BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Colgate is officially in seventh heaven.
 
Randyll Butler banked home a close-range jumper with 6.3 seconds remaining and the Raiders pulled off a 61-60 thriller over Lehigh here Saturday night.
 
Butler's bucket spoiled not one but two sets of Lehigh Valley hopes. The Raiders snapped an 11-game losing streak at Stabler Arena, ruining Senior Night in the process, and also leapfrogged Lafayette into seventh place.
 
Seven Patriot League wins vaulted Colgate (7-11) into that seventh position, one game ahead of Lafayette. The Leopards lost 49-36 at Colgate on Wednesday and lost 57-41 at Army on Saturday to finish 6-12 in the Patriot League.
 
Colgate now hosts 10th-seeded Boston University this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the opening round of the Patriot League tournament. The winner travels to second-seeded Army for a Friday night quarterfinal.
 
Lafayette hosts Loyola in the 8-9 matchup, with the winner heading to American. Lehigh falls to the sixth seed after its fourth straight loss and visits Holy Cross on Friday.
 
Colgate (8-21) won its third straight league game for the first time since 2010. The Raiders also finished with their best conference winning percentage (.389) since 2005-06 (.429).
 
Jones scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the second half to lead the Raiders. Harris added 14 points and nine rebounds, while Butler finished with nine points and 10 boards.
 

Sarah Williams scored 16 to pace Lehigh.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 61, Lehigh 60
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 8-21 overall and 7-11 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh is now 17-11 and 9-9.
 
Historically Close Calls
• Colgate for the eighth time this season played a game decided by either one or two points.
• The Raiders are now 2-6 in those contests, having won two in a row. Colgate defeated Loyola 54-53 last Saturday in Hamilton.
• According to Associated Press statistics, the eight close calls are the second-most in Division I this season and tied for the fourth-most since 1999-2000.
• Saint Mary's has played nine such games this season and Southern Miss eight. The most is 10 by Grambling in 2008-09.
 
Furious Finish
• The Raiders closed the first half 9-4 for a 30-30 tie.
• Colgate then fell behind 45-37 with 14 minutes remaining before Mariah Jones and Carole Harris pulled the Raiders back once again. They combined for all the scoring in Colgate's 10-2 run that tied it at 47 with 10:10 to play.
• There were two more ties the rest of the way but Lehigh mostly maintained a two- to four-point lead. The Mountain Hawks were doing their damage strictly at the free-throw line, since Colgate's defense didn't allow a made field goal after the 8:15 mark of the second half.
• Lehigh finished the game zero for its last 10 from the floor.
• Lehigh's Kerry Kinek made two free throws with 2:10 left that put the Mountain Hawks on top, 60-57. Jones responded for Colgate with a layup with 1:53 showing that made it a one-point game.
• The teams traded empty possessions before Lehigh crossed midcourt with under 35 seconds left. Quinci Mann drove the lane but was blocked by Josie Stockill, her third swat of the night. Stockill grabbed the rebound and Colgate called timeout.
• The Raiders worked it to Randyll Butler at the top of the key. She drove the lane and dished to Stockill on the left wing. Repoli was covered and got it back to Butler, who drove the middle and pulled up from about five feet away.
• Her shot bank firmly off the glass and settled home with 6.3 seconds left and Colgate leading, 61-60.
• After a timeout, the Raiders nearly stole the inbounds pass before Katie O'Reilly regained possession and streaked upcourt. Her layup attempt in traffic never went above the rim, and Stockill hauled in the rebound as the closing seconds ticked off.
 
