Athletics - Women's Basketball

Coming up — Wednesday, Feb. 20, vs. Loras (15-8 overall 7-7 IIAC), Small Multi-Sport Center, Mount Vernon, 6 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 23, at No. 11 Simpson (21-2, 13-1), Indianola, 2 p.m.

Ram review – Cornell freshman guard Melanie Duplessis (Lindenhurst, Ill./Warren Township) continued her fine rookie campaign, averaging 21.5 points and going 8-of-9 from the foul line in a pair of Iowa Conference losses last week. The Rams dropped a 65-50 decision at Wartburg Feb. 13, and suffered a 78-64 home setback to Coe Feb. 16.

The Rams (8-15 overall, 3-11 IIAC) played even with Wartburg in the second half and battled Coe to a one-point game through the first 27 minutes.

“I thought we again had great effort for both games, but not enough scoring punch to get the wins,” said Cornell head coach Brent Brase, whose team played without three-year starter Tiffany Cowan (Independence, Mo./Truman) for the second consecutive week because of an injury. “I really liked our fight in both games and am proud of how the team continues to bring it every practice and game. The character we are working hard to build is really showing through during this stretch.”

Coe 78, Cornell 64 (Feb. 16, at Mount Vernon)
The Kohawks broke open a tight game with an 11-0 spurt midway through the second half to hand Cornell its fifth consecutive loss.

The Rams trailed 47-39 at halftime and pulled to within 51-50 on a 3-pointer by Alicia West (Plymouth, Wis./Plymouth) with 13 minutes, 26 seconds left in the game. Cornell was held to only one field goal over the next seven minutes as the Kohawks pulled away.

Duplessis and West paced the Rams with 16 points apiece. West knocked down four 3-point goals and Duplessis grabbed seven rebounds. Sophomore Charlotte Milas (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows) added 14 points. Sophomore forward Kristin Paczosa (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) tallied a game-high 12 rebounds with eight points.

The Rams made 17-of-19 free throws and outrebounded Coe, 37-35. The Kohawks dished out 25 assists to Cornell’s seven and shot 50.8 percent from the field.

Wartburg 65, Cornell 50 (Feb. 13, at Waverly)
Duplessis tossed in a career-high 27 points, accounting for more than half of Cornell’s offense in a league loss on the road.

Duplessis drained 10-of-20 field goals and went 4-of-9 from 3-point range. She notched her fourth 20-point game of the season. Milas chipped in 11 points and Paczosa grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The Rams fell behind 32-17 at halftime, but played even with the Knights the rest of the way. Wartburg owned a 37-31 edge on the boards and outscored the Rams in bench points, 24-2.

Sharp at the stripe – Over its last three games, Cornell is shooting 85.7 percent (30-of-35) from the foul line. The Rams are shooting 72.1 percent (251-of-348) for the season, on pace to break the school record of 71.7 percent set in 2000-01.

Rams in the rankings – Duplessis leads all IIAC freshmen in scoring and ranks sixth overall at 13.7 points per game. She has scored in double figures in 10 of her last 11 games. West ranks fourth in the league in 3-point percentage (39.8), Cowan is fifth in steals (2.1 spg) and Paczosa is fifth in offensive rebounds (2.5 rpg).