MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's women's basketball team knocked off undefeated UW-La Crosse and handed Brent Brase his 200th coaching win with the Rams in Saturday's 55-49 triumph inside the Small Sport Center.
 
The Rams (2-2) charged ahead with an 11-0 third-quarter spurt and drained 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to complete an impressive victory over the 4-1 Eagles out of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
Brase became the sixth coach in any Cornell sport to notch 200 wins on the Hilltop, raising his record to 200-181 in his 17th season in Mount Vernon. He's guided the Rams to four Midwest Conference titles over the past decade.  
 
Brase joins Jeff Meeker (373 wins, volleyball), Paul Maaske (309, men's basketball), Fred Burke (280, women's tennis) Ellen Whale (270, volleyball) and Shanda Ness (236, softball) as Cornell coaches to reach the benchmark.
 
Sophomore guard Kali March came up big in the second half, netting 14 of her game-high 17 points after intermission. She drained 6-of-6 free throws in the fourth quarter to help put the Eagles away.
 
Sophomore Ani'ja Simmons had a strong outing with 11 points and seven rebounds. The Rams got eight points, seven boards and four steals from sophomore Rachael Adewusi. Madison Wauters added six points and a team-best nine rebounds.
 
The Rams limited UW-La Crosse to 27.9-percent shooting for the game, including 4-of-26 from 3-point range. Cornell went 16-of-23 from the foul line, highlighted by March's perfect 7-of-7 afternoon.
 
Cornell rallied from a 31-24 deficit with less than six minutes to go in the third period. The Rams reeled off 11 unanswered points, including a 3-pointer by freshman Hayley Ventura that gave Cornell a 32-31 lead it wouldn't relinquish the rest of the way.
 
The Rams' final 10 points of the game came from the foul line.
 
Cornell plays host to Luther at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Nov. 27. The Rams edged Luther, 57-53, on Nov. 14.