Box Score

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Black Friday was no dark day for the Colgate Raiders.

Josie Stockill scored 12 of her game-high 14 points in the first half and Mariah Jones added 12 as Colgate defeated LIU Brooklyn 75-61 here Friday afternoon.

The Raiders (2-2) led by as many as 22 points in the second half in winning for the first time on the road this season. Colgate won exactly one road game all of last season.

“It's always great to win on the road; we only had one last year,” Raiders head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “To be 2-2 is really big right now, and we've just got to be able to put 40 minutes together Saturday. We had about 36 minutes tonight, and then about four minutes when the game kind of unraveled a bit.”

The win moves Colgate into Saturday's championship game of the LIU Brooklyn Turkey Classic against Drexel, which defeated Missouri-Kansas City 76-40. Tipoff is 4 p.m.

Instant Offense
Stockill entered the game for the first time immediately after the Blackbirds had taken what would be their only lead of the game at 9-8. The New Zealander quickly made her first three baskets and went on to score a dozen points by halftime on 6-of-7 shooting.

“I just felt really good,” Stockill said. “The shots, thankfully, fell and the baskets were working for me today. My teammates worked really hard creating for me and giving me opportunities to score.”

Despite coming off the bench in all four games, Stockill is tied with sophomore Missy Repoli for the team lead in scoring with 43 points.

After Stockill's three straight buckets helped Colgate build a 14-9 lead, senior guard Jhazmine Lynch forced a nifty steal and breakaway layup for a seven-point cushion just past the halfway mark of the period. The Blackbirds rallied to within three at 22-19, but then Colgate closed with a 17-3 run.

Randyll Butler started the spurt with a free throw and Repoli added her third jumper of the half. Lulu Brase powered home a layup and then Jones bombed Colgate's first 3-pointer of the game to make it 30-21 with 3:27 left.

Long Island Connection
Stockill made good on a jumper in the paint, blocked a shot on the defensive end and then added another two on a nice dish by Paige Kriftcher to make it 34-21. A pair of free throws from Brase set the stage for Kriftcher's first 3-pointer – and first points – of the season and it was 39-22 Raiders at the half.

“Coach always talks about being a spark, especially a spark off the bench,” said Kriftcher, a Long Island product from nearby Port Washington. “So that's what I tried to do – contribute as much as I could to the victory.”

The freshman sharp-shooter drained all three of her 3-point attempts to post an early career-high of nine points.

“Josie coming in and doing what she did was huge, and Paige hitting those back-to-back threes in the second half was just huge for our team,” Hays Fort said. “It was right at a point too when we were having a hard time scoring, so that was big.”

Colgate worked its lead to 22 points early in the second half, the last time at 48-26 with 16:01 to play when junior Lauren Kobiela connected on a jump shot in the paint. But that's when the Blackbirds (2-2) began hitting the boards and clamping down on defense.

All-Around Jones
LIU Brooklyn closed within 62-47 with 5:21 to go when Jones connected again for Colgate from long range. The sophomore guard was steady throughout, finishing with a season-high 12 points to go with three rebounds, a steal and an assist against just one turnover in 23 minutes.

“Mariah had one of her best games at Colgate,” Hays Fort said. “Only one assist but she had only one turnover, and she just hit some big-time shots. That three she hit in the second half calmed us down.”

The Blackbirds cut it to single digits at 65-56 with 2:46 remaining. It was still 67-59 nearing the one-minute mark when Jones connected again on a silky jump shot, and the Raiders' season-long trend of excellence at the free-throw stripe took over from there.

Colgate finished the game 12 of 13 at the line and five different Raiders combined to make all nine attempts in the second half. For the season, Colgate is shooting 87.5 percent (49 of 56) from the free-throw line.

“We played really well together,” Jones said. “We were able to share the ball and get a lot of assists. We crashed the boards in the first half especially, and we got a lot of easy baskets off those rebounds.

“It's great to get such a good road win so early in the season. Our freshmen already are gaining confidence that they can play on the road and win.”

Boardwork Needs Work
Colgate's only beef after the game was being out-rebounded in the second half by a 25-9 spread. This after the Raiders held a 23-16 edge in the first half.

“They crushed us; they crushed us,” Hays Fort said. “One, we were changing our defenses and we got a little confused at times. They also were in a big-time attacking mode. We got up 22 and they just went a little crazy. They went crazy on us in terms of attacking the rim.

“I told our team, 'That's life on the road.' We've got to know how to take care of our business; we've got to one-and-out them. Take away five of those offensive boards and it's a 20-point game. But I'm not going to complain too much about a 14-point win.”

Colgate's balanced score sheet saw Repoli match Kriftcher's nine points and Kobiela, Brase and Lynch finish with eight apiece. Carole Harris scored six, all in the second half, and Butler had one. Stockill also led the team with eight rebounds and had both blocked shots.

“They were very physical, very big, and they competed with us really well for size,” Stockill said. “We let the rebounding go a little bit at the end but we were trying really hard to keep them off the boards.”

LIU Brooklyn was paced by 14 points from Cleandra Roberts and 10 from Tamika Guz. The Blackbirds won the rebounding battle 41-32, but also committed 21 turnovers to Colgate's 13.

Thanksgiving Treat: The team spent Thanksgiving Day at the home of junior guard Catherine Lewis, who is from Staten Island.