WORCESTER, Mass. (1/30/08)—Colgate freshman Sami Kozlowski (New Market, Md.) registered 15 points on five three-pointers and four rebounds in a 59-37 loss at Holy Cross in Patriot League women’s basketball action at the Hart Center.  Briana McFadden led the Crusaders with 15 points.

 

Rookies Georgia Gier (Mercer Island, Wash.) and Krista Moser (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) added seven points apiece, while junior Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) led the Raiders on the glass with eight rebounds.

 

Both offenses struggled to find the bottom of the basket in the first half with both teams combined for just 17 field goals in the opening 20 minutes. Holy Cross jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Gier got a layup at the 18:36 mark to make it a 5-2 game.

 

The Crusaders responded with a 12-3 run over the next 10 minutes, including holding the Raiders without a basket for six minutes, to take a 17-5 lead. Polinski stopped the scoring drought with a bucket with 6:20 left on the clock that sparked a 9-2 run that pulled Colgate within five points, 19-14. Holy Cross answered with a 7-2 run in the final two minutes to take a 26-16 lead into halftime.

 

Colgate shot 25.9 percent from the field in the first session, while Holy Cross knocked down 32.3 percent of its shots in the opening stanza. The Crusaders held a 26-16 advantage in rebounds in the first half.

 

Kozlowski opened the second half with a three-pointer to make it a seven-point game, 26-19, but Holy Cross found its shooting touch and started to pull away in the later minutes of the half. The Crusaders responded with a three-pointer from McFadden and held Colgate without a field goal for the next six minutes. However, the Raider defense kept Holy Cross in check as the Crusaders led just 34-22 despite Colgate’s shooting struggles.

 

Colgate made it a three possession game again at the 11:57 mark, but that would be as close as the Raiders would get in the contest. Holy Cross used a 10-1 run to earn its largest lead of the game, 44-26, and rode that to a 59-37 final.

 

Tayana Carper added 14 points for the Crusaders and Kathy Gruzynski led the charge on the boards with a game-high nine rebounds.

 

The Raiders shot 30.4 percent for the game, while Holy Cross connected on 39.7 percent of its chances, including a much improved 48.1 percent in the second half. The Crusaders won the battle of the boards, 41-31, for the game.

 

Colgate closes out the first half of the Patriot League schedule on Feb. 2, hosting Navy at Cotterell Court at 2 p.m.