BETHLEHEM, Pa. (02/17/10) – The Colgate women's basketball team went on a 7-2 run in the final three minutes of play, but it wasn't enough as the defending Patriot League champion, Lehigh, downed the Raiders, 80-49, at Stabler Arena on Wednesday evening. Colgate drops to 4-7 in the league and 9-16 overall while the Mountain Hawks improve to 10-1 in league play and 23-3 overall.

 

Junior Sami Kozlowski (New Market, Md.) and sophomore Tricia Oakes (Evergreen, Colo.) led the Raiders in scoring with 12 points apiece. Junior Krista Moser (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) picked up a game-high nine rebounds to go with nine points and two assists.

 

Lehigh gained an early lead on the Raiders, 14-0, in the first five minutes of play while forcing four Colgate turnovers. The Raiders were 0-4 from the field in the opening minutes before Oakes put in Colgate's first basket at the 14:44 mark. The Raiders scored four more unanswered points to cut Lehigh's lead to eight, 14-6. Kristen Dalton responded with a three for the Mountain Hawks to put them back on top 17-6, but Colgate's Kendra Brim (Buffalo, N.Y.) drained a three of her own to make it 17-9, with 11:22 left on the clock.

 

The Mountain Hawks then went on a 17-4 run to gain a 21 point lead, 34-13. Lehigh closed the half with a substantial advantage, heading into the half-time break up 46-21. The Mountain Hawks' Emily Gratch scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the opening half, going 6-8 from the floor, while teammate Alex Ross was 3-5 from behind the arc.

 

Oakes recorded eight of her 12 points in the second half and Moser scored all of her nine points in the second stanza. After opening the half with a 26 point advantage, Lehigh was able to extend its lead to 34 with 12:39 remaining in the game. Junior Evan Librizzi (Essex Junction, Vt.) scored five points in the closing minutes, including a three, while Moser added a lay-up to close out the game.

 

The Raiders shot 32.8 percent (19-58) from the floor and 87.5 percent (7-8) from the free throw line. Lehigh finished on 46.2 percent (30-65) shooting and went 10-25 from behind the arc. The Mountain Hawks out-rebounded Colgate 44-33 for the day.

 

After facing the league's top two teams on the road, the Raiders will head back to Hamilton, N.Y. to host Bucknell this Saturday, Feb. 20. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.