DURHAM, N.H. (12/09/2006)—The Colgate University women’s basketball team battled back to within four from a 16-point deficit in the second half, but fell just short in a 52-44 loss at the University of New Hampshire this afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium. Junior
Melanie Cargle (Trotwood, Ohio) led all Raiders with a game-high 16 points. Danielle Flowers led New Hampshire with 13 points and six rebounds.
New Hampshire built on the seven-point halftime lead with a 15-6 run to start the second stanza, pushing the Wildcats’ advantage to 16 points at 40-24. The Raiders chipped away at the lead, scoring two unanswered baskets to make it 12 points. Trailing 42-28, Colgate freshman
Katie Garman (Poplar Grove, Ill.) hit two straight three-pointers to make it 42-34. The Raiders held the Wildcats without a basket for over four minutes as the cut the lead in half.
Colgate (1-7) continued to creep closer as it scored six of the next eight points to pull within four, 44-40, the closest the Raiders had been since the 3:30 mark in the first half. That would be as close as they would get as New Hampshire hit five free throws in the final 35 seconds to secure the eight-point win. The Wildcats were 12-of-16 from the charity stripe in the second half.
Both teams got off to a slow start, as the Raiders went ahead 7-6 at the 13:19 mark. Cargle scored the team’s first three baskets and six of the eight in the opening frame. The Raiders used an 8-2 run to take their biggest lead of the session at 13-8. Cargle and
Shevorne Martin (Brooklyn, N.Y. ) each had four points during that stretch.
The Wildcats responded right away with an 11-0 run to go in front 19-13 with four minutes left on the clock. Cargle stopped the streak with a three-pointers, but New Hampshire scored six of the half’s final eight points to go into the break with its biggest lead of the half at 25-18.
Martin finished with nine points for the Raiders, while junior
Caitlin Gillard (Vestal, N.Y.) had eight points and a game-high nine rebounds. Colgate shot 34.7 percent for the game and just 46.2 percent from the line.
Danielle Clark added 10 points for the Wildcats. New Hampshire (3-5) was 37 percent from the field and 72.0 percent from the free throw line.
