HAMILTON, N.Y. (2/9/08)—Army junior Alex McGuire registered 16 points, seven rebounds, and eight steals to lead the Black Knights to a 74-54 victory over Colgate in Patriot League women’s basketball action on Cotterell Court. The Raiders had four players with nine points apiece.

 

Colgate falls to 1-22 overall and 0-8 in the Patriot League, while Army ups its record to 15-8 and 6-2 in conference action to stay in a tie for first place in the standings.

 

Junior Katie Garman (Poplar Grove, Ill.) led the Raiders with a solid performance of nine points, six rebounds, and five assists  Freshmen Georgia Gier (Mercer Island, Wash.) tallied nine points and six rebounds and Krista Moser (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) and Evan Librizzi (Essex Junction, Vt.) both added nine points. Gier and Moser also both registered a pair of blocks in the game.

 

The opening half was a back and forth affair that featured five lead changes and two ties. The squads traded baskets in the early going with Colgate taking a 7-6 lead off of a three-pointer from junior Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio). The score changed two more times over the next two possessions with Colgate leading 10-9 at the 14:26 mark.

 

Black Knight senior Cara Enright got a steal and a fastbreak layup on the next possession to give Army back the lead and spark an 18-9 run over the next eight minutes. The Black Knights pushed the lead to 14, 33-19, before the Raiders came roaring back in the final two minutes. Led by sophomore Laura Grimm’s (Pittsburgh, Pa.) three free throws, Colgate scored seven straight points to cut the lead to 33-26 at the half.

 

Army came out of the break and scored the first seven points. The Black Knights continued to push the pace and stifle the Colgate offense as they pushed the lead to 24 points with 7:35 left to play. Army held Colgate to just 11 points in the opening 13 minutes.

 

The Raiders chipped away at the lead over the next few minutes to make it a 15-point game, 65-50, but the early second-half deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

 

Enright led all scorers with 19 points and a game-high seven assists, while Stefanie Stone added 11 points. Erin Anthony joined McGuire for the lead in rebounding with seven boards.

 

Colgate shot 39.6 percent from the floor for the game, including 45.8 percent in the second half. Army hit 48.2 percent of its shots from the field and 50 percent from long range in the victory. The Black Knights held a slight 34-30 edge on the boards and got 26 points off of turnovers to the Raiders’ 15.

 

The Raiders close out the three-game homestand on Feb. 13 versus Lafayette at 7 p.m.