ANNAPOLIS, Md. (02/25/2006)—Colgate University sophomore Melanie Cargle (Trotwood, Ohio) and freshman Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) scored 14 points apiece, but it was enough as the Raiders close the regular season with a 65-60 loss at Navy. The win clinches the fourth seed for the Midshipmen, while Colgate will await the score of the Lehigh versus Holy Cross game for either the fifth or sixth seed.

Polinski finished with her fifth double-double of her career with 10 rebounds to go with her 14 points. Colgate finishes the regular season 8-19 overall and 6-8 in league play, while Navy improves to 14-13 and 7-7 in conference action.

Both teams came out of the gate a little slow, turning the ball over a combined six times in the first eight possessions. The opening half featured a flurry of back-and-forth action with six ties and five lead changes. Trailing by three, 12-9, at the 11:37 mark, the Raiders used a 6-0 run with consecutive three-pointers from seniors Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) and Meghan Curtin (Bronx, N.Y.) to go ahead 15-12.

The Midshipmen scored the next five points to go back in front, but Colgate ran off six straight to take its largest lead of the game at six points, 23-17, with five minutes on the clock. Navy closed out the first stanza with a 12-6 run to go into the locker room with a one point advantage, 30-29.

Polinski led the Raiders with eight points. Colgate shot 37.5 percent in the first half, including 50 percent from behind the arc. Navy connected on 41.4 percent of its chances and just 25 percent form long range.

Coming out of the break, Colgate tied the score at 32, but Navy used a 10-2 run to go ahead 42-34 for its largest lead of the game. The Raiders battled back, running off 14 of the next 16 points over a span of nearly seven minutes to give Colgate 48-44 lead at 8:25 mark.

The Mids responded with the next five points to go ahead for good at 49-48. The Raiders would tie the score twice more but could not climb back in front of the Midshipmen. Leading by three with 1:24 left, Navy forward Kate Hobbs knocked made a layup with 1:16 left to seal the victory and fourth seed for Navy.

Missed free throws down the stretch hurt Colgate as the Raiders went just 3-of-10 from the charity stripe for the game. The Raiders shot 40 percent from the field for the game and 38.5 percent from long range.

Ashley Pelzek led all Navy scorers with 17 points, while Hobbs notched a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. The Midshipmen knocked down 38.3 percent of its shots and held a narrow 44-38 advantage on the glass.

The Raiders return to action on Thursday, March 2 in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament at a site yet to be determined.