Athletics - Women's Basketball

Coming up — Wednesday, Jan. 30, at Central (4-14, 2-7), Pella, 6 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 2, Luther (9-8, 6-3), Small Multi-Sport Center, 2 p.m.

Cornell will try to even the season series with Central and Luther this week. The Rams lost 81-65 at home to Central on Jan. 5 and fell 61-56 at Luther Nov. 28, 2007.

Ram review – Cornell (7-10 overall, 2-6 Iowa Conference) had troubled getting started, facing double-digit halftime deficits in a pair of losses on the road. The Rams fell to IIAC rival Coe, 74-64, on Jan. 23 and dropped a 77-56 decision to nonconference foe Beloit on Jan. 28.

Beloit 77, Cornell 56 (Jan. 28, at Beloit, Wis.)
The Rams fell behind 38-24 at halftime and were outrebounded, 42-31, as Beloit (11-5) rolled to its sixth consecutive victory.

“We didn’t play with as much energy as we needed to compete with a good Beloit team,” Cornell head coach Brent Brase said. “I wasn’t surprised because that was our focus the day before in practice. We can’t afford to play with anything but our best energy level at all times.”

Freshman Melanie Duplessis (Lindenhurst, Ill./Warren Township) accounted for more than one-third of the Rams’ offense with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-5 from the foul line. Alicia West (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) had eight points and Tiffany Cowan (Independence, Mo./Truman) added eight rebounds.

Beloit made two more field goals than the Rams, but held a decisive edge at the foul line. The Buccaneers hit 24-of-30 free throws while Cornell was 11-of-16. The Rams shot 35.6 percent from the field and trailed by as many as 28 points in the second half.

Coe 74, Cornell 64 (Jan. 23, at Cedar Rapids)
Duplessis poured in a career-high 24 points and sophomore Kristin Paczosa (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) notched her second double-double of the season, but the Rams couldn’t match Coe’s early hot shooting in a league road loss.

Duplessis connected on 11-of-20 field goals and also grabbed six rebounds. Paczosa gave the Rams a boost in the paint with 11 points and 10 boards. Cowan chipped in 12 points and a team-high four steals.

Coe shot 60 percent in the first half and led by as many as 20 points before taking a 45-33 lead into intermission. The Rams never got closer than seven points in the second half. Cornell outrebounded the hosts, 40-33.

“I thought Coe was more aggressive on both ends of the floor to start the game, which was very disappointing because we really pride ourselves in playing hard,” Brase said. “We do not have a large margin of error with our team. We need to continue to work on being a better rebounding team and a better defensive team.”

Rough road trip – The Rams will be on the road for the fifth time in seven games when they visit Central Wednesday, Jan. 30. Cornell has dropped its last four road tilts and stands 2-6 away from home this season. The Rams are 5-4 at the Small Multi-Sport Center in Mount Vernon.

Rising rookie – Duplessis has come on strong during the stretch run of her first collegiate season with the Rams. The 5-foot-6 guard is averaging 18.0 points and shooting 77.2 percent (17-of-22) from the foul line over her last five games. Duplessis has started all 17 games this season, reaching double figures in points in 12 of them. She leads the Rams in scoring at 13.0 points per game, tops among all freshmen in the league.