HAMILTON, N.Y. (01/14/2006)—American University had four players in double figures as they upended host Colgate University, 74-63, in Patriot league women’s basketball action on Cotterell Court on Jan. 14. The Raiders fall to 3-12 overall and 1-2 in league action, while the Eagles improve to 4-12 and 1-2 in conference play.

American jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first 30 seconds, but Colgate responded with six of the next eight points to make it a one-point game, 7-6. The Eagles rebuilt their lead to seven, 15-8, at the 14:21 mark before the Raiders broke off an 11-1 run to jump ahead by three, 19-16 with 10:53 left to play. Senior Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) sparked the run for the Raiders with six points, including back-to-back layups.

Ballard finished the game with a team-high 14 points, a career-high nine assists, and five rebounds, and three steals.

The Eagles responded with a 12-3 run of their own to go ahead by six, 28-22, with 5:06 left to play. American withstood another Colgate run to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room.

American shot an impressive 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the floor, including 50 percent from long range. Tara Williams led all Eagles with eight points at the break.

Colgate shot 38.2 percent (13-of-34) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and connected on just 3-of-11 from downtown.

The Raiders climbed back to within in one at the 11:48 mark of the second half and would do so four more times, but they could not get over the hump to take the lead. Trailing 57-56 at the 6:13 mark, the Eagles used a 7-1 run over the next three minutes to build their advantage to seven, 64-57, and never looked back, winning 74-63.

Colgate finished the game at 39.4 percent from the field (26-of-66), while American knocked down 54.5 percent of its shots.

Senior Meghan Curtin (Bronx, N.Y.) contributed 13 points for the Raiders, including a team-high three three-pointers, while freshman Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) knocked in nine points. Polinski also led the way on the glass with seven boards.

Abby Lipskis led all scorers in the contest with 16 points, while Pam Stanfield and Williams were just behind her with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Tala Hadavi rounded out the double digit scorers with 11 points. Tish Curry paced the Eagles’ rebounding efforts with a game-high nine caroms.

Colgate closes out its non-conference schedule on Jan. 17, hosting defending Ivy League champ Dartmouth at 7 p.m., at Cotterell Court. The game will be televised live by Time Warner Sports 26 in Central New York.