BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Colgate stayed with Lehigh wire-to-wire before dropping an 83-74 decision Wednesday night.
 
The Raiders posted their highest scoring first half of the season and trailed just 43-41. Lehigh expanded that lead to 67-58 by the start of the fourth quarter, but Colgate was within 78-74 in the closing minute.
 
Lehigh made 14 of 18 free throws in the final period to maintain its advantage and improve to 10-6 in the Patriot League, 17-10 overall.
 
Ariel Etheridge scored a career-high 21 points and Josie Stockill added 14 to top the 1,000 career-point mark. Stockill becomes the 20th Raider to reach 1,000 points, boosting her total to 1,010. She also moved past Kara Crismale '97 (1,001) into 19th place on the Colgate scoring list.
 
Katie Curtis added 17 points and grabbed a career-high seven boards to go with five assists and three steals. Lehigh was led by Lexi Martins' 19 points and 14 rebounds.
 
Colgate hosts Senior Day this Saturday against Lafayette in a 4 p.m. tip. Festivities should begin around 3:45.
 
Bottom Line
• Lehigh 83, Colgate 74
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 4-22 overall and 2-14 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh improved to 17-10 and 10-6.
 
Patriot League Leaders!
• Colgate continued its fine form at the free-throw line, making 14 of 17 attempts.
• That effort pushes the Raider season percentage to 73.5 and atop the Patriot League.
• Bucknell was the league leader coming into Wednesday's play, but the Bison went just 5-of-7 against Lafayette to drop to 73.2 percent.
• Stockill and Curtis both finished 4-of-5 in the game, while Etheridge and Paige Kriftcher were each 2-of-2.
• The Raiders are on pace to set the program record for a second straight year. Last season, a strong finish helped Colgate reach 72.0 percent and just eclipse the old mark of 71.9 set by the 2004-05 Patriot League championship squad.
• Colgate in its last six games is shooting 79.1 percent (91-of-115).
 
How It Happened
• Stockill reached her milestone 1,000th point on a 3-point play with 3:51 left in the first quarter. Her basket and free throw put Colgate in front, 11-10.
• Six different Raiders found the scoring column in the first quarter as Colgate led 18-17. Curtis already had five rebounds.
• A high-scoring second quarter – 26-23 in Lehigh's favor – left the Mountain Hawks in front at intermission by a 43-41 count.
• That marked Colgate's best first-half scoring total of the season.
• Lehigh continued its pace with 24 points in the third to total of 50 points in the middle two periods. A 15-3 Lehigh run turned a 48-48 game into 63-51.
• The Hawks led 67-58 at the end of three.
• Unlike the first three quarters, Colgate did not tie the game or grab the lead in the fourth. But the Raiders were within four points on three different occasions, including right at the start when Etheridge scored the first five points out of the gate to make it 67-63 with 8:45 left.
• The last Raider surge closed it to 78-74 on a pair of Stockill free throws with 1:02 remaining.
• Lehigh stayed sharp from the charity stripe – 14-of-18 in the fourth quarter – to maintain its margin and close out the 83-74 decision.
 
Facts & Figures
• Despite 14 boards from Patriot League leader Martins, the Mountain Hawks outrebounded the Raiders just 41-38.
• Colgate's 38-percent shooting night from the floor was its best in six games. Lehigh shot 44.4 percent.
• The Raiders were 6-of-17 from downtown to Lehigh's 7-of-18.
• Colgate won points in the paint 30-28, points-off-turnovers 22-17, and second-chance points 17-14.
• Lehigh countered with a 24-13 edge in bench points.
• There were six ties and eight lead changes.
 
More Key Info
• Colgate's scoring column looked like this: Etheridge career-high 21, Curtis 17, Stockill 14, Kriftcher 7, Kateri Stone 5, Chelsey Koren 3, Summer King 3 (in four strong minutes), Julia Barcello 2 and Tori Pozsonyi 2.
• Curtis grabbed eight rebounds for a career high. Her previous best was five on three different occasions this season.
• She also filled up the stat sheet, adding five assists and three steals. She entered Wednesday's play among the Patriot League leaders in four different categories.
• Stockill was credited with two blocked shots. She has 94 for the season and 230 for her career.
 
Turning Point
• With the game tied 48-48, Lehigh turned in its best stretch of the game to outscore the Raiders 15-3.
• Five different Mountain Hawks found the scoring column during that 5:15 run, including Martins with five and Quinci Mann with four.
• Lehigh led 63-51 and never trailed again.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort (On the effort): "We got it down to a two-possession game but just couldn't knock down the shots there at the end. I was really proud of our team's fight and our focus. We had a good game plan that the team stuck to and they came out and competed."
 
Listen to the rest of Hays Fort's comments HERE.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Stabler Arena was 547.
• Before Wednesday's game, Stockill had the chance to meet Lehigh assistant coach Caitlin Gillard. Gillard '08 played her college basketball for the Raiders and, until this season, held Colgate's game blocked shots record of eight set in 2006 at Cleveland State. That record, of course, was broken this year when Stockill blocked 13 shots in a Dec. 22 game at Lafayette.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is home for Senior Day this Saturday against Lafayette.
• The Leopards lost 69-55 Wednesday at Bucknell to fall to 6-20 overall and 4-12 in the Patriot League.
• Colgate won 72-59 at Lafayette back on Dec. 22 on the strength of Stockill's 27-point, 13-block performance.
• Tipoff Saturday is 4 p.m.