BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Colgate finally decided Valentine's Day was the perfect time to end a really bad relationship. Good riddance!
 
The Raiders dumped their 16-game slide and won in the Patriot League for the first time this season with a 54-48 thriller over Lehigh here Wednesday night.
 
Just one week after the near-miss at Boston University, Colgate stayed poised down the stretch and was the better team when it counted.
 
The Raiders limited Lehigh to 17 points in the second half on 4-of-24 from the field while rallying from a 31-22 deficit at intermission.
 
Summer King couldn't get anything to fall all night – until it counted.
 
She and Tegan Graham combined for the play of the evening with a scintillating give-and-go along the baseline that resulted in King's 3-point-play, giving the Raiders the lead for keeps at 51-48 with 38.4 remaining.
 
After a Lehigh layup miss and King's rebound, Nia Ahart sank two free throws for a 53-48 edge with 27 seconds to play. King grabbed another Lehigh carom and Chelsey Koren made 1-of-2 for Colgate's largest lead of the night.
 
One final flurry of Lehigh shots drew iron and Colgate had its first win since Dec. 2.
 
After points were hard to come by in the first quarter, Colgate began the second period 7-of-8 from the floor and forged a 19-19 tie on Tegan Graham's third straight bucket with 4:38 remaining. Graham led the way with eight points in the period on 4-of-4 shooting.
 
But Lehigh's Quinci Mann was just as sharp, scoring eight in the quarter and finishing the half with 12 as the Mountain Hawks led 31-22.
 
Koren and Keelah Dixon keyed the Colgate comeback in the third quarter, scoring five apiece to account for half of the 20 Raider points. Koren's steal and coast-to-coast 3-point-play pulled the Raiders into a 35-35 tie, and then Dixon swished a 3-pointer for Colgate's first lead at 38-37.
 
The Raiders were in front 42-39 heading to the fourth.
 
Graham's jumper and Tori Pozsonyi's putback made it 46-41 Colgate with 4:48 remaining. But 3-pointers from Lehigh's Bernadette Devaney and Camryn Buhr tied the game 48-48 with 1:06 left, setting the stage for the Colgate heroics.
 
Graham led the Raiders with 10 points. Buhr tallied 15 and Mann 14 to lead all scorers, but 20 of those 29 points came before the break.
 
Pozsonyi scored six of her eight points in the second half and Kateri Stone knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to also finish with eight. Mylah Chandler added seven points and six boards while blocking three shots in the second half.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 54, Lehigh 48
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 5-20 overall and 1-13 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh dropped to 13-12 and 7-7.
 
Key Raider Info
• King was a force at the end, grabbing half of her 10 rebounds in the closing minutes and coming up with a big steal that led to a Chandler layup.
• The Raiders outscored Lehigh in points-off-turnovers 19-8.
• First-year guards Ahart and Dixon combined for 10 points, five rebounds and two assists against just two turnovers in 44 minutes.
• Stone's two 3-pointers lifted her career total to 109. She's 10th on the all-time Raiders list and trails No. 9 Catherine Lewis by one.
• Colgate improved to 3-1 when leading after three quarters and 5-1 when leading at the 5:00 mark.
• The 48 points allowed were 11 points under than the previous low of 59, also by Lehigh back on Jan. 17.
• Colgate and Lehigh split their regular season series for the fifth year in a row.
• Colgate's four first-quarter points tied the season-low for any period. The Raiders trailed 10-4.
 
Facts & Figures
• Fourth-place Lehigh was 9-2 at home this season before tonight.
• This was Colgate's last regular season game against a team with a winning Patriot League record.
• The Raiders have games remaining against Loyola, Army West Point, Holy Cross and Lafayette. Army is 6-8 in conference and the other three are 5-9.
 
From the Sources
• Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the win) "Wow. It was a great team effort and a real testament to our kids. We've been in a lot of games this year. There have been a number of times when the players could have packed it in, and they haven't. It shows you the character of each and every one of those players in that locker room."
 
(On Tegan Graham) "Tegan was fantastic. She has played really well the last few games after struggling midseason. But that's a mature young woman understanding what she needs to do and putting the time and effort in. I'm proud for her that the results are starting to show."
 
(On Tori Pozsonyi) "The play that stands out the most to me is the rebound and basket where she got it and went right back up. Tori has gotten better during our time here and we are really proud of her."
 
(On Summer King) Lauren Ellis was telling Summer the whole game, 'You keep shooting; you keep shooting.' The one that fell was the one that mattered, the 3-point-play. Summer kicked it out to Tegan, who attacked and then found Summer in the perfect spot."
 
(Other contributions) "Our first-years played a great game. Nia controlled the game exceptionally well and Keelah hit a big-time three that gave us the lead we never relinquished. And Kateri was huge for us. Those 3-pointers in the middle quarters kept us in it.
 
"These young women are giving us everything they've got – in practice and in games. And they refuse to quit. Our intensity tonight was incredible."
 
• Junior forward Summer King (On the 3-point-play and her rebounding) "Coach Ellis has been working with us on our pass-backs. Post up, pass back and reseal. Nothing had been falling for me but I went back to what Ellie has taught us and it ended up working out.
 
"When shots aren't falling, I just try to focus on other things I can do on the court. Tonight, that was rebounding."
 
(On the win) "This was long overdue, and the rest of the season is going to be good too."
 
• Sophomore guard Tegan Graham (On her game) "I needed to be more aggressive and make some plays for the team. And our defense was huge. We kept pressure on them and kept them out of the lane the whole game."
 
Up Next
• Colgate is home Saturday for Senior Day against Loyola.
• The Greyhounds are 7-18 overall and 5-9 in the Patriot League after Wednesday's 74-69 home loss to Bucknell.
• Tipoff is 2 p.m., with the Patriot League Network and 94 WKXZ-FM carrying all the action.