EAST FOREST'S GREGG SCORES TEAM-HIGH EIGHT POINTS BUT CORNELL FALLS TO UCONN IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – East Forest graduate Gretchen Gregg tied a team-high with eight points, but Cornell fell to Connecticut 89-47 in the opening round of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball championships Sunday night in Bridgeport, Conn.

Gregg, who had Cornell’s only two baskets in the game’s first 16:27 – a 3-pointer and a jumper – scored five of her eight points in the first half and finished the game 3 of 8 from the field including 2 of 7 from 3-point range. She tied for the team-lead in scoring with Allie Fedorowicz.

UConn (33-1), the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, used a 28-4 first-half run to help build a 53-23 halftime lead.

Cornell (20-9), the 16^th seed in the Greensboro Region which was making its first-ever NCAA appearance, trailed 7-0 3:08 into the game before Gregg started a 5-0 spurt with a 3-pointer at 16:39. Jeomi Maduka added two free throws 25 seconds later to make it 7-5, but the Huskies scored 22 of the next 24 points to break the game wide open.

"We focused on coming out, not being intimidated, trying to knock a shot down early and not letting the crowd become a huge factory early on," Cornell head coach Dayna Smith told cornellbigred.com. "Those first four minutes were great. Then, I think we took a deep breath like, 'OK, this isn't so bad.' Down the other end of the bench, there was a lot of yelling going on. Then it kind of flipped on us. That's where we lost ourselves. We knew it was coming, but it was like a tidal wave."

After Gregg hit a jumper at 14:34, the Big Red didn’t hit another field goal until Kayleen Fitzimmons nailed a 3-pointer at 3:37 cutting Connecticut’s lead to 41-19.  

"This was a difficult game for us with their speed and physical play," Smith told cornellbigred.com. "It's a little different level than we are used to. I am extremely proud of our team. We weren't scared or intimidated. Their speed made us take shots we weren't used to taking, and we didn't settle down quickly enough."

The Huskies built the lead to as many as 46 three times the last at 87-41 with 5:29 to play before Cornell ended the game on a 6-2 run.

Gregg’s third basket of the game, and her second 3-pointer, came at the 15:54 mark and cut Connecticut’s lead to 65-32 at the time.

Gregg added six rebounds and a blocked shot in 26 minutes of play and ended her career with 524 points. She helped the Big Red go from three wins her freshman season to a school record 20 wins and the NCAA appearance as a senior.

"Coming in with only three wins my freshman year and ending with 20 wins my senior year is just amazing," Gregg told cornellbigred.com. "With Coach Smith leading the way, the program is in good hands."

NOTES – A 2004 graduate of East Forest, which was the last season the Lady Bears were in District 10, Gregg started all 29 games for Cornell this season and averaged 8.6 ppg this season, the third most on the team, while adding 4.2 rpg and hitting a team-best 59 3-pointers. She hit 43.4 percent of her three’s this season, one of the top marks in the nation … Gregg 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.