First-place Cornell turned up the defensive intensity, outscoring Beloit by 22 points in the second half for a 71-51 Midwest Conference women’s basketball victory Saturday afternoon inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
The Rams (5-4 overall) reeled off their fourth consecutive win and remained atop the MWC standings at 4-0. Cornell beat Beloit (4-6 overall, 1-3 MWC) for the 16th time in the last 17 series meetings.
Trailing 31-29 at halftime, the Rams took control with a 26-11 surge in the third quarter. Beloit missed its first eight shot attempts of the second half and Cornell charged ahead with 12 unanswered points.
Ani’ja Simmons capped the game-breaking run with a pair of free throws. The junior forward registered her second career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Simmons enjoyed a perfect shooting game, going 2-for-2 from the field and 8-for-8 from the foul line.
Cornell center Madison Wauters led all scorers with 16 points despite being saddled with foul trouble throughout. Megan Gandrup sank four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.
Kali March was the fourth Ram scorer to reach double figures with 10 points, while adding six assists and five steals. Madison Osborn was also stellar all-around with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Cornell, No. 1 in the MWC in scoring defense, yielded only six made field goals by the Buccaneers in the second half. Beloit’s Elizabeth Kalk was held to five points, 16 below her MWC-best scoring average.
The Rams shot 82.6 percent from the foul line, draining 19-of-23 attempts. Beloit went 12-of-24 from the charity stripe.
Earlier in the week, the Rams had a 56-47 win over Grinnell.
Cornell’s women’s basketball team continued its perfect start to Midwest Conference play, pressuring Grinnell into 28 turnovers in Wednesday’s 56-47 victory inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
Madison Wauters notched her third double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) of the season and Kali March posted an impressive stat line with eight points, eight steals and six assists as the Rams improved to 4-4 overall, 3-0 in the MWC.
The Rams raced to a 17-6 lead after one quarter and never trailed the entire night in recording their third straight convincing MWC win.
March came away with half of Cornell’s 16 steals. It was the second time this season the junior guard has tallied eight steals in a game, two off the program record. Madison Osborn contributed four steals to go with her 10 points.
The Pioneers rallied in the fourth quarter and pulled within 51-47 with less than two minutes remaining. March gathered her eighth steal at an opportune time, and was followed by a jumper from Ani’ja Simmons that put Cornell ahead 53-47 with 56 seconds left.
A free throw by Megan Gandrup and two from March in the closing seconds provided the final margin.
Wauters delivered 10 points and seven rebounds after intermission. Simmons totaled 12 points and eight rebounds. Gandrup added seven points, hitting a pair of threes.
The Rams turned the ball over just 12 times and shot 10-of-12 from the foul line.