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HAMILTON – Colgate couldn't sustain an early run of good fortune, and the Raiders lost 61-54 to Loyola in Patriot League action here Saturday.

The home side led 15-7 at the second media timeout thanks in part to a pair of threes from Catherine Lewis and some solid Colgate ball movement. But Loyola put the brakes on those positive vibes by outscoring the Raiders 16-2 during a nearly nine-minute stretch and going in front 23-17 with 5:01 showing.

"They started attacking the glass," Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. "We were able to have a quick and efficient start to the game because we defended, we rebounded and we were able to get out in the open court.

"They were trapping ball screens and we were doing really well getting the ball out of traps and getting easy baskets. But they stopped trapping and started really attacking the glass. And that was the difference; we got outrebounded again."

Loyola finished with a 40-34 advantage on the boards and also shot 42 percent to Colgate's 35 percent from the floor. Both of those slight margins to the Greyhounds were enough to produce Loyola's second road conference victory of the season.

After trailing 28-22 at halftime, Colgate scored the first five points of the second half to close with one. The Raiders then had three separate possessions to try to snare the lead but couldn't get any of a trio of field goal tries to drop.

The Greyhounds finally got untracked and reeled off nine straight points to start a 12-2 run that made it 40-29 with 9:35 remaining. It was the first of three separate 11-point cushions for Loyola in the second half; the last coming at 47-36 with 5:33 to play after Tiffany Padgett hit a baseline jumper off an inbounds pass just as the shot-clock was expiring.

A minute later, Missy Repoli connected on her own baseline basket and then Mariah Jones hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull Colgate within 49-43 with 3:52 left.

Offensive Rebounds Hurt
The Raiders looked like they were going to get a key defensive stop, but two Loyola misses were grabbed by the Greyhounds and then Nai Brown connected from the 3-point line to push the lead back to 52-43 with 3:07 showing.

"Loyola just did a great job," Hays Fort said. "They made shots when they needed to make shots and got the ball into No. 35's (Brown) hands. She made some great shots and they got big rebounds.

"Every time we tried to cut it back, they hit big shots because we missed the rebounds."

Jones and Kelly Reid (pictured right) connected on layups, but Brown had an answer both times to keep it a nine-point game approaching one minute to play. Lewis hit her third three of the game and Randyll Butler a running jumper in the lane, but it was too late.

Loyola's Brown finished with a game-high 23 points, including 15 in the second half.

Both teams are now 5-14 overall but Loyola climbs ahead of the Raiders in the Patriot League standings, 2-6 to 1-7.

Defensive Anchor
Reid and Jones had the statistical numbers for Colgate. Reid topped her season high with 13 rebounds, while Jones scored 17 for her third-best output of the season and also topped the 100-mark for career 3-pointers.

"We're happy to have Kelly back and getting healthy," Hays Fort said of her junior rebounder. "Kelly's just an anchor. We really challenged them to get rebounds and that's what she did. She went out and attacked the glass and was just a beast out there with her defending.

"She's the anchor of our defense and did a great job."

Colgate finished 20-of-57 from the field for 35.1 percent, 7-of-23 from the arc and 7-of-9 at the line. Loyola was 24-of-57 for 42.1 percent from the floor, 7-of-21 from long distance and 6-of-10 at the line. The Raiders finished with 12 assists – topped by Lauryn Kobiela's six – against 14 turnovers, while Loyola had 11 assists and 12 turnovers.

Jones – who scored 14 in the second half – matched Lewis (pictured right) with three 3-pointers apiece, giving them 101 and 99, respectively, for their careers. They stand seventh and eighth on the all-time Colgate chart.

Lewis finished with nine, while Carole Harris added 11, Repoli 6, Reid 4, Paige Kriftcher 3, Butler 2 and Josie Stockill 2 to complete the Colgate scoring.

In addition to Brown, Padgett registered a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Colgate stays at home Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip against Lafayette (9-10, 3-5).

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