Box Score

SMITHFIELD, R.I. (12/11/0) – Despite making a come back late in the second half, the Colgate women's basketball team could not secure the win, suffering a 77-70 setback to Bryant on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Jhazmine Lynch had a team-high 22 points, four steals and five assists while senior Tayler Wejnert contributed 18 points, four steals and a team-best seven rebounds for the Raiders.

The game started off even between the two teams until Bryant went on a 9-2 run five minutes into the game to put the score at 11-4. The Bulldogs continued to play hard as they maintained their lead but as the half progressed, Colgate (5-6) soon found its rhythm and reduced the scoring margin to three with just eight minutes left. However as the half came to a close, Bryant was able to extend its lead once again to give them a 38-27 advantage at half time.

The Bulldogs came out strong in the second half, turning an 11 point lead to 13 , as they continued to break away from the Raiders. Despite several attempts by Colgate to improve its score, Bryant continued to hold an 11-point lead throughout most of the half, increasing the scoring margin by as much as 17 points at the 11.25 mark. Midway through the half, the Raiders finally began to find their momentum offensively as they rallied back with ten unanswered points to put the score a 66-61 with just five minutes left in the game. Both teams continued to battle it out on the court, with the score coming as close as 68-66 with just 3:40 left on the clock. However, in the end Bryant was able to fight off the Raiders with a last minute surge to give them the 77-70 win.

Colgate had a 46.2 field goal percentage, going 10-of-22 in the first half and 14-of-30 in the second. The team was also 14-of-20 from the charity stripe.

"We got ourselves into a hole early," stated head coach Pamela Bass. "We needed to do a better job taking care of the ball because they capitalized on our turnovers. In addition we allowed them to get second looks rather than owning the boards. We showed a lot of guts and heart in the comeback but unfortunately we just couldn't get over the hump when we got to within two points. We willl now focus on final exams and be ready to go for our trip to Colorado."

The Raiders will resume play at the end of the month when they travel to Colorado for its three final non-conference games of the season. The team will first play Northern Colorado on Dec. 28 before taking on Colorado on Dec. 30 followed by Air Force on Jan. 2, 2011.