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HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/11/11) – The Colgate women's basketball team opened its season with a tough 76-74 setback to Bryant on Veterans Day Friday night at Cotterell Court. The Raiders led by as much as 20 in the first half before Bryant opened the second half with a 21-6 run to steal the win.

Junior Jhazmine Lynch led the Raiders with19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while senior Candice Green had a career-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three point range. Freshman Mariah Jones also reached double-digits in scoring 13 points in her first collegiate game, while Kelly Korkowski pitched in five points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

Colgate (0-1) got the home crowd excited starting the game off with a 29-9 run, as senior Tricia Oakes scored the opening two points of the season. Bryant showed signs of life and battled back to decrease its deficit to 29-19 after a 10-0 run, but the Raiders responded with a 15-8 run to make the score 44-27 with 3:40 remaining. The Bulldogs closed the half with an 11-2 run to make the score 46-38 as both teams went into the locker rooms. Colgate shot a remarkable 72.7 percent (8-11) from three point range and 56 percent (14-25) from the field in the first half.

Bryant (1-0) opened the second half on a 16-6 run to take its first lead, since the score was 2-0 in the opening minute, and then added to it to make the score 59-52 with 14:55 remaining. The Raiders battled back to trim the lead to 59-56 with 10:40 remaining, but the Bulldogs answered right back with a three pointer from Katie Whittington to make the score 62-56. Colgate would trim the lead to 64-60 with 6:55 remaining and then trailed 69-64 with 1:12 remaining, before forcing Bryant to make free throws. The Bulldogs made their first four free throw attempts, but Colgate wouldn't go away as freshman Kelly Reid made a jumper and Green added a three pointer to make the score 73-69 with 28 ticks left. After Whittington missed the front end of a one-and-one, Lynch made a layup to bring the Raiders within two 73-71 with nine seconds remaining. Bryant's Danielle Douglas then hit two free throws to push the lead to 75-71, but Green pushed the ball down the court fast and found Missy Repoli, who drained a three pointer to bring the Raiders within one, 75-74, with three seconds left. Douglas returned to the free throw line for two shots and rimmed out the second one after making the first, but the Raiders last second shot from half court fell short as time expired to give Bryant the 76-74 win.

The Raiders outshot Bryant 47.1 percent (24-51) to 39.1 percent (25-64), but lost the battle on the boards 43-28.

The Raiders will travel to Ithaca to face Cornell on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Newman Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.