HAMILTON – Josie Stockill led all scorers with 18 points and added a career-high 16 rebounds to lift Colgate to a 70-55 Senior Day victory over Lafayette.
 
The Raiders swept both games from the Leopards this year, with Stockill combining for 45 points, 22 rebounds and 16 blocked shots in the two contests. Colgate won 72-59 in Easton back on Dec. 22.
 
Stockill also moved into Colgate's career rebounding top 10, climbing to ninth all-time with 604. She blocked three shots to increase her season total to 97 and her career mark to 233.
 
Katie Curtis added 15 points Saturday and Paige Kriftcher scored 10. Julia Barcello continued her strong play of late with career highs of 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
 
Colgate grabbed control of the game in the second quarter, when the Raiders turned a 16-13 deficit into a 36-28 halftime edge. Curtis scored seven and Summer King five of Colgate's 23 points that period.
 
The Raiders then outscored Lafayette in each of the final two quarters to salt away their fifth victory of the season and third in the Patriot League.
 
Colgate closes the regular season Wednesday at home against Lehigh. The Raiders are still fighting for one of the two first-round tournament home bids.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 70, Lafayette 55
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 5-22 overall and 3-14 in the Patriot League.
• Lafayette is now 6-21 and 4-13.
 
How It Happened
• Curtis scored the game's opening basket, a 3-pointer, but Colgate proceeded to go 1-of-14 from the field to start the game.
• But the Raiders hit three threes in that opening period and trailed just 16-13 entering the second.
• King's layup with 4:39 left in the half gave Colgate the lead for good at 25-23. The Raiders finished the period on a 10-3 run and led 36-28 at intermission.
• The lowest-scoring quarter was the third, which included a 4:33 scoreless stretch for both teams as Colgate milked a 45-30 advantage.
• Curtis scored five of Colgate's 13 points in the period and the Raiders led 49-36.
• The lead reached 17 points on a number of occasions as Colgate shot 8-of-10 from the floor in the final 10 minutes and kept the Leopards at bay.
 
Facts & Figures
• Colgate's shooting started slow but finished strong. In spite of the 1-of-14 start, Colgate rallied to shoot 38.5 percent for the game.
• The Raiders were 8-of-10 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
• Colgate took a slight step back at the free-throw line, making just 12 of 18 for 66.7 percent. Coming into Saturday's game, Colgate had shot 79.1 percent over its previous six games.
• Colgate drops to second in the Patriot League at 73.2 percent (Bucknell 73.5), but that's still ahead of the team season record of 72.0.
• Colgate's 54-37 rebounding edge was the team's largest plus-margin of the season. The previous high was plus-11 in the season opener at Kent State.
• Oddly, Saturday was Colgate's first win of the season when outrebounding its opponent (1-6).
• The Raiders are now 4-3 when allowing fewer than 60 points.
 
More Key Info
• Colgate's rebounding duo of Stockill (16) and Barcello (11) had just 10 fewer rebounds than the entire Lafayette team.
• The last time Colgate had two players in a game with double-figure rebounds was late last season in a 54-53 win over Loyola on Feb. 21, 2015. That afternoon, Stockill grabbed 11 and Randyll Butler had 10.
• Colgate's scoring column looked like this: Stockill 18, Curtis 15, Paige Kriftcher 10, Ariel Etheridge 8, King 5, Chelsey Koren 5, Kateri Stone 5, Barcello 2 and Mylah Chandler 2.
• All 10 Kriftcher points came in the fourth quarter, when she knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and was 2-of-2 at the line.
• The senior captain now has 96 threes for her career and would be leading the Patriot League in free-throw shooting this season at 88.7 percent if she had made enough to qualify. The minimum is two made free throws per game played, and Kriftcher is 47-of-53 in 27 games (so seven shy).
• Army's Kelsey Minato is the conference leader at 86.3 percent.
• Curtis matched her career high with eight rebounds for the second straight game.
• King in nine minutes Saturday was 2-of-3 from the floor. She's 6-of-7 in her last three games with 15 points and seven boards.
 
Turning Point
• Colgate outscored Lafayette 36-20 in the middle two quarters. Curtis had 12 points during that stretch and Stockill six points and nine boards.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort (On the Senior Day win): "We had really positive contributions from every member of our team. We let our pressure and our rebounding lead to some easy buckets, and Josie Stockill was huge."
 
Listen to the rest of Hays Fort's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate senior Josie Stockill (On her performance): "It turned out really great. We had great energy as a team and the momentum was pretty much with us the whole game. And the stats looked good at the end, as well. It was great to have my family here to see that game."
 
Listen to the rest of Stockill's comments HERE.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 934.
• Colgate seniors Butler, Kriftcher and Stockill were recognized before the game on the floor with their families, and the team held a postgame senior banquet at the Colgate Inn.
• As part of pregame ceremonies, the New Zealand national anthem was played and Colgate assistant coach Katherine Menendez joined Charles Polk '16 to sing the American national anthem.
 
Up Next
• Colgate wraps the regular season schedule with a Wednesday home game against Lehigh.
• The Mountain Hawks, who lost 69-49 Saturday at home to Army, held off Colgate 83-74 last Wednesday in Bethlehem.
• The Raiders with a win could host a Patriot League tournament first-round game for the second year in a row.
• Tipoff is 7 p.m.

Game Archive