Both Cronk and sophomore forward Catherine Crisera recorded their best games off the bench this season--a good omen as the Crimson enters the final Ivy stretch.
"We'll get stronger and stronger toward the end of the season," Delaney Smith said.
Cornell, sustained by fierce man-to-man defense, did manage to keep the game respectable for the first nine minutes. But at 10:40, the death knell sounded for the Big Red.
Harvard freshman guard Nikole Cronk buried a short baseline jumper to give the Crimson a 20-14 lead. That's as close as Cornell got.
After Cronk's basket, the dam burst. Junior guard Erin Maher followed with the first of her six three pointers. (She was 6-6 from beyond the arc).
Forward Tammy Butler then hit a shot from a little left of the foul line. Center Debbie Flandermeyer canned her patented turn-around. On and on it went.
The Crimson outscored Cornell 27-6 and reeled off 14 unanswered points in a five-minute span. Cornell's freshman forward finally broke the spell with 18 seconds left in the half. By then, it was too late.