ITHACA, N.Y. – A seven-point lead with 2:30 left in regulation slipped away and the Columbia women's basketball team was dealt its first loss of the Ivy League season by Cornell, 80-77, in overtime Saturday afternoon at Newman Arena.
 
Cornell (8-6, 1-1 Ivy) used a 9-1 run capped by Shannon Mullroy's 3-pointer with 1:11 left to erase the deficit and take a 69-68 advantage. First year Abbey Hsu answered the call for Columbia (10-5, 1-1 Ivy), draining a triple from the corner with 18 seconds remaining that put the Lions back in front. However, Mullroy was fouled on a drive with just over five seconds on the clock and hit both free throws to force overtime.
 
Columbia never led in the extra session and Cornell went up by five with under a minute to go on a triple by Kate Sramac. The Lions fought back and chipped it down to one when Lilian Kennedy scored with 3.3 seconds left. Two Cornell free throws put the home team back up by three as Columbia called for time to set up a potential game-tying shot.
 
Mikayla Markham inbounded to Abbey Hsu right in front of the Lions' bench with 1.5 seconds showing. Hsu got off a turnaround jumper from the corner that was right on line but came up just short and bounced off the front rim as the buzzer sounded.
 
"There is a lot to learn from any tight game, or any game for that matter, but especially these ones," Columbia head coach Megan Griffith stated. "We can be sharper in executing and more disciplined in what we do defensively. We fouled two players that don't shoot the ball well in crunch situations and we gave up two big threes to their best shooters. I think we just lost focus. This is a game that reminds you that everything matters.
 
"We have to take every day as an opportunity to get better. I told our team they have to make the most of every practice and of every film session. Heading into next week we just have to focus on who we are."
 
Abbey Hsu scored a career-high 25 points in defeat. The reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Week was 9-of-18 from the field and hit 5-of-12 from beyond the arc. She caught fire in the third quarter, scoring eight straight Columbia points and hitting back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner to break a 43-all tie and put her team up by six. Hsu's performance came on the heels of a 17-point effort in last Saturday's victory over the Big Red, scoring the most points by a Lion in an Ivy League debut since 2011.
 
"Abbey hit the shots we needed her to," Griffith added. "We called her number at the end of the game and she got off another good look to tie it to go to double overtime. However, you can't just rely on being a scorer. I think one of the things that hurt us the most was we didn't have a lot of two-way players out there today."
 
Sienna Durr, Lilian Kennedy and Janiya Clemmons rounded out Columbia's double-figure scorers. Durr scored 16 and came up with a team-high seven rebounds., while Clemmons and Kennedy chipped in 10 points apiece.
 
Turnovers and rebounding proved costly to the Lions in the end. Columbia committed 23 turnovers, including 15 in the first half, that resulted in 28 Big Red points. After Columbia became the first team all season to outrebound Cornell last Saturday, the Big Red responded by outrebounding the Lions, 43-33, which included 21 on the offensive glass.
 
For Cornell, freshman Shannon Mullroy scored a career-high 27 points thanks to a 7-for-14 performance from 3-point land. Laura Bagwell-Katalinich fouled out with 19 points while Kate Sramac scored 14.
 
Columbia led for nearly 29 minutes and outshot the Big Red 46.2 percent to 39.4 percent. Cornell made up for it by shooting 42 percent from beyond the arc and getting to the foul line 24 times, making 19 of those attempts.
 
The Lions return home for their first back-to-back of the Ivy League season next weekend, hosting Yale and Brown at Levien Gymnasium. The Bulldogs come to town Friday night for a 7 p.m. tip, followed by the Bears on Saturday at 5 p.m. Both games will be televised live on SportsNet New York (SNY).
 
For the latest on the Columbia women's basketball program, follow @CULionsWBB on Twitter and Instagram, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ColumbiaWBB, on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.