HAMILTON – Colgate needed to win one the ugly way and it just wasn't meant to be.
Mylah Chandler scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds – tying for game honors in both categories – but Navy pulled away from Colgate in the second half for a 62-49 Patriot League decision.
Colgate committed 21 turnovers, leading to 13 Navy steals and a 17-6 Mids margin in points-off-turnovers. The Mids arrived as the top team in the Patriot League in steals at 11.8, and they were holding their opponents to just 56.1 points per game.
Both of those categories went the Navy's way Saturday.
The Mids also grabbed 24 offensive rebounds and finished with 71 field goal attempts to 57 for the Raiders.
Colgate scoring leader
Rachel Thompson was held to just four points in 17½ minutes of court action before she fouled out with 6:26 remaining in the game.
Chandler tied her season high in points and matched her career best in boards while posting her first double-double of the season. She contributed four blocked shots to equal another career high.
Navy led nearly the whole game, except for a brief stretch in the second quarter after an 11-0 Raiders run. That handed Colgate a 24-20 lead with 4:51 left before halftime.
But the Mids answered with the next nine points and led 33-28 at intermission. That lead grew to 12 points on three different occasions in the third quarter before Colgate narrowed the gap to 48-39 entering the fourth.
The Raiders four times pulled within seven points, the last coming on Chandler's field goal in the paint that made it 56-49 with 2:33 showing. Navy then scored the last six points for the closing margin.
Keelah Dixon added 14 points for Colgate, her third game in double-figures in the last five.
Haley Greer contributed a career-high four blocks as Colgate swatted a season-best 11 Navy shots.
Navy's Sophie Gatzounas scored 14 and Kolbi Green 10, while Jennifer Coleman grabbed 13 boards.
Bottom Line
• Navy 62, Colgate 49
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 6-8 overall and 2-2 in the Patriot League.
• Navy improved to 7-7 and 2-2.
Stats of the Game
• Chandler with four blocked shots jumped past
Summer King into 10th on the Colgate career chart. She has 72 to King's 71.
• This was Chandler's fourth game this season with 10 or more rebounds.
• Fouls for the game were 19 by Colgate to just six whistled on Navy. It was 11-1 in the second half.
• This was Navy's seventh win in a row in Hamilton.
• Greer before Saturday had 10 career blocked shots over 10 different games.
• Colgate begins a challenging stretch of games Wednesday. The Raiders are at 4-0 Boston University, home against 3-1 Bucknell and then at 3-1 Lehigh.
From the Source
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the lack of possessions) "Absolutely, and we did that to ourselves. Credit Navy. They did a great job crashing the glass and they forced us to play their type of basketball. We turned the ball over and gave them extra possessions – 24 offensive rebounds and 21 turnovers is not a good combination. That's something we were burdened by last year but we have been limiting those opportunities for the most part this year."
(On Chandler) "Mylah gave us everything she had. The progress Mylah has made from when we first arrived has been fantastic. A lot of credit to her because one of the things we talked about after the game was looking inward. Mylah looked inward going into this season because there were things she wanted to change to become a better player. She wanted to make a change for the team and a change for herself, and she's realizing how good of a player she can be."
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 224.
Up Next
• Colgate is back on the road Wednesday at Boston University.
• The Terriers are 4-0 and alone atop the Patriot League standings after Saturday's 58-45 home win over Lehigh. BU is now 8-6 overall.
• Start time is 7 p.m. from Boston, with the Patriot League Network carrying all the action.
