Box Score

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (11/27/10) – Despite holding the lead throughout most of the game, the Colgate women's basketball team could not secure the third-place spot, falling to McNeese State 63-62 in the LIU Turkey Classic consolation game on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Jhazmine Lynch (San Diego, Calif.) led the team with a game-high 17 points and three rebounds while seniors Sami Kozlowski (New Market, Md.) and Tayler Wejnert (Ramsey, N.J.) contributed 13 and 12 points respectively for the Raiders. Wejnert was also named to the All-Tournament team.

The Cowgirls got off to an early lead with a 7-0 run in the first few minutes of the game. McNeese State (3-3) then hit a four-minute dry spell during which Colgate (3-5) put away one basket after another, to take the 10-7 lead at the 13:54 mark. Finding their groove midway through the half, the Raiders continued to outhustle and outplay their opponent and eventually extended their lead to 32-19 by the end of the first half.

Colgate came out with the same momentum it had at the end of the first half, outscoring the Cowgirls 6-2 in the first three minutes. Feeling the pressure, McNeese State began to play more aggressively and eventually cut the Raiders' lead, evening the score at 45-45 at the 8:33 mark. The teams continued to battle it out, with Colgate extending its lead by seven points with just five minutes left of play. However, as the clock wound down, it was the Cowgirls that were able to capitalize on their opportunities and with the help of a couple of three pointers, evened the score once again in the last minute of play. The Raiders then came back with a basket to take a one point lead after a set of free throws from McNeese State, but it was Kendra Well's layup in the final few seconds of the game that proved to be the game-winner, giving the Cowgirls their third win of the season and the third-place finish in the tournament.

The Raiders shot 78.6 percent from the charity stripe and had a 47.5 field goal percentage while McNeese State shot 72.7 from the line and had a 34.8 percentage from the field.

"We struggled taking care of the basketball against their full court press and gave up some key offensive rebounds to them at crucial times in the game," stated head coach Pam Bass. " We are now looking forward to returning home and hosting Cornell on Wednesday night."

Colgate will continue its season with a three-game homestand next week. The team will first face Cornell on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. before taking on Loyola-Chicago and St. Francis (N.Y.) on Friday, Dec. 3 and Sunday, Dec. 5 on Cotterell Court.