Cornell’s women’s basketball team knocked off undefeated UW-La Crosse and handed Brent Brase his 200th coaching win with the Rams in Saturday’s 55-49 triumph inside the Small Sport Center.
The Rams (2-2) charged ahead with an 11-0 third-quarter spurt and drained 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to complete an impressive victory over the 4-1 Eagles out of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Brase became the sixth coach in any Cornell sport to notch 200 wins on the Hilltop, raising his record to 200-181 in his 17th season in Mount Vernon. He’s guided the Rams to four Midwest Conference titles over the past decade.
Brase joins Jeff Meeker (373 wins, volleyball), Paul Maaske (309, men’s basketball), Fred Burke (280, women’s tennis) Ellen Whale (270, volleyball) and Shanda Ness (236, softball) as Cornell coaches to reach the benchmark.
Sophomore guard Kali March came up big in the second half, netting 14 of her game-high 17 points after intermission. She drained 6-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter to help put the Eagles away.
Sophomore Ani’ja Simmons had a strong outing with 11 points and seven rebounds. The Rams got eight points, seven boards and four steals from sophomore Rachael Adewusi. Madison Wauters added six points and a team-best nine rebounds.
The Rams limited UW-La Crosse to 27.9-percent shooting for the game, including 4-of-26 from 3-point range. Cornell went 16-of-23 from the foul line, highlighted by March’s perfect 7-of-7 afternoon.
Cornell rallied from a 31-24 deficit with less than six minutes to go in the third period. The Rams reeled off 11 unanswered points, including a 3-pointer by freshman Hayley Ventura that gave Cornell a 32-31 lead it wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the way.
Earlier in the week, Cornell took a 64-48 loss to Dubuque Thursday.
The Rams (1-2) endured a cold 29.7-percent shooting night from the field and lost the battle on the boards, 48-37, to the undefeated Spartans (3-0).
Wauters tossed in 12 of her team-high 17 points in the second half. She hit 7-of-12 field goals and also led the Rams with nine rebounds, five coming on the offensive end.
Madison Osborn buried three 3-pointers for nine points and dished four assists. Ani’ja Simmons and Rachael Adewusi collected seven and six rebounds, respectively. Adewusi also had three of the team’s 12 steals.
Dubuque took control early, building leads of 17-7 through one quarter and 30-17 at the half. The Rams fought back from an 18-point second half deficit, pulling within 51-44 on a jumper by Wauters with 4:37 left in regulation. The Spartans answered with a 9-0 run to put the game out of reach.
The Spartans outscored Cornell in the paint, 44-22, and got a big boost off the bench from freshman Karsen Kershner, who totaled 21 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.
Coming up – Cornell plays host to Luther at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 27. The Rams edged Luther, 57-53, on Nov. 14.