DAYTON, Ohio – Two games in and Colgate has the look of another Raiders team determined to make an impact in the early going of the women's basketball season.
The Raiders went into Dayton – a squad coming off two straight NCAA tournament appearances – and carried a lead into the fourth quarter before the Flyers rallied for a 67-58 decision.
Tegan Graham matched her career high with 18 points, while
Abby Schubiger sparked for 13 and
Mackenzie Carroll 10.
Mylah Chandler posted a career-high 12 rebounds.
Colgate fought through early-game jitters in front of the large and boisterous Kids Game crowd at Dayton Arena before finding its footing in the second quarter.
Trailing 19-8, the Raiders scored the first 10 points of the period to make it 19-18 by the 4:56 media timeout. Five different Raiders tallied during the run, led by
Haley Greer's 3-pointer and three more points from
Nia Ahart.
Dayton scored the next seven points to lead 26-18 with 2:15 showing, but the Raiders ended the half on a 9-4 spurt. Graham sank back-to-back jumpers and then Chandler capped the flurry with a turnover turned fast-break layup that just beat the buzzer.
Colgate trailed 30-27 and roared into the locker room.
The Raiders carried that momentum into the third quarter, with Graham and Schubiger combining for Colgate's first 10 points and a 37-37 tie. Carroll's corner jumper right in front of her teammates swished the net and the Raiders led 42-39 with 2:12 showing.
That lead bumped to 46-41 on
Rachel Thompson's jumper with 1:15 remaining in the quarter. Colgate led 47-43 heading to the fourth.
But that's when the taller Flyers took over on the inside. Dayton scored 18 of its 24 fourth-quarter points in the paint, finishing with a 38-18 game edge in that department.
The Flyers began the quarter with a 12-4 run and stretched their lead to 57-52 by the media timeout with 4:23 remaining. Colgate drew within 59-55 but that was it as Dayton finished off a 24-11 final period.
Bottom Line
Dayton 67, Colgate 58
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 0-2
• Dayton won its season-opener for a 1-0 start
Stats of the Game
• Graham's previous 18-point game happened at Siena during her debut season.
• Schubiger just missed her career scoring high of 14, set last year at Bucknell.
• Chandler had six previous games of 11 rebounds before topping that effort today.
• Colgate hurt itself at the free throw line, making just 11 of 25. The Raiders balanced that somewhat by shooting 7-of-22 from 3-point distance to Dayton's 2-of-19.
• Colgate's defense forced 13 Dayton turnovers in the first half. Turnovers wound up even at 16 apiece.
• There were seven ties and three lead changes.
• Travel delays kept the Raiders from arriving in Dayton until 1:30 this morning, which really hurt with the 11 a.m. tip.
From the Source
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the game) "I'm very proud of our kids. Talk about adversity – we didn't get in until 1:30 this morning. The score today was indicative of how the game went but I still think we should have won. Their bigs took over at the end of the game.
"But there are exciting times ahead for us.
(On
Tegan Graham) "Everyone knows how much work Tegan has put in, and to see that work pay off – everyone gets excited."
(On
Abby Schubiger) "Offensively, Abby had an awesome game, and for the most part defensively until the fourth quarter. But she shouldn't let that take away from her game at all. She has worked hard.
"Everyone is excited about the work they have done. I hope it was obvious on the stream how excited they are for each other. We gave a shoutout after the game to KG (Kaitlyn Ghavidel). She's been scout and not once has she complained. What she is doing is huge and it's part of the reason we've played as well as we have in the early going. She's been a great teammate."
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Dayton Arena was 8,811.
Up Next
• Colgate's home opener is Thursday against Cornell.
• The Big Red open their season against Binghamton tonight and Albany Monday night.
• Start time from Cotterell Court is 7 p.m.
