Colgate in the final 4:05 got to within one point on four different occasions, but never could convert the breakthrough basket. The Raiders had three separate possessions trailing 66-65 inside the last 1:35 but misfired on four field goal attempts.

Holy Cross then converted free throws for the final five-point margin.

Pressure Defense
"Our defense was really good and we did a fantastic job on Alex Smith, No. 22," Hays Fort said. "She's one of the best point guards if not the best in the conference and we held her to 1-of-4 and three points.

"Our pressure was good and the team bought into that game plan. We just gave up too many points inside."

Holy Cross rode the post tandem of Emily Parker and Raquel Scott to a combined 39 points and 26 rebounds. Parker scored a career-high 23 and matched her career best with 12 boards, while Scott had a double-double by the half and finished with 16 and 16 – the rebounding total topping her previous collegiate high by two.

The only bad news for Holy Cross this night was a late-game wrist injury suffered by Parker.

The first half featured six ties and seven lead changes. Holy Cross' largest lead was 14-8, but Colgate rallied and led 23-20 and 26-23 before settling for its first halftime deadlock of the season at 26-all.

That's when the Raiders failed to answer the second-half bell and Holy Cross bolted to its 17-point advantage. Counting the final three points of the first half, the Crusaders tallied 17 consecutive points over a 5:48 stretch.

Colgate started the second half 0-of-5 and 2-of-12 from the field, while Holy Cross was making 10 of its first 15.

Jones on All Cylinders
But the Raiders staged a comeback, thanks largely to Jones. The junior guard tied a career high with five 3-point field goals and missed her collegiate scoring high by one point. She had 25 last season in a win over New Hampshire.

"Mariah is capable of doing that every night," Hays Fort said. "She's been in a little bit of a slump, so I'm happy she broke out of that.

"It doesn't surprise me. Mariah's such a great player and a great shooter, and she's such a high-energy kid that we knew she was capable of that. It was just a matter of when she was going to break out of the slump. Hopefully, now, she's back."

Repoli's 14 points were two off her season high, while Catherine Lewis (pictured right) scored 11 for her best output since tallying 12 last season against Lehigh. Carole Harris had a rough shooting night but played a career-high 38 minutes and finished with seven points and eight boards, while Randyll Butler scored four.

Fouls limited Josie Stockill to just nine minutes and three points. Lauryn Kobiela played 15 minutes through a troublesome ankle and scored just two.

Colgate finished 20-of-68 from the floor for 29.4 percent, but the Raiders did make a season-high 10 3-point field goals out of 26 attempts – Jones was 5-of-9, Lewis 3-of-7 and Repoli 2-of-5.

Colgate made 15-of-22 at the free-throw line, including 7-of-8 by Jones to increase her season percentage to 86.3 (44-of-51). Repoli was 4-of-4 and is now at 82.6 (19-of-23).

The Raiders for the game had 14 assists against just seven turnovers, and forced nine steals. Jones led the way there as well, with four assists and a career high-matching four steals.

Holy Cross was 25-of-55 for 45.5 percent and made 3-of-13 from downtown. The Crusaders were 17-of-28 at the line and won the rebounding category, 48-40. They did commit 16 turnovers.

The Raiders are now 4-10 overall and 0-3 in the conference, while Holy Cross improves to 11-3 and 3-0 – tied for the Patriot League's top spot along with Army and Navy. Colgate returns to the road this weekend with a Saturday visit to American (9-5, 2-1), which won 52-34 Wednesday at Loyola.