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HAMILTON – Led by Missy Repoli's game-high 19 points, the Colgate women's basketball team cruised to a 67-48 win over Columbia at Cotterell Court on Tuesday night.

The Raiders (3-5) shot the three-ball well tonight against the Lions, going 8-of-18 from beyond the arc. Repoli had five of those trays and shot 55-percent from long rang and also grabbed six boards. Mariah Jones had 13 points with a few 3-pointers of her own and Kelly Reid had a game-high eight rebounds.

“My teammates were able to find me,” said Repoli after a season-high 19 points, which was a high for Colgate this season as well. “They gave me great passes, which allowed me to get my shot off. I give all the credit to my teammates in a great win.”

Colgate did an excellent job distributing the ball tonight as the Raiders combined for a season-high 19 assists on 27 field goals made.

The Colgate defense was suffocating for the Lions as they shot less than 30 percent from the field and turned the ball over 17 times. Tyler Simpson was tops for Columbia with 16 points, while Bailey Ott pulled down seven boards. The Lions played a lot of shots off the dribble as they had just eight assists as a team on 17 field goals made.

“We got really tougher tonight,” said head coach Nicci Hays Fort. “They looked to execute the game plan. For us, it's a tough week at Colgate with the last week of school. We challenged them and they stepped up to the challenge.”

Both teams started out having a tough time finding the hoop, but Colgate was able to earn a 6-4 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Jones and Repoli. Columbia answered with a tray of its own and led 7-6, but the Raiders answered with a 9-2 run to build a lead of 15-9 with 11:30 left in the half on a Jhazmine Lynch steal and layup.

The Lions (1-7) were able to chip away at the Colgate lead and evened the score up at 22-22 with five minutes remaining in the half. The Raiders responded with a 15-4 run to close out the half and earn a 37-25 lead into the locker room. Jones started the run with back-to-back 3-pointers and had eight of the 15 points, while Repoli had five points during the stretch.

The second half began how the first ended. Colgate jumped on the Lions in the first six minutes. After giving up the first basket, the Raiders went on another long run. This time it was a 15-5 advantage, highlighted by a three from Repoli and six points from Lulu Brase. With the advantage, Colgate increased its lead to 52-34 and essentially put the game away after the stretch.

Columbia tried to cut into the lead, but every time it looked like the Lions would, Colgate responded. Columbia got four points back to slice the lead to 52-38 and then the Raiders scored 11 of the next 13 points to open up its largest lead at 63-40. Columbia closed the gap in the final five minutes, but it was too late and the Raiders came away with a 67-48 victory.

“We had a lot of spark off the bench and got our season-high in assists, which is huge for us,” said Hays Fort. “We were able to push tempo for most of the game and despite a few little lulls, overall we liked what we saw.”

The Raiders shot 48 percent from the floor and also added nine steals. As Hays Fort said, her bench really stepped up and it showed on the scoresheet as Colgate got 21 points off the bench.

It's back to the hardwood for the Raiders on Saturday afternoon as Colgate takes on Saint Francis (Pa.) at 4:15 p.m. at Cotterell Court. A reminder to fans, the Raiders are holding a toy drive this weekend, so be sure to drop off a toy for families in need.