LOWELL, Mass. – Colgate's first road victory of the season comes with an added bonus: Mount .500.
 
The Raiders reached 4-4 on the season thanks to a 61-52 victory over UMass Lowell here Wednesday night. Mylah Chandler scored a season-high 14 points and Summer King added 12.
 
Colgate has won four of its last five after an 0-3 start.
 
The River Hawks opened fast and then Colgate answered in the second quarter.
 
UMass Lowell led 17-9 on Bri Stiers' layup with 3:13 showing. But the Raiders closed on a 7-3 mini-run and trailed only 20-16 at the end of 10 minutes despite shooting just 36 percent from the floor to Lowell's 60 percent.
 
Lowell in that opening quarter scored all nine baskets from the paint.
 
Colgate tightened up its defense in the second quarter and it paid off on the offensive end. When Tegan Graham's 3-pointer swished through with 5:12 on the clock, the Raiders had their first lead at 26-24. That bucket was made possible because the Raiders were able to corral not one but two offensive rebounds.
 
Back-to-back threes from Nia Ahart handed Colgate a 34-26 cushion with 3:11 remaining before half, capping a 25-9 run over the previous 10:02.
 
Colgate led 36-30 at halftime.
 
The Raiders scored the first bucket of the second half and had chances to extend their lead but couldn't convert a few layups opportunities. UMass Lowell took advantage and pulled within 42-41 on its first 3-pointer of the game, by Kharis Idom with 5:17 showing.
 
But the Raiders ended the quarter on an 8-3 run, capped by Chandler's nifty fake handoff and uncontested layup just before the buzzer. Colgate was on top 50-43.
 
Neither team could find the hoop for the first two-plus minutes of the fourth quarter.
 
UMass Lowell's Katherine Smith finally pocketed a layup with 7:45 left to pull the River Hawks within 50-45. But Haley Greer knocked down a huge 3-pointer with 6:03 on the clock and Colgate had survived the scoring drought by allowing only two points.
 
Greer's layup and steal made it 57-47 with 3:19 to play, and then Chandler iced it with another strong inside move that kept the margin at 61-51 inside the final minute.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 61, UMass Lowell 52
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 4-4 with its fourth win in the last five.
• UMass Lowell dropped to 3-6.
 
Stats of the Game
• Colgate has rallied from an 0-3 start to pull even with where they were through eight games last season.
• The Raiders defeated UMass Lowell a year ago to reach 4-4, which was their best start to that point in a season since 2009.
• But Rachel Thompson was lost to injury three games later and Colgate dropped 16 in a row en route to 7-23.
• Raiders get a chance to climb above .500 through nine games when they host NJIT Dec. 14.
• Chandler connected on her first five field goal attempts and finished 6-of-7 for the game.
• She also had a career-high four steals.
• Ahart picked up a career-high seven rebounds.
• Ava Williams matched her season high with seven points.
• Colgate committed 12 turnovers in the second half but limited the River Hawks to just 22 points over the last 20 minutes.
• The nine points allowed in the fourth quarter marked a season best by the Raiders.
• After Colgate gave up nine baskets in the paint during the first quarter, the Raiders limited Lowell to just five more the rest of the way.
• Colgate's seven 3-pointers matched a season high (Dayton).
• Smith led the River Hawks with 15 points.
 
From the Source
• Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the game) "After the first quarter, we did a great job. They scored 20 points in the first quarter and we held them to 32 the rest of the way. Coach Garrick has done a very good job there. They are much different than they were a year ago and very well coached.
 
"Their physicality forced us to rush offensively. We've got to breathe a little bit. We had some opportunities that we missed because we were rushed. We've got to be a little more patient.
 
"We just finished a stretch of games where we were playing, followed by two days of prep; playing, followed by two days of prep. We've got some time now to relax going into finals."
 
Up Next
• Colgate is off until Dec. 14 when the Raiders host NJIT.
• The Highlanders are 1-8 heading into Sunday's game at LIU Brooklyn.
• Start time is 7 p.m. from Cotterell Court, with the PLN and 94 WKXZ-FM providing all the action.