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HAMILTON – Colgate's chances of rallying to win Thursday night appeared doubtful, unlikely and downright improbable.
 
The Raiders trailed Lafayette 54-46 with 3:20 remaining and couldn't seem to shake a nearly six-minute scoring drought at just the wrong time. The visiting Leopards looked well on their way to a No. 6 seed and a Saturday bye in the upcoming Patriot League tournament.
 
But Mackenzie Carroll picked her moment to shine, sinking three straight 3-pointers and igniting a 14-1 closing run that lifted the Raiders to a stunning 60-55 victory in Cotterell Court.
 
Here's what Colgate did over its last five possessions that mattered:
 
• Carroll 3-pointer
• Carroll 3-pointer
• Nia Ahart three-point-play
• Carroll 3-pointer
• Keelah Dixon layup
 
The team that plodded to 46 points in 36 minutes suddenly was a rocket ship.
 
The Raider defense also was doing its part. Colgate limited Lafayette to just six field goal attempts and forced six turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Leopards scored just three points over the final five minutes and were scoreless the last 3:05.
 
Lafayette burst from the opening whistle to leads of 8-0 and 11-2. The Colgate reserves finally halted the early Leopard momentum and the Raiders pulled within 14-8 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Colgate then scored 14 of the first 20 points to start the second period, taking a 22-20 lead on Dixon's layup. Lafayette responded with seven straight points before Carroll's first 3-pointer of the night made it 27-25 Leopards at intermission.
 
Lafayette expanded its lead by one point over the course of the third quarter, taking a 45-42 advantage into the final 10 minutes.
 
Back-to-back sparkling plays vaulted Colgate into a 46-45 lead with 8:56 remaining. Summer King and Mylah Chandler converted layups thanks to nifty bounce passes from Chandler and Carroll, respectively.
 
But after that the Raiders went cold, and Lafayette responded with a 9-0 run over the next 5:43 to take the aforementioned 54-46 advantage.
 
Carroll right before the mighty momentum swing had a 3-pointer wiped out when replay ruled she didn't release it before the shot clock expired. That came with 4:02 showing and appeared to seal Colgate's fate.
 
But the junior captain was just getting started.
 
The first two of Carroll's late barrage got the Raiders going, and then Ahart connected on an arching floater that barely beat the shot-clock buzzer as she was fouled. Ahart converted the free throw and the game was tied at 55-55.
 
Lafayette turned it over and on the ensuing possession, Carroll fired again from the top of the key. This one rattled but finally rolled and the Raiders led 58-55. Another turnover and Colgate was able to run some clock before Dixon found a seam for the closing points.
 
Carroll's 17 marked a season high and finished just shy of her career-best of 19 set last year against Towson. The five 3-pointers tied her career high from that Towson game.
 
Dixon also had a season high with 13, while King ho-hummed another double-double with 17 and 10. That's seven double-doubles this season for the junior forward, who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding.
 
Nathalie Kucowski paced Lafayette with 14 points, while Olivia Martino added 13.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 60, Lafayette 55
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate won for the second home game in a row, improving to 7-22 overall and 3-15 in the Patriot League.
• Lafayette dropped to 10-18 and 6-12.
 
Key Raider Info
• Colgate as part of its closing 14-1 run scored the last 11 points.
• King blocked two more shots to climb into a tie for eighth place on the Colgate season list with 39. She has 60 for her career and needs just four more to join the Raider career top 10.
• Carroll attempted three shots in the fourth quarter, going 3-of-3 from downtown for nine points.
• She had scored more than nine points in just two games this season: 11 at Cornell and 10 at Lafayette.
• Carroll leads the team with 29 made 3-pointers, but she was just 3-of-8 combined over her last seven games.
• She tied her career high with three steals and added two assists without a turnover.
• Chandler was all over the box score with eight points, four boards, three assists, two steals and a block.
• The Raiders committed 13 turnovers for their second-lowest total of the season (6 at Bucknell).
• Colgate forced 19 turnovers to match their season high, and the 23 points scored off turnovers were a season high.
• The Raiders were 0-20 before tonight when trailing with five minutes remaining. They were 1-21 when trailing at the end of the third quarter.
• But Colgate improved to 6-4 when reaching the 60-point mark.
 
From the Sources
• Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the finish) "We've been preaching all year that our players have been getting better. We kept telling them to hang in there and said we had to get stops. We couldn't match basket for basket down the stretch, so we turned up the defense.
 
"We can talk about Mackenzie Carroll's threes, but the defensive play she made when she tipped the ball out of the Lafayette player's hands, saved it from going out of bounds and had the wherewithal to find Keelah for a breakout. That is what Colgate Women's Basketball is all about.
 
"They were only able to get off six shots in the fourth quarter and took only 16 shots the whole second half. Nia and Keelah did a great job of bothering them and keeping them from getting into a flow."
 
(On the win) "It's a long season, and when the results aren't happening, it becomes easy to doubt and to quit. But his group hasn't done that and it speaks volumes to their character. These players want to win."
 
(On playing Holy Cross) "They are a great team and are playing well. They had a big win tonight at Lehigh against a team that doesn't usually lose at home."

• Junior guard Mackenzie Carroll (On her performance) "Sometimes that just happens. It was really important that my coaches and my teammates wanted me to shoot every time I got it.
 
"Coach noticed they were in a zone and he set up plays for me to shoot. The bigs were setting really good screens that were getting me open. That was the game plan, and then confidence took over.
 
"It's a great win for us and we are excited for Saturday."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 288.
 
Up Next
• Colgate opens Patriot League tournament play Saturday at Holy Cross.
• The Crusaders are the No. 7 seed after closing with a 65-62 win at Lehigh.
• Holy Cross swept the season series against Colgate, with scores of 71-64 in Hamilton and 61-52 last Saturday in Worcester.
• Tipoff is 1 p.m., with the Patriot League Network carrying all the action.
• Lafayette is the No. 8 seed in the tournament and hosts No. 9 Boston University in Saturday's other first-round game.