Facts & Figures

• Colgate reached seven Patriot League wins for the first time since the 2004 Patriot League championship squad went 10-4. The Raiders have progressed the last three seasons from three, to four and now seven wins in the league.
• The conference winning percentage of .389 is the program's best since 2005-06 (.429).
• Colgate improved to 4-0 this season when outshooting its opponent.
• The Raiders finished at 25-of-68 for 36.8 percent, while Lehigh was 22-of-62 for 35.5 percent.
• Colgate tied its season-low with just two made 3-pointers out of nine attempts. Lehigh finished 3-of-13. Colgate the second half was 0-of-3.
• Lehigh was 13-of-16 at the line to Colgate's 9-of-14.
• Rebounds were even at 44 apiece.
• Colgate had nine steals in the game, forcing Lehigh into a 17-13 turnover disadvantage.
• Butler led the Raiders in rebounds with 10, assists with three and steals with three. She finished her week with 11 thefts.
• Colgate blocked six shots and Lehigh five. Stockill had three and extended her Raiders season record to 61 blocks. The old mark was 52 by Leandra Fuller in 2003-04.
 
More Key Info
• Jones scored 12 of her game-high 19 in the second half. The 19 points also was a season high for the senior guard.
• Other Colgate scorers were Harris with 14, Butler 9, Stockill 8, Missy Repoli 7 and Kriftcher 4.
• Harris had nine rebounds and Stockill eight. Lehigh's Lexi Martins finished right on her league-leading average with 11.
• Mountain Hawks guard Sarah Williams had a season-high 16 points to match her career-high. Williams also scored 16 last year against the Raiders in the Patriot League tournament.
 
Turning Point
• The game nearly got away from Colgate on a couple of occasions.
• The crucial moment was when Lehigh scored six straight to go on top 45-37 with 14:01 remaining.
• But Jones (six) and Harris (four) combined for Colgate's next 10 points and the Raiders tied things at 47.
• Lehigh led by no more than four the rest of the way.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort (On the game's significance) "It was a big win for a lot of reasons. One because we got another one-possession win. This is our second in a row after we had not been successful in so many of those games. Having confidence that we can get stops and win close games when we need to is huge going into the Patriot League tournament.

"There have been a lot of firsts this year, even though there haven't been a lot of tallies in that win-column. This was our first win here since 2005, first win ever at Holy Cross – those are big.
"We didn't finish as high as we wanted to, but we finished higher than we were projected (eighth) and higher than we did last year."
(On staying close) "We were able to get good shots. When games have gotten away from us, we've kind of rushed, not taken great shots and not gotten rebounds. But instead, we just worked on attacking and getting to the free-throw line. We wanted pull-up jumpers instead of jacking threes."
(On the last 22 seconds) "We wanted to attack the basket and get fouled, or get a basket. We didn't want to take the time all the way down because we wanted the chance at a rebound. It didn't go exactly as we planned but it worked. Randyll was able to attack the basket and get a jumper to go down. Then we were able to get a stop."
• Colgate guard Randyll Butler (On the final possession) "Coach said let's just do what we had been doing all game and that's attack them. We wanted to spread the floor and run the clock down, and whoever gets that last shot gets it.
(On her bank shot) "It's a higher-percentage shot than my other floater, so I'll take the bank."
(On the second-half rally) "I attribute that to Mariah and Carole. They just kept getting to the basket and wouldn't let us give up."
• Colgate forward Josie Stockill (On the late defensive stands) "I knew we had to make plays to win the game at the end. I was trying to block her shot on the last play as she was driving, and I may have gotten a piece of the ball. But then I just had to grab the rebound."
• Colgate guard Mariah Jones (On her second-half) "Lehigh was giving me a lot of open lanes. They were really helping on Missy a lot, and Randyll's a good driver so I was just trying to find my way to the basket.
(On her recent scoring touch) "Heading down the stretch toward the Patriot League tournament, we really want to have more scoring options. When I was a sophomore and junior, I was more of a scorer. I had to change roles this season, but down the stretch my team really needs more scoring. I'm willing to do whatever we need done."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Stabler Arena was 740.
 
Up Next
• The last women's basketball postseason game on Cotterell Court was Colgate's 2004 Patriot League championship win over American.
• That streak ends Wednesday when the Raiders host Boston University in a first-round game at 7 p.m.
• It's also the rubber match after both won at home during the regular season: Boston U. 58-53 and Colgate 67-54.