Box Score
HAMILTON – It's hardly ho-hum, but Colgate keeps finding ways to beat Army.
The Raiders did it again here Wednesday, clipping the Cadets 71-60 to make it three wins in the last four against their closest Patriot League neighbors.
Mariah Jones led the charge with 23 points and
Carole Harris posted her sixth double-double of the year for the winners.
"It's a great victory for our team," Jones said. "Our morale is going to be up now because we know we can beat a really tough team like Army. We know that if we do the little things like we've been practicing, they'll show in the game."
Jones missed by one point of matching her season high, while Harris scored a double-double for the fourth time in Colgate's six victories this season. The Raiders improved to 6-20 overall and 2-13 in the Patriot League, while Army dropped to 18-7 and 10-4.
Two Straight in Hamilton
Last year, Colgate capped its season with two wins over the regular-season champion Black Knights in a 15-day span – 60-56 in Hamilton and 48-40 at West Point in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. Wednesday's result was another unexpected kick in the pants – on both sides.
"Army is a great team," Colgate head coach
Nicci Hays Fort said. "Dave Magarity's done a great job; Kelsey Minato and Jen Hazlett are great, great players. We just came up with a defensive game plan and I challenged our players, 'Can we do it?'
"If we could do it, we would give ourselves a chance to win. And they went out and ran the defensive game plan to perfection, hit huge free throws down the stretch – all the credit to our team. They went out and got it done."
Wednesday's game had several keys:
• Colgate shot 61.5 percent in the first half for its best 20 minutes of shooting in any half this season. The previous high was 59.4 percent in the second half of a Jan. 15 win over Boston University.
• That was Colgate's most recent victory. The Raiders had lost nine straight and 15 of their last 16. Army, on the other hand, entered Wednesday in a virtual tie for second place, having won six of its last seven.
• Harris (pictured right) finished with 13 points and 14 rebounds.
• Jones (pictured middle right) made one 3-pointer for the 111th of her career, tying her for fifth in Colgate history.
Missy Repoli made two treys, however, and passed Jones for the team's season lead, 41-40. Repoli has 108 for her career and
Catherine Lewis, who also made two against Army, has 104.
• Colgate finished with 12 turnovers, but only three of those came in the crucial second half.
• Points in the paint went Colgate's way by a 32-14 spread; Bench points were 21-2, Maroons.
• First-year forward
Jackie Hudepohl had a season-high seven rebounds, all on the defensive glass. The Raiders won the all-important rebounding category, 42-36.
• Lauryn Kobiela dished out five more assists to move into fifth place on the Colgate career list with 344.
• Sophomore
Randyll Butler finished 7-of-10 at the line for career highs in both made free throws and attempts. Butler entered Wednesday shooting just below the halfway mark at the stripe for the season, but she made her last six attempts in the game and Colgate made its last 10 as a team.
"Free throws always are important," said Butler, who scored 11 points and added five boards. "I haven't been shooting very well, but my teammates are always encouraging me to just have confidence when I get up there. I just tried to step up and knock them down tonight."
The first 20 minutes saw three ties and a pair of lead changes. But by the time Colgate took its opening-half shooting display to the locker room, the Raiders were in front 35-23. Only last month's 19-point cushion against Boston University was better.
But the Raiders were certain Army would make a charge.
"We knew Army was a great team and we knew this wasn't just a first-half game," Butler said. "We had to come out extra strong because we knew they were going to come back, so we just kept pushing. We had a couple of lulls and they got it down to three, but everybody as a team said, 'We can't let up. We've got to keep attacking.'"
Army got as close as 52-49 on a Minato free throw with still 7:34 remaining. The super soph scored 20 points – 15 in the second half – but that meant she was below her season average of 21.9. Jen Hazlett claimed team honors with 23, but she was just 9-of-26 from the field and one of only five Knights to find the scoring column.
"We just kept saying, 'We have to get every rebound' and then get good shots," Hays Fort said. "So we started to regain the lead to about six and we felt a little more comfortable. Then they had to start fouling us."
Colgate pushed back to a 59-50 cushion when Jones cashed in her only 3-ball of the night with 5:21 to play. Army narrowed the lead to 61-57 at the 2:42 mark, but never could get any closer as the Raiders took dead aim from the free-throw line.
Careful Down the Stretch
Also important was how well Colgate handled the ball. Three turnovers against full-court pressure for most of the second half was key.
"We don't usually have a problem late in games because of
Lauryn Kobiela," Hays Fort said. "With Mariah, Randyll and Lauryn, there are three point guards on the floor. We knew if we made a good initial pass, we would be OK."
Colgate finished at 49.1 percent from the field, making 26-of-53, including 6-of-13 from the arc. The Raiders were 13-of-17 at the line. Army shot 30.3 percent on 20-of-66. They made 6-of-22 from downtown and 14-of-21 from the line.
In addition to Colgate's double-figure scorers, Kobiela added eight points, Repoli and Lewis six apiece and
Josie Stockill four. Stockill matched her season high with four blocks and jumped to ninth on Colgate's career list with 65.
For Jones, the 23 points marked her third game this season scoring in the 20s, her 13th in double figures and her sixth time to lead the team. February had been a dry month until she scored 16 Saturday against Navy, so maybe the shooting touch is returning.
"My teammates were really finding me," Jones said. "Coach was talking about pushing the ball in transitions, so that's what we were doing. It's been tough, my shooting, the last few games, so it's nice to have a good output this game to help the team win."
Rookie Rebound Ace
And Hudepohl (pictured right) was huge as well, easily topping her previous rebounding high of four.
"I was just trying to go in there and help my team play defense and rebound," Hudepohl said. "That's what Coach emphasizes that I need to do every game. I came in there and was fired up from the beginning and showed Coach that I was ready to play tonight.
"She decided to leave me in there and I was just trying to play hard for my teammates."
Colgate moved into a ninth-place tie with its next opponent, Loyola. The Raiders and Greyhounds meet Sunday in Baltimore at 1 p.m.
The Raiders still have a shot at catching eight-place Lehigh (4-10) and hosting a Patriot League Tournament first-round game. After Loyola, Colgate visits Lafayette next Wednesday and then hosts Lehigh for Senior Day March 1.
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