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Grinnell College Athletics

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Team
Meilynn Smith
49
Cornell College CC 11-8,7-4 Midwest Conference
69
Winner Grinnell GC 14-7,8-4 Midwest Conference
Cornell College CC
11-8,7-4 Midwest Conference
49
Final
69
Grinnell GC
14-7,8-4 Midwest Conference
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Cornell College CC 14 9 15 11 49
Grinnell GC 12 11 22 24 69

Game Recap: Women's Basketball | | Ted Schultz

Grinnell takes crucial steps up the MWC ladder with convincing victory over Cornell

Ware ties school record for free throw percentage in a game

GRINNELL, Iowa - For some time, Grinnell College's women's basketball team has been knocking on the door of moving into the top four of the league standings.

On Wednesday night, the Pioneers went through that door as they disposed of Cornell College 69-49 at Darby Gymnasium. The margin of victory is Grinnell's largest over the Rams since 2004.

Nikki WareIt was also a record-tying night for the Pioneers, as Nikki Ware's '25 free throw accuracy of 100.0 percent is tied with eight other players for the program mark. She was 11-of-11, with that percentage serving as the best for a Grinnell player since 2020.

The Pioneers enjoyed impressive shooting from the line as a team, going 25-of-27 from the stripe for 92.6 percent. That ranks sixth in program history, while the 25 made free throws are the ninth-most in a game.

Grinnell has won five of its last six while improving to 8-4 in the Midwest Conference, putting the Pioneers alone in third place. The top four teams make the league's postseason tourney.

Grinnell, 14-7 overall, got 21 points from Sara Booher '25 to go along with eight rebounds and five blocks. Ware added 16 points and seven boards, while Bailey Strovers '27 contributed 10 points and nine rebounds. Skylar Thomas '26 dished out a career-best seven assists and four players had one steal each - Cassidy Pak '28, Grace Marsh '25, Strovers and Booher.

The Pioneers, who outrebounded the visitors 42-29, battled back after falling behind 14-7 in the first period. Grinnell finished off the quarter with five points, a trey and two free throws by Ware. Grinnell tied it at the start of the second period on a layup by Thomas and took the lead when Kelsey Ericksen '26 drained a 3-pointer with 7:17 left, making it 17-14.

The Rams snapped a six-minute scoreless streak with a bucket a short time later and made it a 23-all game at halftime. Grinnell started the third period quickly, as Marsh connected on a 3-pointer and Booher added a free throw and layup for a 29-23 lead.

Twice Cornell cut the gap to one before the Pioneers opened things up with an eight-point run as Ware made a layup and free throw, Booher scored inside and Carolyn Pierce '27 connected on a trey to make it 41-32.

Grinnell led 45-38 after three quarters before the Rams closed within four early in the fourth period. However, four consecutive free throws by Booher opened the lead back to eight at 49-41 and the Pioneers pulled away to secure the victory.

With the loss, Cornell fell into a fourth-place tie in the league at 7-4 while dipping to 11-8 in all games.

Ware inched closer to the 1,000-point for her career with 930 while moving to 13th all-time in free throws made with 213 and 18th in field goals made with 288. On the season chart, Ware moved to 11th in 3-pointers made with 50 while Strovers is 15th with 42.

On the team season chart, the Pioneers have made 330 free throws and 933 rebounds, which rank fifth and eighth in program history, respectively. Grinnell has scored 1,430 points and tallied 275 assists, which are both 15th all-time.

Grinnell will entertain Lake Forest College at 1 p.m. Saturday in Darby. Senior Day festivities will be immediately following the game preceding the men's contest.
 
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