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HAMILTON – Definition of a great first half? Allowing an opponent to score 48 second-half points and yet never being in danger of letting the game slip away.

Colgate welcomed its top starting lineup back to Cotterell Court and proceeded to put together one of its best opening halves of the season while waltzing past Boston University 81-64 Wednesday night. The Raiders led 35-16 at intermission and breezed to their first Patriot League victory.

"First time all year; first time we've had all 14 players," Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. "And we had our starting five back. That was key."

Colgate's regular starting lineup of Lauryn Kobiela, Mariah Jones, Catherine Lewis, Kelly Reid and Carole Harris improved to 5-6 as a unit this season. The Raiders are 0-5 with their other starting combinations.

"We definitely were in sync today," Harris said. "That starting lineup is really in sync, so it gets us going."

Double-Trouble Down Low
Reid looked to be the missing link, as the junior forward posted a double-double in her true return to action after a four-game injury hiatus. The junior, who played 12 minutes Saturday at American, played 30 this night while scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

She also cleared the path for Harris (pictured right) to register her own double-double with 19 and 10.

"They play so well together and just feed off each other," Hays Fort said. "Having Kelly in there to stabilize our defense let's Carole kind of roam around a little bit. She can rebound and go for steals because she knows Kelly's there.

"When Kelly's not in, Carole has to be a little bit more of the anchor. It does really affect our defense, so it was nice to have everybody back."

Five Raiders reached double figures, with Jones, Lewis and Missy Repoli scoring 11 points apiece. Colgate as a team set season highs for field-goal percentage (52.5), 3-pointers made (11) and assists (24).

It was the team's first time shooting better than 50 percent from the field, thanks mainly to the 19-of-32 (59.4) effort in the second half. Clearly, the Raiders were finding the open look.

"We're so much better when we can create shots for other players," Hays Fort said. "When the ball gets stuck in one player's hands, we struggle offensively.

"Tonight, it was about being a great teammate, making extra passes, creating for others – and we did a tremendous job of that, especially in the whole first half and the first part of the second."

3-Point Barrage
There was some early drama. The lead changed hands four times in the opening six minutes before Reid hit a pair of free throws and then a layup that made it 9-5 Colgate with 13:51 showing.

The Raiders led 13-11 with 9:03 to play in the half when they went on a 15-0 run over the next 5½ minutes to make it 28-11 before BU scored again at the 3:33 mark. Six different Colgate players lit the scoring lamp during this stretch, with Jones, Lewis and Repoli all connecting from downtown.

That dynamic shooting trio combined for 9-of-15 from 3-point distance as they continued their race up the Colgate record charts. All three already are inside the program's career top 10 in 3-pointers made: Jones is seventh with 97, Lewis eighth with 95 and Repoli 10th with 90.

Lewis (pictured right), by the way, was playing her 100th game in a Colgate uniform.

Colgate coasted to a 35-16 halftime advantage. Not only was it the team's best defensive effort in the first half all season – holding Drexel to 23 was the previous low – but it also was the team's best defensive 20 minutes, period. The Raiders held Columbia to 18 in the second half of 72-44 triumph back on Dec. 7.

"We knew Boston was a good team, but the beauty of the Patriot League is everyone can compete on any given night," Reid said. "We had to bring our A-game if we were going to win, and we managed to do that.

"We came out with a lot of energy in the first half and it propelled us through the game."

No Second-Half Snooze
Slow starts to the second half – a recent bugaboo – weren't a Maroon problem this time around. Colgate scored the first eight points after the break and built its largest lead of the game at 43-16 with 18:12 remaining.

Kobiela hit a jumper and then Lewis and Jones (pictured below right) buried threes – leaving the Boston University side shaking their collective heads.

"A drill we do every day in practice helps us work on getting it into the post and looking opposite for the guards – always looking to make the extra pass," said Harris, who doubled her previous career high by dishing out six assists. "That's a point of emphasis we always have."

The Terriers scored 48 points in second period – their highest total for any half this season – yet never drew closer than 15 the rest of the way.

"We really wanted to make sure we didn't let their shooters get clean shots, and we did a great job of that in the first half," Hays Fort said. "We held them to one 3-pointer (1-of-10), and they made seven the other day against Lafayette in the first half.

"We also wanted to focus on their inside game. No. 22 (Rashidat Agboola) is a great player and she was named Preseason All-Patriot League. We knew we had to be all over them and not let them get any good quick shots. We switched it up a lot – man and zone – wanting to keep them on their toes a little bit."

Colgate limited Agboola to seven points and just three rebounds, well below her team-leading averages in both categories. The Terriers were led by Clodagh Scannell's 15 points.

"It really stems from our defense, which was an overall team effort," Reid said. "Mariah and Randyll were getting steals, our post defense was strong, so we were able to stop them on defense and convert on offense."

"It really propelled us into the second half."

Colgate's remaining scoring came from Kobiela with nine, Randyll Butler with eight – including her second 3-pointer of the season – and Katie Curtis with the Raiders' final bucket. Kobiela added eight assists.

Navy is Next
The Raiders won the rebound tussle 37-31, and the turnovers were nearly even at 18-17 BU. Colgate finished 31-of-59 from the floor for 52.5 percent, 11-of-21 from long distance for 52.4 percent, and 8-of-10 from the line. Boston University was 25-of-62 from the floor for 40.3 percent, 8-of-24 from three and 6-of-10 from the line.

"I wasn't happy with the shots we gave up in the second half," Hays Fort said. "But when you haven't had a lot of success and then you are having success, it's tough to play possession-by-possession. It's hard to feel the need to gut it out when you look up at the scoreboard and you're comfortably ahead.

"That's something we've got to do better: not playing to the score. It shouldn't matter if you're up or down; you've got to play each possession like it's the last."

Colgate improved to 5-11 overall while snapping a six-game losing streak. The Raiders are 1-4 in the Patriot League and in a four-way tie for seventh place. Boston University is now 6-12 and 1-4.

Next for the Raiders is a trip to first-place Navy, which won in double-overtime Wednesday at Bucknell to improve to 13-3 and 5-0. Start time from Annapolis is 7 p.m.

"We're going to a very tough Navy team Saturday," Hays Fort said. "We're a better team than 0-6 or 0-5 or 0-4, and we're finally healthy. We talked about being fearless, committing to each other and controlling the things we can control.

"We just want to put ourselves in a good position going into the conference tournament and be fearless toward the outcome. It's really important for our players to have a little bit of success right now."

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