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HAMILTON – Josie Stockill paid her penalty on the bench, and then she made Lafayette pay for the third time this season.
 
The Raiders completed a three-game season sweep of the Leopards with an 80-68 victory Saturday in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. Colgate advances to take on top-seed Army West Point in Monday's quarterfinals.
 
Tip off from West Point is 7:30 p.m.
 
Stockill was whistled for two first-half fouls and went to the bench with 9:33 left before intermission. She rode the pine the rest of the half and trudged to the locker room with a grand total of three points and two rebounds, her team trailing 38-35 in a do-or-die affair.
 
But the third quarter meant new life for Stockill and the Raiders, who outscored Lafayette 22-8 to take a 57-46 lead they never relinquished. Stockill was the catalyst that period, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine big rebounds.
 
She finished with a double-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots. In three meetings against Lafayette this season, the New Zealand senior recorded 64 points, 34 rebounds and 20 blocked shots.
 
Stockill posted double-doubles in all three games.
 
Paige Kriftcher added 14 points, Katie Curtis 13 and Ariel Etheridge 11 for the winners. Julie Barcello led all rebounders with 14 for her third straight career-high performance.
 
Lafayette's Maia Hood was the scoring leader with a career-high 27, while Jamie O'Hare added 10 points and a career-high 15 assists.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 80, Lafayette 68
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 7-22.
• Lafayette's season ends at 6-23.
 
Facts & Figures
• Colgate ended its 2015-16 home season with three straight victories.
• The 3-0 record against Lafayette is Colgate's first three-game season sweep of an opponent since the 2003-04 Patriot League champions won three times each against both Lafayette and Bucknell.
• Colgate improved to 3-0 in Patriot League tournament home games.
• The Raiders are now 5-4 when scoring at least 70 points. They scored at least 70 in their last four games and went 3-1.
• Colgate claimed a 52-39 rebounding edge that included 25 offensive rebounds. Those caroms led to a 28-14 edge in second-chance points.
• For the second straight game, Colgate rallied from a slow-shooting start.
• The Raiders were just 4-of-17 in the first quarter, but an 11-of-18 touch in the final period boosted their game percentage to 39.2, which is well above their season average of 34.7 coming in.
• Colgate handed out 15 assists and committed just 13 turnovers. In their three-game winning streak, the Raiders committed 14, 13 and 13 turnovers (season average 16.7).
 
How It Happened
• Colgate went in front 2-0 and 4-2, but then the visitors took control. Lafayette led by as many as seven in the first quarter before Curtis banked in a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to narrow the Leopard margin to 21-17.
• With Stockill sidelined for most of the second quarter, Colgate kept it close thanks to balanced scoring. Curtis had five in the period, Kriftcher and Mylah Chandler four apiece and Kateri Stone three.
• Trailing 38-35 to start the second half, Etheridge and Kriftcher nailed back-to-back threes to start an 8-0 run that put the Raiders on top 43-38. They never trailed again.
• Stockill had two different 3-point plays and was 4-of-4 at the stripe on her way to 10 points.
• Colgate's 22-8 onslaught made it 57-46 heading to the fourth.
• The Raiders kept the pressure on the in the final period, making 11 of their 18 shots and outscoring the Leopards 23-22.
 
More Key Info
• Colgate's scoring went like this: Stockill 19, Kriftcher 14, Curtis 13, Etheridge 11, Stone 7, Barcello 5, Chandler 4 and Mackenzie Carroll 3.
• Barcello with her 14 rebounds has 36 the last three games. She's up to 4.7 for the season and is averaging 7.2 over her last 11 games.
• Barcello also dished out a career-high four assists.
• Stockill eclipsed the century mark in blocked shots and has 103. That's the second-highest season total in Patriot League history, topped only by Lafayette's Danielle Fiacco with 112 in 2011-12.
• Stockill in the game passed two more Raiders on the Colgate career scoring chart: Sarah Parks '02 and Sami Kozlowski '11. She's up to 15th place at 1,069.
• She's now seventh in career rebounds with 624. Milaina Lagzdins '05 (625) and Lori Perretta '96 (628) are next on the list.
• Kriftcher made two 3-pointers and now has 52 for the season and 103 for her career. She needs one more to tie Missy Repoli '15 for fourth place on the season chart, and two more to match Kara Crismale '97 for ninth all-time.
• Curtis equaled her career high with four steals and just missed her assist high with five.
• Chandler tied her career high with three of Colgate's nine blocked shots.
• Colgate was 14-of-20 at the free-throw line and sits at 73.8 percent for the season. The Colgate season mark of 72.0 was set just last year.
• Etheridge, Curtis and Chandler all were perfect from the line.
• Colgate is shooting 78.0 percent from the stripe over its last nine games.
 
Turning Point
• Colgate opened the third quarter with consecutive 3-pointers from Etheridge and Kriftcher that quickly eliminated a 38-35 halftime deficit.
• The Raiders outscored Lafayette 20-5 at one point in the third quarter and settled for 22-8 by period's end. Colgate led 57-46 and never was threatened.
 
From the Sources
• Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort: (On the third quarter) "We knew we were going to be better than we were in the first half because (Stockill) was in foul trouble. We just wanted to get stops because we were not getting stops in the first half at all. Our offense really wasn't broken in the first half, but we were just giving up too many easy points to them.
 
"We did a tremendous job in the third quarter of really making Lafayette uncomfortable."
 
(On the balanced attack) "Look at the stat line – every single person had a positive stat. I'm so proud of our team. If we had to choose a time to be playing great basketball, I'll choose now."
 
• Colgate senior Josie Stockill (On her third quarter): "I got into foul trouble in the first half and had been sitting on the bench awhile. I was itching to get out there and make an impact."
 
(On playing Lafayette) "They have bigger posts and it's easier for me in my face-up game. And just as a team, we match up really well against them. We get excited to play the Leopards."
 
• Colgate sophomore Julia Barcello (On her last three games): "I've just been very determined to get the ball whenever possible. Randyll (Butler) has challenged me and I want to do whatever I can to help our team win. I want to send our seniors out on a good note. They are all playing amazingly well."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 326.
 
Up Next
• Colgate meets Army in the Patriot League Tournament for the third time in four years.
• The Raiders won an 8 vs. 1 matchup – same seeding as this season – back in 2013 by a 48-40 score. Army prevailed in a 2 vs. 7 game last year in overtime, 48-45.
• Army swept the season series against Colgate, winning 67-55 in West Point and 78-55 in Hamilton.
• Tipoff is 7:30 p.m.

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