BETHLEHEM, Pa. (1/21/09) -   The Colgate women's basketball team held a six-point lead at the half, but Lehigh rallied in the second to down the Raiders 61-43 at Stabler Arena on Wednesday night.  Lehigh's Erica Prosser led all scorers with a career-high 25 points.

Freshman Tricia Oakes (Evergreen, Colo.) and Candice Green (East Brunswick, N.J.) led the Raiders in scoring, with Oakes on top with 12 points and four blocks while Green finished just shy of that mark with 11 points.  Junior Katie Garman (Poplar Grove, Ill.) contributed nine points, with eight of those coming in the first half.  Georgia Gier (Mercer Island, Wash.) and Green each pulled down five rebounds.  

The Raiders (4-15, 0-4) jumped out to a five point lead on a three from Garman with just over four minutes underway in the opening half.  Freshman Green hit back-to-back shots, including her first three-pointer of the game to give the Raiders a 10 points lead. 

Colgate continued to build their lead, gaining their largest lead of the game, a 13 point advantage as Gier's jumper put the Raiders up 21-8.  The Raiders stalwart defense stopped Lehigh (14-5, 3-1) from getting any good outside shots and held the Mountain Hawks scoreless from the field for 10 minutes of play.  

Prosser knocked down a three as the Mountain Hawks cut the lead to six, but Green followed with another long-range shot to keep the Raiders up by nine, 25-16.  With just under two minutes to go in the half, Lehigh had their first substantial run to cut the Raiders lead to six.  The Mountain Hawks then fouled Oakes on the defensive end of the court, sending the freshman to the foul line.  Oakes made both free throws to give Colgate a 28-20 lead, before Prosser hit a last second shot sending the Raiders into the half-time break with a six point lead, 28-22.

Colgate shot 36 percent (9-25) in the first half including 4-10 shooting from three-point range and 75 percent (6-8) from the free throw line.  The Raiders held Lehigh to just 25.9 percent (7-27) shooting from the field and out-rebounded the Mountain Hawks 23-16.

Lehigh stepped up the defensive pressure in the second half, holding the Raiders to just one point in the first 7:37 of play.  The Mountain Hawks were unable to take advantage of their press, only cutting Colgate's lead to one, 29-28.  Gier knocked in the Raiders first basket of the half to end Colgate's shooting drought and give them a 31-28 advantage.  

The Mountain Hawks however, grabbed their first lead of the second half, 32-31 with a lay-up from Kristen Dalton with 10:43 left in the game.  Lehigh built that lead to four before Oakes put in a lay-up, making it 36-33 with 7:36 on the clock.  The Mountain Hawks went on an 18-7 run in the final five minutes of play to win 61-43.  

Colgate finished the game with 35.7 percent shooting from the field after going 6-17 in the second half.  Lehigh improved to 34.4 percent shooting (11-32) in the second half shooting 30.5 percent for the game.  The Mountain Hawks out-rebounded the Raiders in the second half, topping Colgate on the boards 39-36 for the game.

The Raiders will return home this weekend to take on Bucknell at Cotterell Court on Saturday.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.

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