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HAMILTON – Colgate made the most of its December drive-thru home schedule, scoring a 65-60 win over Drexel here Wednesday night.

The Raiders/Road Warriors are one-and-done for Cotterell Court this month, with Wednesday's respite the lone exception to this stretch of seven out of eight outside the village limits. But Colgate did secure its first home victory of the season thanks to steady hands down the stretch.

"I was really proud of our team," Raiders head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. "There was no panic. They just kept defending and rebounding and they looked to attack on offense. And we got some great shots.

"It says a lot about the direction our program is going. We haven't had this type of game this season where we were up and then the other team came back and took the lead, and then we had to fight back to regain the lead."

Colgate, now 2-5, held the lead for most of the game until Drexel grabbed a 50-49 advantage with 5:14 remaining. It was 53-51 Dragons when Mariah Jones nailed a 3-pointer and Lauryn Kobiela scored on a driving layup to push the Raiders back in front, 56-53.

Colgate never trailed again.

"In the second half, they knew we were taking away their back-cuts so they just spread us out," Hays Fort said. "They had 16 assists on 20 baskets – that's pretty unbelievable. But our team got some huge rebounds down the stretch and some big-time stops."

Kobiela's Kind of Gym
No one is more distraught about the current scheduling imbalance than Kobiela, who helped slay the Dragons with 23 points Wednesday night on the heels of a career-high 27 back on Nov. 23 against Harvard. The senior captain is enjoying her campus accommodations to the tune of a 19-point scoring average inside the local gym.

"Coach told us to catch-and-shoot – be ready to make the pass and be ready to shoot the ball," said Kobiela, who is the team's leading scorer at 13.1 overall. "So that's what I did and they went in. Honestly, I don't know (how to explain it)."

Kobiela won't keep this pace – will she? – but she's 8-of-8 outside the 3-point arc when playing inside Cotterell Court this season. She was a salty 3-of-3 Wednesday to help the Raiders convert 8-of-13 as a team.

"I'm just shooting it, and when they go in I just keep shooting it," she said. "It seems like they're going in here."

Harris Doubles the Wins
Carole Harris finished with 10 points and a career high-tying 11 rebounds for her second career double-double. Both have come in the last five games and helped produce Colgate's two victories this season.

The junior forward was in beast mode early, securing four points and five boards in the game's opening five minutes.

"Carole was really aggressive on the defensive end," Hays Fort said. "We knew Carole was going to be able to rebound against them with her matchup, and Carole's been having a great year so far.

"I guess she just needs to have a double-double every game so we can win the rest of them."

Colgate led 27-23 at halftime and the Raiders' largest lead in either half was seven points on six different occasions. But every time the Maroons appeared to be putting the game to a comfortable distance, Drexel would answer.

The Dragons lived up to their 3-point forecast by making 12 from long range. But Colgate's defense forced them into 30 attempts, and the Raiders claimed the rebound battle by a 37-35 margin.

"Drexel's a great team; they won a WNIT championship last year," Hays Fort said. "We knew they were going to be extremely difficult to guard. They try to confuse you and they're constantly looking for you to have one slip-up.

"Our team did a great job, especially in the first half. They got a couple of threes, but we knew every player on their team except for one shot threes. We had to get out and defend the 3-point line."

Jones Scores Eight from the Gate
That was something Drexel forgot defensively to start the second half, when Jones opened by scoring Colgate's first eight points. She sandwiched a pair of threes around two technical free throws – Drexel head coach Denise Dillon was the culprit – and the Raiders were up 35-30.

Jones went on to score 14 of her 16 points after intermission.

"Lauryn was finding me and I was getting some open shots because they were sagging off," said Jones, who was 3-of-5 from downtown. "If that's their game plan, I'll do what I want to do against their defense. I was doing what I needed to pull out the win."

Jones said Wednesday's win was important because the team had lost its way recently on the offensive end.

"We were trying to stay really focused," she said. "Coach was talking about how we needed to take care of the ball and make every possession count."

The Raiders did just that, committing only six turnovers to better their previous season low (15 at New Hampshire) by nine. Drexel had only seven turnovers and the teams were whistled for 13 fouls apiece in the well-played contest.

Contributions Everywhere
Missy Repoli added eight points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field that included 2-of-2 from long range. The remaining Colgate points were scored by Randyll Butler (4), Jackie Hudepohl (2), Paige Kriftcher (1) and Josie Stockill (1).

"This win picked up every player," Kobiela said. "Every player on the team played really well; just an all-around good game – especially against a team that won the WNIT last year."

Drexel, 2-4, placed four in double figures, led by Meghan Creighton's 14.

Foul shooting was a problem for Drexel down the stretch, as the Dragons made just 4-of-10 over the final 5:54. Colgate, meanwhile, made 8-of-11 over that same time frame to nearly account for the final five-point margin.

Colgate was just shy of 40 percent from the field (21-of-53) to Drexel's 37 percent (20-of-54). The Dragons were 12-of-30 from downtown, while Colgate made a season-best 61.5 percent (8-of-13).

Colgate plays Saturday at Columbia (1-7) in a 4 p.m. start.

"We're the Road Warriors," Kobiela said. "We don't have that many home games, so Coach is emphasizing being Road Warriors."

Raider Reel: There is a pregame reception at Amerstand Restaurant and Tapas Lounge to celebrate 40 Years of Colgate Women's Athletics. Click HERE to register and for more information.