Box Score

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Colgate kicked the door down on a three-game winning streak by refusing to settle for not good enough.

The Raiders rallied from nine points down in the second half here Saturday evening and bounced Robert Morris, 68-61. The victory handed Colgate a three-game winning streak for the first time since Dec. 1-5, 2010.

"It's great for them and a huge step," Raiders head coach Nicci Hays Fort said of her team. "We know we are better and we've had some bumps in the road. But we can't do anything about woulda-coulda games; we have to focus on the future."

Saturday was one that certainly could have – and has – gone the other way these last three years. But Hays Fort says the focus now is on realizing what it takes to close out games.

"This team has to earn things," she said. "Just like you feel a lot better when you earn an A – at Colgate, professors don't just give you A's; you have to earn them – it's the same with earning wins. The Drexel game and this one we would not have won two years ago, and last year it would have been shaky.

"We are making strides."

Butler on Both Ends
Lauryn Kobiela scored eight of her team-high 15 points down the stretch and Randyll Butler added her first career double-double to lift the Raiders, who improved to 4-5 overall and 3-3 on the road.

Butler finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to match career highs in both categories. The sophomore added a career-high four steals and also helped defend Colonials star forward Artemis Spanou, who finished with 16 points and 12 boards – both below her averages.

"That was a big matchup for us," said Butler, who was giving up 6 inches in height to Spanou. "With Carole getting those two fouls in the first half, a lot of us had to step up and help her out."

Raiders junior Carole Harris drew a pair of fouls in the opening five minutes and went to the bench with just two points. But Butler, Kelly Reid and Josie Stockill helped keep the Raiders close by holding Spanou to just six points the first half.

"In high school, Randyll had to guard the other team's post player even though she was the point guard," Hays Fort said. "She has strength, competitiveness and deceiving length for her height."

The first half featured 13 lead changes and three ties. Colgate's largest lead of the opening 20 minutes was four at 21-17, and the team's final lead of the half was 24-23 on a Reid layup with 4:58 remaining.

That's when Robert Morris turned the tables over the final five minutes, scoring the last six points to head into the break leading 34-28.

"We had the game manageable in the first half and then let them score the last six points before half," Hays Fort said. "Then we're down nine in the second half and really had to dig deep."

Trap Changes Tone
Robert Morris pushed its advantage to the largest of the game at 42-33 when Cassie Oursler scored from close range with 16:41 remaining. That gave Oursler six points in the first 3½ minutes of the second half and 12 for the game, but she wouldn't score again.

Colgate was in the process of going to a three-quarter and half-court trap in hopes of rattling the Colonials. The plan worked, as Robert Morris committed 11 of its 18 turnovers in the second half.

"My staff made a good suggestion to put on a little bit of pressure on and that forced a couple of steals," Hays Fort said. "They made a few shots out of our pressure, but you can't be scared to give up a few points in order to change the game.

"Because of our pressure, we were able to start rebounding better and that was huge. We just wore them down and made some big shots late."

Mariah Jones' 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run that narrowed the lead to 42-41 with 12:39 showing. It was 53-50 Colonials when Colgate reeled off another 10 in a row, the final two off an exquisite inbounds play that saw Jones feed Butler for an easy bank shot that made it 60-53 with 3:44 to go.

"That was a good call by my staff and great reads from both Mariah and Randyll," Hays Fort said. "We were looking for something to put us over the top and that did it."

It was the only lead change of the second half. Robert Morris drew within two points in the final minute but Colgate made 11 of its final 14 free throws to hold on and defeat the Northeast Conference preseason favorites.

"The entire game, we would score and they would score," Kobiela said. "We just had to get the big stops. We started outrebounding them and that's what helped us get the lead at the end of the game."

At Home on the Road
Kobiela scored eight points over the last 7½ minutes and also dished out five assists against just one turnover. The 15-point total marked a road season high and was just her second road game in double figures.

"I've been playing really well at home, so it was nice to match that on the road," Kobiela said. "But everyone played well. Once we started attacking their zone, they had to get out of it and that's what propelled us to the win."

Jones chipped in eight second-half points to finish with a dozen, while Harris finished with nine points in 21 minutes and Stockill scored seven to go with a season-high four blocks. Catherine Lewis opened the game with a 3-pointer and added another in the first half, Missy Repoli added two from downtown including the one that put Colgate ahead for keeps. Both scored six points.

Both teams shot 39 percent from the field. Colgate made four of its 10 3-point attempts in the second half to finish 6-of-19 from downtown, while Robert Morris was 4-of-14. Robert Morris won a close rebound battle, 40-38, but committed 18 turnovers to 12 for Colgate.

Robert Morris, which dropped its fourth straight to fall to 3-5, was helped by double-doubles from Spanou (16 and 12) and Oursler (12 and 10). It was Spanou's 32nd consecutive double-double and 66th of her career.

Colgate plays again Dec. 22 at Albany in a 2 p.m. start.

"We're getting better every day but there's a lot of getting better to do," Hays Fort said. "We can't settle for how we are now, and not settling is winning games like this one."

Raider Reel: Since last winning three in a row three years ago, Colgate had posted four different two-game winning streaks. Two of those came in the 2011-12 season and two were last year ... Colgate's win Saturday was its first this season when trailing at halftime. The Raiders also won for the first time when shooting a lower percentage than their opponent and when being outrebounded ... Stockill's four blocked shots were just one shy of her career best ... Butler made four free throws in a game for the first time in her career, and the sophomore has made seven of her last 11 free throw attempts. Butler also was the first Raider other than Harris or Reid to lead the team in rebounds ... Next weekend's game at Albany will be the 100th of Kobiela's career.