Davidson 67, Cornell 39

COLUMBUS, Ohio -The Davidson women's basketball team finished out the

two-day Klosterman Buckeye Classic in impressive fashion as their swarming

defense forced a season-best 35 turnovers, while its 57.1 percent shooting

in the second half carried the Wildcats to a 67-39 victory against Cornell

on Sunday, Nov. 26 at St. John Arena. Davidson finished 1-1 at the classic

and moved its overall record to 4-2. Cornell went 0-2 and saw its overall

record fall to 0-5.

 

The 28-point victory was the Wildcats' largest margin of victory on the

season and it was the program's first-ever win against Cornell. The two

teams only other meeting was at the Cornell Invitational in December of 2003

with the Big Red winning 83-65.

 

Davidson's defense was again a big reason the Wildcats were victorious. For

the third time this year, they held their opponent to under 35 percent

shooting, while also pocketing 10 or more steals, finishing with a

season-high 18 on the afternoon. The 'Cats held Cornell to 27.3 percent

shooting in the second half alone and pocketed half of its steals in that

half.

 

The offense took care of the rest for Davidson in the second half by going

16-of-28 from the field.

 

Leading 26-22 and having hit only 11 of its 28 shots (39.3 percent) in the

first period, the Wildcats started the second half by hitting nine of their

first 14 shots to push its lead from four points at halftime to a 20-point

mark, 49-29, with 10:38 remaining in the contest.

 

Sophomore Mercedes Robinson (Mansfield, Texas) capped off the nine and half

minute scoring outburst with a three-point play. Robinson was a big factor

in the Wildcats' hot-shooting performance in the second half, dropping in

all 12 of her career-high in points in the period. She netted 5-of-6 shots

in the half, while finishing the game with five rebounds, a couple of steals

and a block.

 

Cornell never threatened the rest of the way as Davidson led by as much as

28 points in cruising to its fourth double-digit win, 67-39, over Cornell.

 

Senior Jessica Mitchell (Wilkesboro, N.C.) also scored in double figures,

pacing the team with 14 points. In all, 11 players etched their names in the

scorer's book. Davidson also continued to show its unselfishness, dishing

out 15 assists, led by Mitchell and junior Danielle Hemerka's (Blackwood,

N.J.) three apiece. The Wildcats have now dished out at least 10 assists for

the 24th straight game.

 

Pacing Cornell was Virginia McMunigal and Shannan Scarselletta with nine

points each. Scarselletta chipped in with a game-high seven boards in

helping the Big Red win the rebounding margin, 33-25.

 

The Wildcats will wrap up its longest road trip of the year, six games, with

a trip to High Point, Wednesday, Nov. 29 to take on the Panthers. Gametime

is set for 7 p.m. Davidson will be seeking its first-ever win against High

Point as the Wildcats trail the all-time series 0-3.