IUPUI failed to score in the final 3:25 of the half; six of the Big Red’s final eight points came from the charity stripe before a Benson runner tied the game at 32 heading into the locker rooms.
Eichelberger finished the night with 12 points, while Julia Whitted had 8 in her return to the court after a preseason injury.
The Jaguars will head to Columbus, Ohio, for the Buckeye Classic on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 28-29. IUPUI will meet #3 Ohio State in the opening game of the tournament, which will be contested at OSU’s St. John Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET, and Scott Taylor will have the call of the game on IUPUIJags.com.
