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HAMILTON – Colgate said good night and good riddance to a couple of seven-game losing streaks here on a snowy Wednesday evening.
 
First order of business was picking up the initial Raider win of the season. Mission accomplished via a 74-55 performance against Binghamton.
 
The bonus was snapping a seven-game skid to those same Central New York neighbors.
 
Carole Harris led the way with 24 points – missing her career-high by a single digit – and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Mariah Jones reached a career-best with nine assists, while Josie Stockill added 13 points in her third straight double-figure scoring game.
 
Colgate (1-7) led by as many as 19 points in the opening half before settling for a 41-26 advantage at the break. The Bearcats pulled as close at 56-48 with 10:25 remaining, but Harris responded with four points to spark an 8-2 run and the Raiders breezed from there.
 

This was Colgate's first victory of the season after seven defeats, although those losses had come at the hands of teams sporting a combined 42-15 record to date. Colgate and Binghamton were playing for the first time since the 2008-09 season. Wednesday marked the first Raider victory over the Bearcats since a five-game Maroon winning streak back in the 1970s.
 
Binghamton (1-7) picked up 18 points apiece from Jasmine Sina and Imani Watkins.
 
The Raiders visit Monmouth this Saturday in a 2 p.m. start.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 74, Binghamton 55
 
Won-Lost Records
• Both teams are now 1-7.
 
Facts & Figures
• Not surprisingly, the Raiders established a few team season highs here Wednesday.
• The 74 points, 14 made free throws and 20 assists were all Maroon marks for the season. In addition, Colgate's nine steals and four blocked shots matched season highs.
• Just as impressive was Colgate's tally of eight turnovers, bettering the season-low of 12 set at St. Bonaventure.
• The Raiders turned in their best first-half shooting performance this year, swishing 16-of-34 for 47.1 percent. Only the second half against Cornell was better (15-of-31 for 48.4).
• Colgate for the game shot 41.2 percent (28-of-68), while Binghamton finished at 35.1 percent (20-of-57).
• Rebounds also went Colgate's way, 44-41, and Colgate's eight turnovers were half the Bearcat tally.
• Colgate was 4-of-14 from downtown to Binghamton's 6-of-27.
• The Raiders were efficient at the line, finishing 14-of-19 for 73.7 percent. The Bearcats were just 9-of-17. Colgate over its last three games is 28-of-37 at the line for 75.7 percent.
• Carole Harris led all scorers and rebounders with 24 points and 10 boards. It was her first double-double of the season and eighth career.

• Only a 25-point performance last year at St. Francis (Pa.) topped Wednesday's scoring night for Harris.
• She missed her first three free-throw attempts – and then made her last six.
• Her three blocked shots and 22 field-goal attempts were career highs.
• The rest of the Raider scoring went like this: Josie Stockill 13, Randyll Butler 8, Mariah Jones 7, Missy Repoli 7, Ariel Etheridge 5, Katie Curtis 5 and Julia Barcello 5.
• Stockill is averaging 13.7 points over her last three games and 10.8 for the season, second only to Harris' 12.9.
• Binghamton's scoring leaders were Jasmine Sina and Imani Watkins with 18 points each.
 
Jones Keeps Assisting
• Jones dished out a career-high nine assists.
• Her previous high of eight occurred last year at Bucknell.
• She entered Wednesday's game second in the Patriot League at 4.6 per game. With now 41 this season through eight games, that figure is up to 5.1 and remains second to American's Jen Dumiak at 6.1.
• For her career, Jones now has 230 assists. She needs 41 more to reach the Colgate top 10.
 
Pair of Freshmen Fives
• Two Colgate first-year players contributed five points apiece in Wednesday's game.
• One game after Etheridge scored her first collegiate points, classmate Barcello found the netting for her debut in the points column with five.
• Etheridge also scored five, backing up a nine-point outing Saturday against Albany with another made 3-pointer. That's four from long range in the last two games.
• Freshmen Kateri Stone and Tori Pozsonyi played 11 and six minutes, respectively.
 

Turning Point
• The game's third tie occurred at 16-16 with 8:36 left in the opening half. This after six lead changes to that point in the game.
• But Colgate turned on a 20-2 microburst over the next 5 minutes and 18 seconds to open a 36-18 cushion with 2:54 left.
• Crazy note of the night: Scoring-leader Harris, who finished with 24, contributed exactly zero points during this stretch.
• Repoli scored seven and a pair of freshmen – Etheridge and Barcello – accounted for five and two, respectively, during the run. Butler, Jones and Stockill added two apiece.
• Colgate's lead could have been larger than 41-26 at halftime if not for a pair of last-minute bombs from Binghamton's Sina and Kim Albrecht.
 
From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort: (On the assist-to-turnover numbers) "That was huge. We wanted to be a selfless basketball team tonight by passing the ball to open players, and we did a great job of that. We had a lot of great open looks that we didn't knock down, but we had even more that we did knock down."
(On the many contributions) "Every single player did something positive, and that's what we've emphasized the last couple of days in practice. Be a positive person for our team; bring energy, bring enthusiasm, bring excitement and something good will happen. That's what happened tonight."

(On the comfortable margin) "Binghamton is really scrappy. She's (Linda Cimino) doing a great job in her first year there and we knew it wasn't going to be easy. The first 10 minutes of the game we had to fight just to keep it even.
"We were able to go on a bit of a run there right in the middle of the first half and sustain it, but we knew they weren't going to quit. We couldn't let their 3-point shooters get hot, so we had to switch defenses up a little bit.
"But I'm just really happy for our team and proud of them tonight."
• Colgate guard Mariah Jones: (On the victory) "It was a great team win. We were really having fun out there, sharing the ball and making easy shots."
(On staying focused in the second half) "We were saying as a team that we had to toughen up and focus on what we did in the first half so we could keep the lead."
• Colgate forward Carole Harris: (On her performance) "We really wanted to attack in the post because we knew we were going to have an advantage, and we all did that. We struggled a little in the beginning, but once we got after it we were making shots.
(On the 20-2 first-half run) "We wanted to get clean rebounds and get it out, look for post touches but also kick it out if our guards are open. We did really well moving the ball today."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 322.
• How tough were Wednesday's road conditions in Central New York? Victor Pozsonyi made the drive from New Jersey to see Tori in action and arrived safe and sound – but after the game was over.
 
Up Next
• Colgate hits the road Saturday for a 2 p.m. start at Monmouth. The Hawks are 4-4 after a 61-45 setback Wednesday afternoon at Xavier.

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