HAMILTON – Mirror-image teams produced the expected result here Wednesday night: a thrilling Patriot League women's basketball game.
 
Kateri Stone scored a career-high 29 points and Colgate overcame a furious Lehigh rally to post a 75-70 triumph. Game 2 of this season series takes place next Wednesday in Bethlehem.
 
Colgate actually held the hot early hand before the Mountain Hawks returned the favor.
 
The Raiders went from leading 22-2 in the first quarter to trailing 53-50 late in the third – a 51-28 swing by the visitors. But that was merely true to form for two teams that love to run, love to shoot the three and love to force turnovers.
 
Stubborn squads like Colgate and Lehigh are rarely out of games. The Raiders this night just had a little more gas in the tank at the end.
 
Facing a 61-61 tie with 8:04 remaining, Colgate reeled off nine straight points capped by Stone's sixth 3-ball of the evening.
 
The Raiders then made five of their final six free throw attempts – Stone was 4-of-4 – to post their 10th victory of the season and seventh home win. Colgate's 7-5 record in Cotterell Court marks the fewest home losses since the 2004-05 Raiders went 7-4.
 
Stone on her career night finished 8-of-12 from the field, 6-of-7 from three and 7-of-8 from the line. She led the Raiders in scoring for the sixth consecutive game.
 
The junior now has 55 treys for the season, tying her with Paige Kriftcher (2015-16) for the fourth-best season in the Colgate records book. Stone's next made 3-pointer gives her the most by a Raider since 2006.
 
Rachel Thompson added 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while Summer King pitched in a dozen points.
 
Lehigh's Quinci Mann scored 23 points and Hailey Pascoe added 14. Those two combined to go 9-of-15 from 3-point distance to help the Mountain Hawks knock down 12 3-pointers and match their season high.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 75, Lehigh 70
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 10-17 overall and 7-9 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh is now 9-18 and 4-12.
 
Quick Recap
• Colgate scored the game's first 13 points, capped by Stone's jumper that gave her five in the early scoring column.
• By the time it was 22-2 with 3:07 left, Stone already had a dozen.
• But Lehigh ended the quarter on a 10-1 run and pulled within 23-12.
• Lehigh got within 30-25 midway in the second, but that stanza ended up being a 19-19 wash.
• The Raiders led 42-31 at intermission and Stone had an even 20.
• Lehigh found its shooting eye in the third quarter, making 10-of-18 overall and 4-of-6 from downtown.
• The Mountain Hawks went in front for the first time when Pascoe drained a corner three to make it 53-50 with 2:31 showing.
• Colgate then scored five straight and ended the period on a 7-2 spurt to lead 57-55 at the end of three.
• After Lehigh took a brief lead and then tied it at 61-61 on a Mann 3-pointer, Colgate regained its offensive touch.
• Thompson stole the ball and went coast-to-coast for a layup at the 7-minute mark.
• Consecutive layups by King followed and then Stone swished her sixth and final 3-pointer to make it 70-61 with 3:08 remaining.
• Another Mann 3-ball finally ended Lehigh's 5-minute scoring drought and made it 70-64 with 2:52 left.
• The Mountain Hawks never drew closer than five points the rest of the way.
 
Facts & Figures
• Colgate last reached double-digit victories in 2012-13, finishing 10-21 after knocking off top-seeded Army in the Patriot League tournament.
• But that squad was 3-11 in conference; this year's unit is 7-9 and still on the chase for Mount .500.
• Colgate remains in solo sixth place, one game ahead of Holy Cross (6-10) and two clear of Loyola (5-11). The Raiders also are two games behind fifth-place Boston University (9-7) with two to play.
• One more victory and Colgate records its most overall wins since the 2004-05 team finished 12-18.
• Katie Curtis scored eight points and once again led the Raiders in minutes played with 35. But she missed her only 3-point try, ending a streak of 22 games with at least one made 3-pointer.
• Stone bumped her streak to 13 games with at least one 3-ball.
• Colgate improved to 7-3 when scoring at least 70 points and 9-1 when leading after three quarters.
• Thompson's four steals marked her sixth game of three or more. She has at least one steal in each of the last seven games and leads the team with 40.
• The five-point result matched Colgate's closest game all season – win or lose.
• Bill Cleary in his first year with the Raiders reached double-digit coaching victories for his 11th straight season and his 12th time overall in 14 seasons.
• Lehigh at 4-12 is now locked into a first-round tournament game, set for Saturday, March 4. Quarterfinal action takes place March 6. The semifinals and final are March 10 and 12 at the site of the highest remaining seed.
 
From the Source
• Colgate head coach Bill Cleary: (On the game) "We got out to that big lead, but they're a very good team and they can shoot the ball. So they were able to play fast just like we do. You're never out of the game; you're never out. We were trying to tell our kids, 'This game is not over. You can't get complacent.'
 
"Basketball is a game of runs, and we ended up having the longer run at the end. That was the different in this game. The exact opposite could happen next week when we go down there to Lehigh."
 
(On taking the home success onto the road) "We've got to worry about one game at a time. We can't worry about next Wednesday; we have to worry about Lafayette. It's going to be senior day and, if you just look at their record (and concentrate on that), you're going to lose. Theresa Grentz is in the hall of fame for a reason."
 
Listen to the rest of Coach Cleary's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate junior Kateri Stone: (On the fast start) "That's how we play. We like to push the ball and locate shooters. Luckily, our shots were falling, which was nice. Our goal also was no second-chance points. We did a good job with that and that's how we got on that good run."
 
Listen to the rest of Stone's comments HERE.
 
• Colgate first-year Rachel Thompson: (On the game) "We played as a team in the first quarter. It was mostly defensive stops and we were communicating very well. We also were rebounding well, which allowed us to get transition points.
 
"We knew we got kind of complacent, so the fourth quarter needed to be just like the first quarter. We knew we needed to come out with tenacity and aggression and take it to them."
 
Listen to the rest of Thompson's comments HERE.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 823.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is on the road for the final two games, starting Saturday at Lafayette.
• The Leopards are 2-26 overall and 1-15 in the Patriot League after their 79-65 home loss to first-place Bucknell.
• Lafayette leads the series 35-32, but Colgate is riding a five-game winning streak. The Raiders started the Patriot League season with a 76-69 triumph over Lafayette back on Dec. 30.
• Tipoff from Easton is 2 p.m.

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