Box Score

HAMILTON – Colgate and Lehigh had so much fun in their regular season finale Saturday at Cotterell Court that they're staging a do-over Tuesday night.

And, no, both teams didn't take the same bus back to the Lehigh Valley. Although they could have.

The Raiders won 63-61 for their third victory in the last four games, clinching the ninth seed for Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament that starts Tuesday. Colgate faces eighth-seeded Lehigh in a three-day turnaround rematch, this time in Bethlehem, Pa.

That first-round winner goes on to play at regular season champion Navy in a Thursday night quarterfinal.

"It's such a huge victory for our program and for our seniors," Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. "We really wanted to send the seniors off Cotterell Court with a win.

"We needed this win to propel us into the Patriot League Tournament. We knew we probably were playing Lehigh anyway, but we had to get them once before we could get them twice."

Colgate got them in Hamilton for the second time in Hays Fort's three seasons, but Raider victories over Lehigh have been hard to come by since the middle of the last decade. The Mountain Hawks had won 16 of the previous 17 meetings overall before Saturday's Colgate comeback.

"We were playing for the win; we weren't going to save anything," Hays Fort said. "It's March 1 and we've been doing this for five months. Why are we going to save anything?"

Jones Equals Career High
Junior Mariah Jones (pictured right) saved perhaps her best performance of the season for Senior Day. She matched her career high with 25 points and added a collegiate best six steals.

"We know Senior Night is a special time for all levels, so we really wanted to do it for our seniors and go out on a win," said Jones. "That's definitely what we've been talking about for the last couple of days."

Just as impressive for Jones was playing 33 minutes Saturday without being whistled for a single foul. She leads the team in disqualifications this year and had fouled out of the last four games.

"I gave her a big hug yesterday and said, 'Let's not foul out tomorrow,'" Hays Fort said. "And she had zero fouls – that's amazing for Mariah.

"She was feeling it early, got a couple of quick threes and really did a great job of taking it to the basket."

The Raiders for the second weekend in a row built a big lead, gave it up and then rallied late.

After seven ties and 14 lead changes to begin the game, Colgate closed the half on a 13-1 run over the final 6:13 to take a 37-26 lead into the break. Jones already had 14 points and Colgate was ready to test its perfect record when leading at halftime (now 7-0).

Clutch Down the Stretch
But it wasn't without a struggle. Much like Loyola rallied from 15 down last Sunday, Lehigh got 15 second-half points from super soph Kerry Kinek and grabbed the lead on three different occasions.

"We had a lot of energy to start the game, a lot of emotion," Hays Fort said. "But we knew Lehigh was going to come out a lot tougher in the second half, and they went to Kinek. She's very good, very talented. We had a really hard time picking her up and stopping her.

"We got a little hesitant in the second half. We were a little timid, like, 'Oh, no. What's going to happen?' That's why Lehigh made its run. When we got back to being aggressive, we were good."

After Colgate's Carole Harris was called for a charging foul with the Raiders trailing 59-58, Lehigh looked to be in control for the final 44 seconds. But Jones notched her fifth steal of the game to set up senior guard Lauryn Kobiela (pictured above right) for a jumper that put Colgate back in front 60-59 with 24 seconds left.

The Mountain Hawks tried to reclaim the lead but Jones again picked their pocket with 14 seconds left. She was fouled immediately and the 85-percent free throw shooter made  them both to push the margin to 62-59.

Colgate fouled to prevent a 3-point try and Lehigh's Sarah Williams converted both free throws to slice the lead to 62-61 with nine seconds left. But the Raiders got the inbounds pass to Kobiela, who sank one of her two tries for the final margin.

Lehigh took a desperation heave from halfcourt that didn't come close.

"We were kind of in the same situation at Loyola, so we knew we had the experience to come out on top," Jones said of the last-minute comeback. "We were really focusing on getting the stop, having our hands up on defense and rebounding so we could come out with the win."

Colgate registered a season-high 13 steals, helping force 19 Lehigh turnovers against just nine for the Raiders.

"That was one of our keys to the game, to really be aggressive on offense and defense," Jones said. "We know defense wins games, so if we're really active we can put pressure on other teams and get them off balance."

Seniors Step Up
Kobiela, Catherine Lewis (pictured above right) and Kathryn Taylor (pictured below right) all drew starting assignments for Senior Day. Kobiela finished with eight points, three assists and two steals, in addition to her late-game heroics. Lewis connected on a couple of huge 3-pointers and scored eight points, while Taylor was on the spot for four offensive rebounds.

"Great senior play today," Hays Fort said. "You know they're going to have a lot of emotion, but they all earned the start and I was able to put them back in and they all gave us good minutes. It was a good way to end their Cotterell Court careers."

Other scoring for Colgate belonged to Missy Repoli and Josie Stockill with seven points apiece, Randyll Butler with four, and two each from Carole Harris and Kelly Reid. Harris led Colgate with 11 rebounds and picked up three steals.

Colgate shot 30.3 percent from the floor, making 23-of-76. The Raiders were 7-of-22 from the arc and 10-of-12 from the line. Lehigh finished at 37.7 percent from the field, converting 23-of-61. The Mountain Hawks were 4-of-9 from downtown and 11-of-15 at the line.

Lehigh's Kinek finished with 22 points and 12 boards, helping the Mountain Hawks claim the rebounding category 51-43.

The game finished with 10 ties and 20 lead changes.

Colgate improved to 8-21 overall and 4-14 in the Patriot League – bettering by one its conference win-total from last season. Lehigh dropped to 12-17 and 5-13.

"This is exactly where we wanted to be," Jones said. "We wanted to win three of the last four games and that's what we've done. We're in a good position for the beginning of the Patriot League Tournament."

Tipoff Tuesday from Stabler Arena is 7 p.m. Should be another fun one.

Game Archive