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HAMILTON, N.Y. (12/2/11) – Niagara's Kayla Stroman made a 10-foot jumper in the closing seconds to lift the Purples Eagles past Colgate 61-60 Friday night at Cotterell Court. Junior guard Jhazmine Lynch led the Raiders with game-high 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals. 

Lynch gave Colgate a 60-59 lead with 28.6 seconds remaining in regulation off a nice assist from Candice Green. But Niagara then held the ball for 20 seconds before Stroman made a jumper with 2.8 seconds remaining for the lead. The Raiders got the ball into Green who's last second shot from half court fell short at the buzzer. 

Lynch led the Raiders in scoring, while senior Tricia Oakes pitched in a season-high 15 points and Catherine Lewis added nine. Oakes also recorded six rebounds, while freshman Kelly Reid added five. Green recorded a game-high five assists in the loss, while Lynch dished out three helpers.

Niagara (2-5) opened the game with a 6-3 run in the first five minutes of action, and then led 14-9 with 12:14 remaining after Meghan McGuinness knocked down a three-pointer and Shy Britton made a pair of free throws to break a 9-9 tie. The Raiders then responded with an 8-3 run, which included three-straight layups by Oakes, to tie the game 17-17 with 8:29 left. Both teams would then exchange baskets for the next eight minutes, before Stroman made jumper with 35 seconds remaining to give the Purple Eagles a 24-22 lead at halftime. Oakes led all scorers in the first half with 11 points on 5-5 shooting.

Colgate (0-9) took the lead on its first possession of the second half after Lynch drained three-pointer, but the lead didn't last long as Niagara responded with a 20-5 run to build its largest lead of the game 44-30 with 13:31 remaining. But the Raiders weren't done as they answered right back with a 21-6 run to retake the lead 51-50 with 6:33 remaining. Niagara would build a 59-56 lead with just less than two minutes remaining, before Lynch made back-to-back baskets to give the Raiders the lead with 28 seconds remaining.

Niagara was led by Stroman who scored 13 points, while Val McQuade pitched in 11 and Britton scored 10.

Colgate won the battle on the boards 39-33 and finished the game shooting 41.5 percent, but only made 63.2 percent of its free throw attempts and turned the ball over 16 times.

The Raiders will stay instate this weekend as they travel to Buffalo on Sunday to face Canisius at 2:45 p.m. at Koessler Athletic Center.