After finishing the 2010-11 campaign with a disappointing 6-21 record, the women’s basketball team looks to be on the road to redemption. Returning all five starters, the team is ready and poised to not only achieve a winning record, but make a run for the Ivy League title.

“The energy that we have brought to both our practices and games has been outstanding,” said junior guard Taylor Flynn. “If we continue to keep the same enthusiasm, we can do big things this season.”

Despite high expectations coming into the season, the Red struggled to find their identity in the season opener against William and Mary, a game in which Cornell was competitive only in the first period. 

“William and Mary was a really good team,” Flynn  said after the game. “We didn’t come out strong in the second half, and it really showed.” 

However, after the blowout loss to William and Mary, Cornell never looked back and gave every single team it played a competitive game that came down to the wire. In the home opener against Colgate, the Red was the victor in a hard-fought match in which the greatest lead by either team was six points. 

Similar games were played against both New Hampshire and Eastern Michigan, with both matches coming down to a last-second shot. However, unlike against Colgate, the Red found itself on the losing side of each contest. 

Junior guard Spencer Lane remarked that the team “has been close in almost all of the games this year,” and that the matches against Eastern Michigan and New Hampshire were “no different.” 

“We played well in both games, and it was just really tough that we were on the losing end,” she said.

Cornell sought to take their frustration out in their game against Cleveland State, a team that had blown them out a year earlier. 

“We really wanted to beat Cleveland State,” Flynn said. “This is a team that came into our house and just smacked us around last season. We not only wanted to defeat them, but we also wanted to make a statement going forward.” 

The Red did just that, going up on the Vikings by 15 in the second half and never looking back, winning by 20 points. The team saw strong performances from numerous players and felt that the Cleveland State victory was a step in the right direction. 

“The Cleveland State game was a huge win,” Lane said. “They are a strong team, and we came in and played a great game against them.” 

The team looks to build on the momentum from the Cleveland State victory, hoping that it will propel the Red through the rest of its non-conference schedule and into Ivy League play. Cornell plays its next game at home against Bucknell, before going on the road for the next six games to face high-quality teams like Fordham and Nebraska. 

When examining the season so far, it looks like Cornell is poised to make a run in Ivy League play. After staying close in most of  its games and getting wins against teams like Colgate and Cleveland State, the 2011-12 campaign has a much more positive feel than last season.