Box Score

OLEAN, N.Y. – Basketball fans got three games for the price of one here Friday night.

Unfortunately for Colgate, winning the first five minutes and the final 15 weren't enough to overcome an explosive St. Bonaventure rally over the middle portion that led to a 54-45 Bonnies victory.

“There's a reason why they went to the Sweet 16 last year,” Raiders head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “They are great players, great competitors.

“We had to fight back like crazy from down 22. We had the ball down 10 a couple of times, but we could never get it under 10 because St. Bonaventure just wanted to compete and made it hard for us.”

Super-Quick Start
Colgate opened the game as most unwelcomed guests, scoring the first eight points before many of the locals had settled into their Reilly Center seats.

Jhazmine Lynch and Missy Repoli connected on 3-pointers, and Repoli added a mid-range jumper to make it 8-0 at the first media timeout. When Carole Harris drained a jumper of her own, it was 10-1 with 14:50 left in the opening half against a squad that finished 14-0 last season in the Atlantic-10 Conference.

“We came out with a ton of energy,” Hays Fort said. “We were making simple passes, hitting the open players and knocking down shots.

“But then we started making it really difficult. We were panicking a bit when we had the ball and not being strong with it.”

St. Bonaventure's initial spark came when Bonnies head coach Jim Crowley went to his bench and sent in five fresh players. The ploy worked, because St. Bonaventure scored the next 11 points to go on top 12-10 with 10:35 to go.

Harris finally ended Colgate's drought with a jump shot that made it 12-all, but the Bonnies kept the pressure on and increased the lead to 29-16 with five minutes remaining.

“We've got to fix that; we've got to be more consistent,” Hays Fort said of the roller-coaster first half. “We want to score quickly; we want to push that tempo. But you're not going to keep a team to one point. If a team makes a couple of buckets, what are you going to do to go right back at them?

“We want to start quickly, but we've got to be able to sustain it too.”

Colgate closed to within 31-20 at halftime despite committing 14 turnovers in the first 20 minutes (St. Bonaventure had two).

Near Disaster
It didn't get much better for the Raiders when the second half began. St. Bonaventure scored the first 11 points to make it 42-20 with 16:57 to play.

“That could have been disastrous, not only for the game but for our team,” Hays Fort said. “This early in the season, we had to prove to ourselves we could fight back.”

So the Raiders switched to a zone defense, gambling they could contain St. Bonaventure's outside shooting.

“We couldn't guard them man-to-man; that's why we had to go zone,” Hays Fort said. “It was either going to be a 40-point game or we had to try to control it. We talked this week about maybe having to mix it up a little bit, and it turned out that we had to try something different.

“We actually were able to defend them pretty well in the zone.”

Harris and freshman Josie Stockill scored eight points apiece in the second half to account to nearly two-thirds of Colgate's 25-point total. But it was the Raiders' defense that made the difference as Colgate cut the St. Bonaventure lead by more than half.

Over one stretch, Colgate held the Bonnies scoreless for 4 minutes and 17 seconds.

“Coach always says we need a spark – whether we're down two or 10,” the sophomore Harris said. “Lauren (Kobiela) and Missy were hitting me when I was open. Sometimes, the team just needs something that gets them going – whether it's scoring or rebounding.”

Repoli Keeps Scoring
Harris and Repoli led the Colgate scoring with 12 points each, followed by Stockill with nine points and seven boards. Repoli has reached double figures in scoring all three games this season.

“Our team has really improved over last year,” Repoli said. “As a sophomore, I'm just trying to be more of a team leader and make sure we're all on the same page. I've been in the gym a lot and I'm hitting my shots.

“Tonight, my teammates were setting screens for me and getting me the ball when I was open.”

Hays Fort also recognized the play of freshman Randyll Butler, who led the team with eight tough rebounds. And the Colgate effort was boosted by the return from injury of sophomore Kelly Reid, who chipped in six rebounds in 16 minutes.

“Even though she wasn't the Kelly Reid of before she got hurt, it was nice to have her in there and on the floor,” Hays Fort said. “She was a little rusty, but it was nice to have her as an option.”

Colgate shot just 31.3 percent (15 of 48) from the floor, but continued its fine work at the charity stripe by making 12 of 15. The Raiders finished with a 42-37 rebounding edge and limited their turnovers to just five in the second half and 19 for the game.

“This game will prepare us for harder games down the road, prepare us for the league,” the senior Lynch said. “This is a learning lesson for us. We will take this back to the gym and work on things in practice that we messed up in the game.”

Colgate (1-2) plays Thanksgiving Friday and Saturday at the LIU Brooklyn Turkey Classic. The Raiders take on host LIU Brooklyn on Friday at 2 p.m. Drexel and Missouri-Kansas City are the tournament's other two teams.