Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Colgate went toe-to-toe with one of the Patriot League's predicted first division teams but couldn't quite close the deal.

Lehigh held on for a 76-69 victory here Thursday in the conference opener for both squads.

Carole Harris posted her third double-double this season for Colgate, scoring 15 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds. Other career marks for the maroon side belonged to Lauryn Kobiela with 10 assists, Jackie Hudepohl with six points and Randyll Butler tying her previous high with four steals.

"We had a lot of positives," Raiders head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. "In the first half, we ran our offense really well and got any shot we wanted. Our start to the game was slow in the sense that we didn't knock them down, but had the shots."

"We did a lot of positive things but just had about a 5½-minute lull in the second half."

Those 5½ minutes cost Colgate 17 points, turning a 44-43 with 11:30 to play into a nearly insurmountable 60-44 deficit with 6:10 remaining. The Raiders didn't get it back to single digits until inside the final minute.

Lehigh's Kayla Burton scored eight of her 15 during that stretch to spark the Mountain Hawks, who improved to 8-4 overall and beat Colgate in Stabler Arena for the 10th straight time.

"We didn't score and we lost their shooters," Hays Fort said of the Lehigh run. "(Kerry) Kinek had gotten hers but we had done a great job on everybody else. But then Burton goes and hits three threes on us in the second half and (Amina) Affini hits a three.

"We have to be a 40-minute team. We can't have just 37 or 35 minutes of good basketball; it's got to be 40."

Nearly Even First Half
Lehigh scored eight straight points – while Colgate was making one of its first nine from the field – for an 8-2 lead to open the game. It was still 13-6 Mountain Hawks by the second media timeout, thanks mainly to a whopping 17-5 rebounding edge for the home side.

But Paige Kriftcher connected on a pair of 3-pointers and Josie Stockill scored eight first-half points to help the Raiders rally for a brief 20-19 advantage. Lehigh went into the halftime break up 28-24 as Kinek tallied 13 of her game-high 19.

"I was really happy with the energy," Hays Fort said. "We did get outrebounded really badly at the beginning of the game, but we challenged them and that's the reason we got the lead down to four by halftime.

"We made a lot of little goals throughout the game and we were meeting them. One of those was to come out strong in the second half and we did. We took the lead."

That lead came on the second of two straight 3-point bombs from Missy Repoli (pictured below right), making it 42-41 Raiders with 12:18 remaining. After a Lehigh basket, Hudepohl dropped home her third field goal of the game and Colgate led 44-43 with 11:30 to play.

Turned out to be Colgate's final grasp at an upset.

"We had some really good moments," Harris said. "We played really aggressively all the way to the end; we didn't stop, so that's good.

"We've just got to get rid of the lulls and one-and-out them on the rebounding battles."

Career Rebounding Effort
Harris did her part there, grabbing five more boards than any player in uniform. The 13 rebounds were two more than her previous career high, set last year against Niagara and tied earlier this season against Drexel.

The junior forward did her work despite helping defend Kinek, the Patriot League's top scorer at 18.6 per game.

"Carole was all over the place rebounding," Hays Fort said. "She played 37 minutes and had a double-double despite a tough matchup defensively the whole night."

Colgate, now 4-8, shot 37 percent (27-of-73) from the floor, including 8-of-29 from 3-point distance. The Raiders made seven of their 10 free-throw attempts and had 20 assists, one shy of their season high.

In addition to Harris, Mariah Jones scored nine, Stockill and Repoli eight apiece and Kobiela (pictured above right) seven to go with her 10 assists. Hudepohl, Kriftcher and Catherine Lewis each scored six and Butler four to go with her four steals.

Lehigh entered the game with the unique distinction of standing first in the Patriot League in scoring offense (76.8) and last in scoring defense (73.1). The Mountain Hawks, who were a preseason pick to finish in the top half of the Patriot League once again, shot 39 percent (27-of-69) from the floor, including 6-of-21 from downtown. They were 16-of-24 from the line and had 18 assists.

Lehigh won the rebounding battle, 52-42, and committed 15 turnovers to Colgate's 16.

Next for Colgate is a Sunday visit from Bucknell (5-6), which lost 77-40 at American on Thursday night. The 2 p.m. game marks Colgate's first Cotterell Court appearance in 32 days, dating to a Dec. 4 win over Drexel.

"It's going to be a tough matchup again," Hays Fort said. "We're finally at home and we've got to come ready to go."