EASTON, Pa. (2/6/2007)—Colgate University outscored Lafayette College 17-2 in the final 11:32 to secure a 53-47 Patriot League women’s basketball victory this evening at the Kirby Sports Center. Junior Shevorne Martin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the Raiders with 13 points and six rebounds, including what proved to be the winning basket. Cristin Zavocki led all Lafayette scorers with a game-high 17 points.

 

Colgate improves to 4-20 overall and 3-6 against league foes, while Lafayette falls to 5-19 on the season and 3-6 in the conference. Colgate has won each of the past 10 games against the Leopards.

 

The Raiders got double-digit scoring performances from junior Caitlin Gillard (Vestal, N.Y.) and sophomore Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio). Gillard and Polinski both finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Rookie guard TaHara Williams (Mason, Ohio) had eight points and was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe in the final 32 seconds of the game.

 

Coming out of the break up by five points at 29-24, the Leopards stretched their lead to as many as nine points before Colgate mounted a furious comeback in the final 11:32. The Raiders held Lafayette without a point for seven minutes as they rallied to tie the game at 47 apiece with 2:12 left on the clock.

 

Lafayette grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds on its next possession, but was unable find the bottom of the net as Colgate regained possession with just over a minute left to play. The Raiders broke the Leopards’ press and Martin knocked down a baseline jumper to give Colgate the 49-47 lead with 58 ticks left, its first advantage since 10:27 in the first half.

 

The Leopards got looks at the basket in those final 58 seconds but could not to connect. That’s where Williams took over, securing the victory with four free throws. Williams was 6-of-7 from the free throw line for the game.

 

The game featured a lot of back and forth action in the early minutes of the opening frame with five ties and two lead changes. After Martin hit a three-point play to put Colgate up 14-13, the Leopards responded in a big way, clamping down on the Colgate offense as they broke off a 10-3 run that spanned five minutes and gave Lafayette a 23-17 lead. The Raiders answered right back by scoring the next five points to pull within one at 23-22.

 

Lafayette was able to muster up one more scoring streak by tallying the game’s next six points for its largest lead of the half, 29-22. Colgate got a put-back from freshman Katie Garman (Poplar Grove, Ill.) with 51 seconds left to head to the locker room down 29-24.

 

Vanessa Van De Venter added 16 points and a team-high five rebounds for the Leopards. Lafayette shot 46.2 percent for the game, while Colgate hit 48.7 percent of its shots from the floor for the contest. The Raiders dominated the glass, outrebounding the Leopards 30-16.

 

Colgate returns to action on Feb. 10, hosting American at Cotterell Court. That game is set to tip off at 1 p.m. Colgate will be celebrating National Women in Sports Day for the game and fans 18-and-under earning free admission by bringing in the flyer from the Colgate Web site.