MOUNT VERNON – Cornell's women's basketball team now has company atop the Midwest Conference standings after a hard-fought 61-57 setback to Lawrence Saturday in the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
The first conference blemish of the season moved the young Rams (10-5 overall, 6-1 MWC) into a three-way tie for first place with Lawrence (12-4 overall, 6-1 MWC) and Ripon.
 
Cornell, which had won nine of its last 10 games coming in, battled back from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and took the lead briefly at 57-56 on a corner 3-pointer by Heidi Jorgensen with 1:16 remaining.  
 
Lawrence countered with a left-handed layup by Charlotte Brennan with 54 seconds left and held on from there. The Vikings hit three free throws in the final 23 seconds to provide the final margin.
 
Cornell shot 5-of-12 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, hurting its comeback chances. The Rams made 11-of-21 free throws for the game.
 
Reagan Wells and Tenley Cavanagh paced the Rams with 12 points apiece, followed by Erin Knowles with 11. Cavanagh gave Cornell a spark off the bench with four 3-point goals.
 
Maya Hodge grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Knowles totaled five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
Lawrence pressured the Rams into 22 turnovers and led for all but 1:18 of the contest.
 
Coming up – The Rams travel to Knox (9-6 overall, 4-2 MWC) Wednesday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff in Galesburg, Ill.