HAMILTON – Two games, two rallies. And two heartbreaking defeats.
 
Colgate for the second outing in a row staged a furious rally in the final minutes only to see those efforts thwarted. Navy prevailed 65-63 here Saturday on Hannah Fenske's layup as the buzzer sounded.
 
The Raiders had just completed a 17-2 run that tied the score at 63-all, capped by Missy Repoli's rainbow 3-pointer that found nothing but net with 6.9 seconds remaining.
 
But Navy's Justice Swift advanced the ball against full-court pressure and found Fenske in the corner. Fenske faked left and drove baseline before banking home her layup just as the clock struck triple-zeros.
 
Wednesday at Boston University, Colgate put together a 12-0 run and had the ball trailing by one before losing by five. Saturday's result is Colgate's seventh loss this season by eight points or less, and third in the Patriot League by five points or less.
 
The Raiders are now 2-15 overall and 1-5 in conference, while Navy improved to 10-7 and 4-2.
 
Mariah Jones led Colgate with 15 points, 10 of those coming in the second half. Repoli added 13 to go with a career-high tying nine rebounds, while Josie Stockill scored 10. Navy's Taylor Dunham led all scorers with 18.
 

Colgate hosts Army this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
Bottom Line
• Navy 65, Colgate 63
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 2-15 overall and 1-5 in the Patriot League.
• Navy improves to 10-7 and 4-2.
 
Late Comeback
• Colgate trailed 61-46 with 5:21 remaining when the Raiders began their closing rally. Navy's largest lead in the game was 47-31 with 12:54 left.
• Colgate's 17-2 run that tied the game at 63-all began with a 12-point Raiders scoring streak.
• Mariah Jones started and ended the 12-0 run with layups. In between, Missy Repoli and Ariel Etheridge converted 3-point plays and Josie Stockill added a jumper in the paint.
• Navy's Taylor Dunham converted one of two free-throw attempts, but then Jones hit from mid-range and it was 62-60 Mids with 46 seconds left.
• Another Mids free throw, this one by Marine Muenster, pushed the lead back to three and Colgate had possession in the final 30 seconds.
• The Raiders worked the ball around until Repoli found herself with space, although she was a good four feet beyond the 3-point arc. The clock was winding under 10 seconds.
• The senior guard let fly and it swished through the net to tie the game with 6.9 seconds to play.
• After a timeout, Colgate pressed full court as they had throughout the 15-point comeback.

• But Navy found an opening. Justice Swift advanced the ball and found Hannah Fenske for her winning drive from the right corner.
• It's Colgate's second home loss this season on a buzzer-beater and the third loss where the game was decided on the final possession. Kent State won 62-61 on a last-second jumper, and Bucknell prevailed when the Raiders couldn't convert at the buzzer.
 
Facts & Figures
• Colgate won the rebounding category, 38-31, and the Raiders had one fewer turnover at 18-17.
• But 13 of those Colgate turnovers were the result of steals by the Mids.
• Navy made 23-of-51 from the field for 45.1 percent, while Colgate was 25-of-63 for 39.7 percent.
• The Patriot League's top 3-point shooting team was 7-of-17 from downtown, while Colgate was 5-of-19.
• Colgate was a perfect 8-of-8 at the line to Navy's 12-of-18.
• There were six ties and seven lead changes. All but the late 63-63 deadlock occurred in the first half.
 
More Key Info
• Colgate scoring went like this: Jones 15 (her first time leading the team this season), Repoli 13, Stockill 10, Carole Harris 8, Kateri Stone 7, Etheridge 6, Tori Pozsonyi 2 and Steph Schultz 2.
• Jones was 6-of-12 from the field for her best shooting game of the season.
• The combined 15 points from Stone, Etheridge and Pozsonyi were the most in a game by the freshman class this season. The previous best was 12 vs. Albany (Etheridge 9, Stone 3).
• Repoli matched her career-high with nine rebounds while playing all but 14 seconds of Saturday's game. She took a quick breather from the 6:35 mark to 6:21 of the second half.
• This was Repoli's first time to lead the Raiders in rebounding this season.

• Paige Kriftcher did not play because of an elbow injury.
• Navy was led by Dunham's 18 points. Fenske and Chloe Stapleton finished with nine apiece, and Muenster added seven points to go with eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
Records Watch
• Repoli's two 3-pointers upper her total to 30 for the season and 145 for her career. Her next trey ties the senior with Sami Kozlowski (2008-11) for third on the Colgate career list.
• Stockill blocked two shots and has 30 for the season. The junior is two away from 100 for her career, and needs seven more to tie Jane Brunelle (1986-87) for second place on the all-time Colgate chart.
• Jones had three assists in the game and has 262 for her career. She needs just nine more to move into Colgate's career top 10.
 
Turning Point
• It was Colgate's 17-2 run that tied the game 63-63 until Navy answered with the winning basket.
 
From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort: (On Navy jumping out in the second half) "Their pressure was a little bit more than we were ready for. We had four consecutive turnovers, and they scored on three of those turnovers. So instead of being down six, we went down 14 and we staggered back a little bit.
"We changed the lineup a little bit and said we've got to be aggressive, and we started pressing a little bit harder and a little differently. And we were able to get back in it."
(On the late comeback) "Those kids just played so hard and had some really good traps. Ariel Etheridge and Kateri Stone came in and did some really great things for us. We got some deflections, got some steals, and Mariah was just huge down the stretch.

"She was taking good shots and getting us into some good offensive possessions."
(On the last offensive set) "We said if we could get a good quick three, then that's what we wanted. If not, we just wanted to get a quick two and foul. But that all broke down and we did what we could do.
"That was a deep three by Missy. The kid dropped her hand and Missy got a shot off."
(On the last Navy possession) "I debated with myself – do we pick up full-court, but you also take a chance when you don't pick up full-court by letting them screen. We defended it well, but the kid made a tough play and was able to get a nice role."
(On bouncing back for Army) "It's going to be a tough game. Army's not big fans of ours the last couple of years but we've got to regroup. We've got to get a little bit better and practice with a little more intensity Monday, so we quit having games come down to the last possession."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 506.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is home again Wednesday, facing Army in a 7 p.m. start.
• The Black Knights are 10-5 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot League heading into Sunday's home game against Bucknell.

Game Archive