HAMILTON, N.Y. (02/18/2006)—Navy jumped out to a 14-1 lead in the opening five minutes and never looked back, defeating Colgate University, 80-62, in women’s basketball action this afternoon on Cotterell Court. Navy junior Carly Meyer led all players with 25 points and 16 rebounds, while Colgate senior Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) scored a team-high 19 points for the Raiders.

Colgate falls to 7-18 overall and 5-7 in league play, while the Midshipmen improve to 13-12 overall and 6-6 in conference action. Navy took solo possession of fourth place in the league standings with the victory.

The Midshipmen held the Raiders without a field goal for the first 6:34 and led by as many as 27 in the opening 20 minutes. Colgate used a quick 13-4 run at the end of the half to cut the Navy lead to 18, 42-24, at the break, but it was too big a hole to recover from.

The Raiders shot 35.7 percent from the field in the first session, while the Midshipmen knocked down 58.6 percent of their chances. Navy also dominated the boards in the first half, outrebounding Colgate 23-11.

Needing to make a run in the second half, Colgate could never get closer than 14 points as Navy cruised to the 18-point victory.

Sophomore Melanie Cargle (Trotwood, Ohio) chipped in 10 points and four assists for the Raiders and freshman Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) added seven points and a team-high five rebounds.

Colgate finished the game shooting 40.3 percent overall and just 47.4 percent from the charity stripe.

The Midshipmen got double-digit performances from three other players. Betsy Burnett finished with 17 and Kate Hobbs and Lauren Skrel added 15 and 12, respectively.

Navy knocked down 54.4 of its shots for the game and outrebounded the Raiders 41-29.

Colgate closes out its home schedule on Feb. 21, hosting Holy Cross at 7 p.m., on Cotterell Court. Colgate will honor its three seniors prior to the game.