Box Score

BETHLEHEM, PA. (3/7/09) -   Tayler Wejnert (Ramsey, N.J.) led the Colgate women's basketball team with game- high 23 points, but it wasn't enough as the No. 8 seeded Raiders fell to No. 1 seed Lehigh University 78-54 in the first quarterfinal game of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday afternoon. 

“We look at today as a great experience, we needed to see what it takes to compete at the next level of play and we saw that today against an excellent Lehigh team,” stated Colgate head coach Pamela Bass.

Sophomore Georgia Gier (Mercer Island, Wash.) collected a season-high 14 rebounds and added nine points for the Raiders.  Classmate Sami Kozlowski (New Market, Md.) contributed another nine points and had three assists in the Colgate loss.  

“The fight and hard work from the team was tremendous today,” commented Bass.  “Tayler was very aggressive offensively and Georgia really worked hard off the boards.  Lehigh really put on the defensive pressure and Tayler was able to attack at it.”

The Raider defense started off strong holding Lehigh to just three baskets in the first five minutes.  After Kozlowski knocked in Colgate's first basket of the game, Wejnert made it a two point game, 6-4, with a lay-up at 15:33.  The Mountain Hawks responded by going on a 10-3 run to gain a nine point lead with 12:54 on the clock.  Wejnert, who went 4-4 from the charity stripe in the first half, put in her first two free throws of the afternoon, to cut Lehigh's lead to 7, 16-9.

The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 15 point lead with just 3:43 left in the half, but Gier hit back-to-back shots from inside the paint to bring the Raiders back within 11, 32-21 with 1:46 remaining.  Lehigh was able to get off two more shots, and Wejnert put in a last second three for the Raiders as they went into the half-time break down 37-24.  

Colgate shot 40 percent (8-20) from the field and went 6-6 from the charity stripe in the first half.  The Mountain Hawks finished the half on 42.4 percent (14-33) shooting and gained 12 second chance points as they out-rebounded the Raiders 22-12 for the half.  

Lehigh came out of the break on fire with their long-range shooting as Alex Ross and Erica Prosser hit consecutive three's to gain a 44-25 advantage in the first three minutes of the second half.  Freshman Kelly Korkowski (Williamsburg, Va.) connected on a long two-pointer to cut the Mountain Hawks' advantage to 17, but Ross responded with a wide open three to put Lehigh up 47-27, with 15:17 on the clock. 

The Mountain Hawks gained their largest advantage of the game, 27 points, before Colgate began to inch back into the game.  Tricia Oakes (Evergreen, Colo.) put in her first basket of the game and knocked in the extra point to cut Lehigh's lead to 24, 62-38, with 8:25 left in the game.  The Raiders then went 4-4 from the free throw line and Kozlowski added five points, including her first three of the day to bring the Raiders within 21, 68-47 with 6:00 remaining.  Ross however, responded with another long-range shot as Lehigh went on to win, 78-54 and advances to the semifinal game tomorrow.  

The Raiders shot 34.1 percent from the floor overall and went 21-23 from the free throw line.  Lehigh finished the game with 43.5 percent shooting overall including 40.0 percent shooting from behind the arc.  

“We played better as a team in the second half, unfortunately Lehigh has three things that make them great: three-point plays, three's from Ross and their transition game,” commented Bass.  “We gave up all three.”

The Raiders finish the season 5-25 overall while the Mountain Hawks improve to 24-6 and will face Army in tomorrow's semifinal game.  

“I'm definitely optimistic for the future,” stated Bass.  “We're sad to lose senior Gretchen Polinski, but still optimistic for what lies ahead.”