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HAMILTON – There's no way Mariah Jones was letting Colgate pass on this opportunity.
 
Jones made five dazzling assists on five straight possessions during a 2½-minute stretch early in the second half, and Colgate rallied for a 58-48 victory over Boston University here Wednesday.
 
The win in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament sets up a quarterfinal showdown Friday night at Army.
 
The Jones assists, all of which led to uncontested layups – three by Paige Kriftcher and two by Carole Harris – were part of a 20-2 Colgate run to begin the second half. The Raiders went from trailing 26-25 at the half to leading 45-28 with 10:06 remaining.
 
Missy Repoli connected on two of her four 3-pointers during that blitz and paced the Raiders with 14 points. Jones added 13 to go with eight assists as she topped the 300-career mark in helpers. Kriftcher scored 10.
 
Colgate (9-21) has its first four-game winning streak since the 2009-10 team opened that season with five consecutive victories. And the Raiders get another crack at Army, which knocked off Colgate 64-62 and 48-47 during the regular season.
 

The last time the Raiders and Black Knights met in the Patriot League Tournament, Colgate pulled the 48-40 upset at West Point two years ago in a 1 vs. 8 matchup. Friday's game is a 2 vs. 7 clash.
 
Boston University (5-25) did not make a field goal (0-of-13) in the second half until Kara Sheftic connected with 8:35 remaining. The Terriers were led by 14 points apiece from Mollie McKendrick and Troi Melton.

Bottom Line
• Colgate 58, Boston University 48
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improves to 9-21 with its fourth straight win.
• Boston University ends its season at 5-25.
 
Flat First Half
• Colgate never led in the first half but trailed just 26-25 at intermission.
• Poor shooting was one culprit, as the Raiders made just two of their first 14 and four of their first 21 attempts from the field.
• Boston University worked its way to a 14-4 lead while the Raiders were suffering through a 6:59 scoring drought. Colgate had only eight points and trailed 18-8 with 7:28 left in the half.
• But Katie Curtis and Missy Repoli helped begin the Raider comeback. Curtis came off the bench for a 3-pointer and then Repoli muscled her way for a driving 6-foot bank shot. Repoli's first 3-pointer of the game made it 20-16.
• Colgate kept charging. When Josie Stockill scored her only two points of the first half on a putback just before the halftime buzzer, the Terrier lead was down to 26-25.
• The Raiders trailed BU at the half in all three meetings this season, yet won two of three.
 

Super Second
• Jones had six of her game-high eight assists in the second half – and five were WNBA highlight material.
• Those gems came on five straight possessions after Colgate had wrestled a 32-28 lead via Repoli's third 3-pointer of the night with 16:20 showing.
• Jones found, in order, Paige Kriftcher, Carole Harris, Kriftcher, Harris and Kriftcher – all backdoor for uncontested layups.
• The senior guard eclipsed the 300-career mark in assists and now has 307, good for seventh on the all-time Colgate list.
• Oddly, Jones entered the night having gone more than 100 minutes of basketball since her last assist, Feb. 21 vs. Loyola when she had six in the first half.
• She then went without an assist in the second half against the Greyhounds and in back-to-back games against Lafayette and Lehigh before tonight's outburst.
• Colgate's largest lead was 45-28 when Repoli cashed in from triple-town once again.
• The Raiders had outscored Boston University 20-2 to start the second half (including 18 in a row) and 37-10 since the 7½-minute mark of the first half.
 
More Key Info
• Repoli led Colgate's scoring with 14 points. Jones added 13 and Kriftcher 10, and then it was Harris with 8, Stockill 6, Randyll Butler 4 and Curtis 3.
• Harris, Butler and Repoli pulled down six rebounds apiece.
• Colgate had 12 steals that helped force 20 Boston U. turnovers. Butler finished with four steals, while Harris and Jones had three apiece. Butler also pitched in five assists.
• Butler in her last three games has 15 steals. She's at 54 for the season.
• Repoli made four threes and has an even 100 over her last two seasons. She's up to 52 this year – only the fifth Raider in history to reach 50 in a season.

• For her career, Repoli has 167 and will finish her Colgate tenure a solid second to Allison Lipinski '05 (220) on the all-time Raider chart.
• Stockill was a big reason the Terriers shot just 33.9 percent (20-of-59) for the game. She blocked five shots, giving her 12 in the two Cotterell Court meetings against BU this season.
• Stockill now has 66 to extend her Colgate season record.
• The Raiders after their slow shooting start finished 23-of-62 for 37.1 percent. Colgate was 6-of-19 from 3-point distance, while BU missed all nine attempts.
• Colgate was a perfect 6-of-6 at the line to Boston U.'s 8-of-11.
• The Terriers claimed a 42-37 rebounding edge.
 
Turning Point
• 18-0, 20-2, 37-10 – take your pick.
• Colgate put together a monster run after falling behind by 10 in the first half, and then the Raiders clamped down. They held BU without a field goal in the second half until just 8:35 was left on the clock.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort (On the game) "It was a really tough game by Boston University. We knew they were going to come out and give us their best shot, and they did. It was a little touch-and-go there the first half.
"I'm really proud of our team and how gritty they were the last 25 minutes. We dug ourselves a hole and we were pressing a little bit, but we changed our defenses up and really got some big stops and rebounds when we needed it."
(On Stockill's blocked shots) "Josie got some huge blocks for us in the second half. She was blocking it off of them and we were getting it back. Her defensive presence was big. She and Carole were both frustrated because BU is very physical and it takes them out of their offensive game. I was really proud of Josie for how she didn't let her offensive game affect her defense."

(On staying in the game) "We just needed to calm down. We needed to realize we were going to hit shots and we needed to get some easy ones. We were forcing things and trying to make the touchdown pass. And we needed to get stops – that was the most important thing. They were just dominating us on the glass."
(On the start of the second half) "We switched our defense to get them to pass the ball so they couldn't just dribble right up the gut on us. It was a defense we haven't worked on a lot the last couple of weeks, and the team did a great job by containing them and making them take a lot of time off the clock."
(On tonight's environment) "We had a great crowd. I was really proud of all the Colgate student-athletes, faculty and Hamilton community that came out and supported us tonight. I'm so happy for the team that we had a great environment tonight."
• Colgate guard Mariah Jones (On her assists) "BU was overplaying us, so we were able to attack them and get some easy back-cuts for some easy layups."
(On playing Army) "We always going to Army; it's a really great environment to play in with all the cadets. Both games were really close this season."
• Colgate guard Missy Repoli (On her shooting) "I shot well in shoot-around. Warmups were a little iffy, but I came in confident. Randyll and Mariah gave me some great passes in transition and I was able to knock them down."
(On playing Army) "We wanted to be the seventh seed so we could play Army again. We've had two close games this year and we're excited to get back there and see what we can do."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 662, second-largest crowd of the season.
 
Up Next
• Colgate gets one more chance to trip up Army after the Black Knights defeated the Raiders by a combined three points in two regular-season meetings.
• Army won 64-62 in Hamilton on a late basket by Kelsey Minato, and 48-47 in West Point when Colgate's final possession came up empty.
• The Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinal matchup tips Friday at 7 p.m.


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