Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (11/25/2005)—Colgate University senior Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) and freshman Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) scored 17 points apiece to lead the women’s basketball team to a 82-78 victory over McNeese State in the first day of the Vanderbilt Tournament. Polinski added a team-high six rebounds to go along with her career-high 17 points, while Ballard made a game-high six steals.

The Raiders scored the first basket of the game and never trailed. Tied at four, Colgate went on a 17-6 run at the 17:58 mark to take a 21-10 lead midway through the half. McNeese State clawed its way back to within four, 21-17, but the Raiders’ defense shut down the Cowgirls to head into the locker room up 38-23 at the break.

Colgate forced McNeese State into 17 first-half turnovers and shot a solid 44.8 percent from the field. Ballard led all scorers at the half with nine points, while Polinski had eight.

The Raiders maintained their double-digit advantage in the early going of the second session, jumping ahead 45-29 at the 16:34 mark on a good free throw by Polinski. Trailing by 15 at the 13:06 mark, the Cowgirls started to chip away at the Colgate lead with a 7-0 run over a span of just 38 seconds to make it an eight-point game 50-42.

Polinski responded with a trifecta on the next possession to make it 11 again, but McNeese State would not go away as it pulled to within six with 2:48 left to play. Ballard knocked down a pair of shots from the charity stripe and senior Meghan Curtin (Bronx, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer on the next two possessions to push the Raiders’ lead back to 11 at 77-66.

The Cowgirls notched the game’s next five points to make the score 77-71 with 1:36 left on the clock. Sophomore Melanie Cargle (Trotwood, Ohio) hit the front-end of a pair from the charity stripe to make it a three possession game again, 78-71 with 52 ticks left to play.

McNeese State’s Regina Spivey hit a three with 39 seconds left to make it a four-point contest, the smallest lead since the 15:49 mark of the first half. A layup by Shamika Stewart with 28 seconds left made it a two-point game, 78-76.

Ballard and Curtin hit a pair of free throws apiece in the final 18 seconds to seal the four-point victory for the Raiders.

Curtin finished with 13 points, including connecting on all four free throw attempts. Cargle added 11 points off the bench and posted four steals. Colgate shot 41.3 percent from the field (26-of-63), while McNeese State shot 49.2 percent.

Spivey had a game-high 19 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor. Stewart chipped in 18 points, while Shante Perry had 13. Stewart pulled down a game-high seven boards.

Colgate (1-2) takes on host Vanderbilt on Nov. 26, at 5 p.m. (est) in Memorial Gym. The Commodores defeated Charleston Southern in the opening game 83-39.