MOUNT VERNON - Every basketball team needs a hard-nosed player who can contribute in lots of ways and lead her club on the floor.

For the Coe College women's basketball team, that person is Allie Wirth.

Wirth filled up the boxscore Tuesday night and shrugged off a scary fall late in the game as the Kohawks defeated Cornell, 60-48, in Mount Vernon.

The 5-foot-10 junior from Cedar Falls finished with 11 rebounds, eight points, four assists and two steals in 30 solid minutes in the non-conference game.

"She does a ton of little things," said Coe Coach Randi Henderson. "And most important, she's going to do the dirty work.

"She does all the things that some players aren't committed to doing. And because of that she plays a significant role for us.

"That was the best I've seen Allie Wirth play for us," said Henderson.

Eleven rebounds are a lot for a point guard, but that's an important part of the job.

"I'm taller than most point guards, so Coach definitely forces me to get in that paint and go for those rebounds," said Wirth.

Henderson walked by as Wirth said the coach "forces" her to get rebounds. Henderson prefers the word "encourages," rather than "forces".

"Encourages," Wirth quickly agreed, correcting herself with a smile. "Excuse me."

Wirth paid a price for aggressively pursuing an offensive rebound in the second half when she got knocked off-balance and hit the back of her head on the floor. She declined medical attention and kept playing, which she figured was just part of the job as well.

"It hurts," she said 15 minutes after the game. "I need to get that checked into."

Cornell chopped an 11-point deficit to 48-43 with seven minutes left Tuesday and put the outcome in jeopardy. Mickey Hansche swished a 3-pointer to give the Kohawks a 56-46 lead and Wirth hit a reverse layup to make it 58-46 and put the visitors out of danger.

Every time a big play needed to be made, Wirth seemed to be involved in one way or another.

"My main goal is to put my teammates in position to do their job and do it well," she said. "So if I can get a rebound and get it back to Mickey Hansche for a 3 or into Megan Hayes for a bucket, that's what I'm going to do."

Hansche drilled four 3-pointers and led the Kohawks (4-3) with 15 points. Hayes finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Maddie Koolbeck came off the bench and hit two big 3-pointers for the Kohawks.

Taylor Dicus contributed 10 points and nine rebounds for Cornell (4-4).

COE (60): Hobbs 2 4-4 9, Hayes 3 4-4 10, Wirth 3 2-2 8, Hansche 5 1-2 15, Lehman 2 2-2 6, Holmes 0 0-0 0, Lynch 0 0-0 0, McCrary 1 0-0 3, Koolbeck 2 0-0 6, Stulken 1 1-3 3. Totals 19 14-17 60.

CORNELL (48): Rinehart 0 1-2 1, Hogen 2 1-2 5, Dicus 4 2-2 10, Mulloy 2 2-2 6, Grana 1 4-4 6, Neilly 3 0-0 9, Teut 2 0-0 4, Kemmer 2 0-0 5, Brewer 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 10-12 48.

Halftime - Coe 23, Cornell 16. 3-point goals - Coe 8 (Hansche 4, Koolbeck 2, Hobbs 1, McCrary 1), Cornell 4 (Neilly 3, Kemmer 1).