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HAMILTON – Colgate never could find the shooting target here Saturday and the Raiders dropped a 49-37 decision to American.
 
Colgate put up a 7-0 lead during the first 7½ minutes of the game, but then American took over during the middle two quarters. The Eagles outscored Colgate 13-7 and 14-7 in Periods 2 and 3.
 
The Raiders shot a season-low 18 percent from the field, making 11 of 61 attempts. They made just two field goals in each of the first two quarters, and then three in the third.
 
American shot 31 percent for the game but the Eagles were 6-of-12 in the fourth quarter, and that was enough to stave off a late Colgate rally.
 
Paige Kriftcher scored 13 and Katie Curtis 12 for the home side. Josie Stockill contributed 11 rebounds and seven blocks, while Randyll Butler added nine rebounds and four assists.
 
The Raiders are now 3-9 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League, while American improved to 3-10 and 1-1.
 
Bottom Line
• American 49, Colgate 37
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 3-9 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League
• American improved to 3-10 and 1-1.
 
How It Happened
• Scoring was tough to come by for both teams in the early going, as Colgate led just 4-0 after seven minutes had elapsed. The Raiders increased their lead to 7-0 before American scored seven of its own.
• Kateri Stone sank a pair of late free throws for a 9-7 Raider edge at the end of the first quarter.
• The Eagles took their first lead of the game at 15-13 with 2:42 left in the half on a bucket by Cecily Carl. It was the start of a fast finish for American, which made it last four field goal tries and led 20-16 at intermission.
• Colgate ended the half with 11 straight misses from the field and was just 4-of-30 through 20 minutes.
• To start the second half, Tori Pozsonyi broke that Raider drought with a baseline jumper on Colgate's opening possession.
• Two trips later, Kriftcher snapped her own recent slide from 3-point distance with a long-range jumper that pulled Colgate within 22-21.
• Colgate took a 23-22 lead on a Butler jumper, but then American ended the quarter on a 12-0 run over the last seven minutes to make it 34-23 heading to the fourth.
• Again, ice cold Colgate shooting was the culprit. The Raiders missed 12 straight shots from the floor during those seven minutes.
• Back-to-back Kriftcher treys pulled Colgate within 36-32 with still 6:53 remaining, but that's as close as the Raiders could get. American outscored the hosts 13-5 the rest of the way.
 
Facts & Figures
• Colgate's points and overall shooting percentage were both season lows, as were the six team assists.
• The Raiders also committed a season-low 10 turnovers, while American had 13.
• American outrebounded Colgate, 53-41
• Stockill tied her own Cotterell Court game record with seven blocked shots.
• She's also closing in on her Colgate season mark of 68, set last year. The senior has 57 blocks through 12 games and 193 for her career. Before Stockill, the previous Colgate season mark for blocks was 52 by Leandra Fuller in 2003-04.
• Stockill is averaging 4.8 blocks and leads all of Division I.
 
More Key Info
• Colgate's scoring went like this: Kriftcher 13, Curtis 12, Stone 5, Ariel Etheridge 3, Pozsonyi 2 and Butler 2.
• American was led by Lauren Crisler, who scored a career-high 20 points. Eighteen of those points came in the second half on 7-of-10 shooting.
• The Eagles held a 24-8 edge on points in the paint, and 11-2 on second-chance points.
 
Turning Point
• Colgate broke in front 7-0.
• American's first basket didn't come until Maria Liddane connected with 2:12 left in the first quarter.
• But the Eagles weathered that early deficit and trailed just 9-7 at the end of the first quarter.
• American then outscored Colgate 27-14 during the middle two periods to claim its 19th straight win over the Raiders dating to 2007.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort (On the game): "We had some really great shots but we just couldn't get that many of them to go in the basket. We took care of the ball well, but we had some rushed shots and we weren't able to capitalize on the lack of turnovers."
 
Listen to the rest of Hays Fort's comments HERE.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 449.
 
Up Next
• Colgate concludes a three-game home stand Wednesday in a noon start against Holy Cross.
• The Crusaders are 2-0 in the Patriot League and 5-8 overall after their 57-49 home win Saturday over Navy.
• The teams split the series last year, Colgate winning 76-71 in Worcester to snap an 0-27 record on the Crusaders' home floor.
• Wednesday is a Field Trip Special, with local and area school kids attending the noon tip on Cotterell Court.

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