Cornell faces learning experience in the week

Cornell senior Teaira Spaeth makes a drive to the basket on her home court Dec. 16, going up against Clayton, with the visitors taking the conference game, 48-27. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

The Cornell girls basketball squad faced off with some strong competition in the conference this week.

Dec. 14 vs. New Auburn conference (L 51-36)

Making the trek to New Auburn, the Chiefs looked to bring home a win, but the Trojans had other ideas and held on to win, 51-36.

“The girls played really well as a team in the first half, there was great ball movement on offense and rotation on defense,” said coach Courtney Yanko. “Unfortunately, in the second half, New Auburn got a few quick baskets and we were unable to come back from the deficit.”

Junior Kelsea Popp led the team with 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists, followed by freshman Bralee Schroeder, with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Sophomore Makya Hetherington came next, with 3 points and 6 rebounds.

Senior Teaira Spaeth and freshman Alyssa Bowe each recorded 2 points, as well as 3 rebounds. Sophomore Grace Harycki ended with 2 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist, while sophomore Marcella Boehm had 2 points and 1 rebound.

Sophomore Teryn Close chipped in with 1 rebound and 2 assists.

Dec. 16 vs. Clayton conference (L 48-27)

“Unfortunately, the score does not reflect how well we played as a team last night,” said Yanko.

Clayton proved too much for the Chiefs on offense and the game went to the Bears, 48-27.

“Through the whole game, we worked so hard on defense and really did a great job of rotating, however, we gave up a lot of second chance shots by not boxing out,” said Yanko. “That was by far our biggest struggle. On offense, we could not get our shots to fall, we were missing some simple, wide open shots and that is reflected in our score.”

Popp again led, with 9 points, while Harycki came next, with 6. Spaeth and Schroeder each had 4 points, with Bowe and Close adding 2 points each.

“However, I can see a lot of progress from my girls,” said Yanko, “and I am excited for us as we continue to move forward with our season and into the second half of conference play here in the next month.”