EAST FOREST GRADUATE GREGG HELPS CORNELL INTO NCAA D-I TOURNAMENT FOR FIRST TIME

D9Sports.com powered by the RRR Roadhouse

NEW YORK – East Forest graduate Gretchen Gregg scored six points, grabbed eight rebounds and handled out two assists to help the Cornell women’s basketball team to its first-ever NCAA Division I tournament bid with a 64-47 win over Dartmouth in a special Ivy League championship game Sunday at Columbia University.

The Big Red (20-8), who are the 16^th seed in the Greensboro Region, will face Connecticut (32-1), the No. 1 overall seed, in the opening round Easter Sunday in Bridgeport, Conn.

To get to the NCAA Tournament, Cornell, which finished in a three-way tie for the Ivy League regular-season title, had to beat Dartmouth, who beat Harvard 68-62 in the opening round of the Ivy League playoffs (the Ivy League doesn’t normally hold a championship but instead awards it automatic bid to the regular-season title. Cornell won a drawing that allowed it to get the first-round bye in the special tournament).

The Big Red wasted little time doing that jumping on the Big Green 32-19 at halftime. Cornell held Dartmouth to 27.6 percent shooting in the first half (8 of 29) and 28.8 percent (17 of 59) for the game.

“Obviously, we’re ecstatic, and I’m proud of my team,” Cornell head coach Dayna Smith told Cornellbigred.com, the official athletic web site of Cornell. “We tip our hats off to Dartmouth and Harvard for great years. But for our players, this is a dream come true, and we’re honored to represent the Ivy League at the NCAA Tournament.”

Moina Snyder and Jeomi Maduka, who Friday took eighth in the NCAA D-I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., before flying to New York for Sunday’s game, each scored 14 points to lead Cornell. Maduka added eight rebounds and three steals, while Snyder had five boards. Shanna Scarselletta chipped in with 11 points off the bench, while Allie Fedorowicz had 10 points.

Kristen Craft had 13 points for Dartmouth (16-15), while Brittney Smith added 12.

Dartmouth didn’t score in the first 5:52 of the game, as Cornell started the game on a 17-2 run. The Big Red built the lead to 26-8 with just over seven minutes left in the opening half before Dartmouth got within 13 at the half thanks to a half-ending 11-6 run.

But Cornell started the second half with a 12-2 run to build the lead to 23, 44-21, midway through the second half.    

Dartmouth had one last run left in int going on a 9-2 spurt to cut the lead to 14, 47-33, with just under 10 minutes to play before a quick 8-0 run by Cornell that was capped by a 3-pointer by Gregg, one of two triples for the senior, made it 55-33 with 7:33 left.

NOTES – Gregg is a 2004 graduate of East Forest, the last year the Lady Bears were in District 10. She has started all 28 games for Cornell this season and is the third-leading scorer on the team at 8.6 ppg while also ranking third in rebounds at 4.1 rpg. She has hit a team-high 51 3-pointers, and her 44.2 percent (57 of 129) efficiency from 3-point range ranks second in the Ivy League. In her career, Gregg has 516 career points. The daughter of Frank and Patricia Gregg of Marienville, averaged 22.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 2.8 assists per game as a senior at East Forest while being named first-team Class A All-State.