The Monmouth College women’s basketball team fell at home to Cornell 62-49 on Wednesday night in Midwest Conference action.
Ella Goodrich (Minonk, Illinois) scored the first five points for the Scots on a bucket and a 3-pointer. Leading 5-4, the Scots got five straight from Danielle Beach (Geneseo, Illinois) on a jumper and a 3-pointer. Cornell scored the next six to tie the game at 10 before Beach hit a jumper. Delaney Scheidenhelm (New Berlin, Illinois) made a free throw before the Rams took the lead. Goodrich hit another 3-pointer but the Rams finished the quarter with three straight points for a 17-16 lead.
Ashley Jones (Abingdon, Illinois) made a basket to start the second quarter and added two free throws after the Rams scored. Goodrich made another jumper for a 22-19 Monmouth lead but the Rams scored the next eight points. Allie Hoy (Woodland, Illinois) ended the run with a free throw and Averi Rangel (Moline, Illinois) made a 3-pointer. The Rams scored five straight points to lead 32-26 into the final minute of the half before Rangel drilled another 3-pointer. The Rams scored at the buzzer for a 34-29 halftime lead.
Cornell scored the first five points of the third quarter for a 39-29 lead before Jadyn Mitchell (Flanagan, Illinois) made a layup. The Rams scored the next five points before Scheidenhelm made a free throw and Beach made two at the line. Rangel scored on a jumper before the Rams scored eight straight to take a 54-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
Hoy scored the first basket of the fourth quarter and Goodrich made a free throw. After a Cornell 3-pointer, Mitchell made a floater and Goodrich scored in the lane to cut the Rams lead to 57-43. The Rams hit another 3-pointer and Goodrich scored again as Cornell led 62-46 with two minutes left. Jones hit a 3-pointer on Monmouth’s last possession for a 62-49 final score.
Goodrich led the Scots with 15 points while Beach had nine and Rangel had eight. Goodrich led the Scots with nine rebounds while Jones had six.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Goodrich has scored in double figures six times this season and she has at least nine points in four straight games. Rangel tied her career-high with eight points. Rangel also made two 3-pointers at Mount Mary on Dec. 31. The teams split the season series last year with the home team winning both games. Monmouth won at home 63-50 last year. Monmouth won three straight at home dating back to a loss on Feb. 13, 2019. The Scots are 5-5 in the last 10 matchups but Cornell leads the all-time series 36-32. The teams will play again at Cornell on Feb. 14. The Fighting Scots play at Ripon on Saturday and the next home game is next Wednesday against Grinnell. Both games follow the men’s game between the same programs.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
