BOSTON – THAT was a comeback.
Colgate spotted Boston University a 17-point lead well into the third quarter before storming from behind to deal the first-place Terriers their initial Patriot League loss 81-72 here Wednesday night.
Colgate put 24 on the board in the third quarter and 28 in the fourth to come all the way back from deficits of 42-29 at halftime and 54-37 midway in the third.
After BU registered that 17-point cushion, Colgate outscored the host Terriers 16-3 over the final 3:43 of the third quarter to pull within 57-53. What once was a blowout suddenly was a ballgame.
Tegan Graham knocked down a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter and then
Keelah Dixon swished a pull-up jumper with 7:11 showing and the Raiders were in front 59-58. It was their first lead since 16-13.
The teams traded leads over the next three minutes before
Summer King's driving layup pushed Colgate in front for keeps 68-66 with 3:27 left.
Haley Greer followed with her fourth 3-pointer of the game and then the Raiders did just enough at the free throw line to polish off their second road conference win of the season.
Colgate started quickly, scoring eight straight points to lead 10-5 on Thompson's layup with 5:17 left in the first. But BU put on a shooting clinic in the first half, finishing 6-of-11 from the floor in the opening quarter and then 8-of-10 in the second to grab a 42-29 halftime lead.
The Terriers then made their first two shots of the second half to stand 16-of-23 to that point, or 69.6 percent. They were 7-of-21 the rest of the way to still finish at a season-best 52.3 percent.
Colgate was 8-of-15 in the third quarter and 8-of-12 in the fourth – including a blistering 4-of-4 from downtown in the final period. The Raiders shot 59.3 percent in the second half to finish the game at 47.5 percent, their second-best shooting night of the season.
Greer scored 13 of her career-high 17 points in the second half, and her four treys also were a collegiate best.
Rachel Thompson scored nine of her 17 points in the third quarter to jumpstart the rally.
Massachusetts natives Dixon and King scored 12 and 10, respectively, in front of the home folks.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 81, Boston University 72
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in the Patriot League.
• It's just the fourth time in 28 Patriot League seasons that the Raiders have been 3-2 or better through five games.
• Boston University dropped to 8-7 and 4-1.
Stats of the Game
• Colgate finished 3-0 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with wins at UMass Lowell, Holy Cross and Boston University.
• The second-half points parade looked an awful lot like Colgate's Nov. 25 win over Columbia, when the Raiders scored 34 in the fourth quarter and 59 in the second half.
• Greer's previous scoring high was 13. She led the team with five assists to just miss tying another career best.
• Thompson's 7-of-7 at the free throw line was the best by a Raider this season.
• Colgate finished with 14 assists to just 12 turnovers, improving to 6-0 when posting a positive assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Colgate's nine 3-pointers were a season high.
• The Raider bench scored a season-high 39 points to BU's 16.
•
Ava Williams earned her first career start in her 14th collegiate game, and
Alexa Naessens saw her first game action since Nov. 21 vs. Canisius. Naessens was battling an illness through that absence.
• Colgate's best starts to a Patriot League season are now 4-1 in the debut Patriot League campaign of 1990-91, 3-2 in 2001-02, 3-2 in 2003-04 en route to the program's only championship, and 3-2 this season. That's the list.
• Boston U. lost for the first time when leading at halftime and leading at the end of three quarters (both 7-1).
• Payton Hauck scored a game-high 20 for the Terriers, while Nia Irving added 19 points and a game-high 15 boards.
From the Sources
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the win) "What a great team win. You could see it in our eyes that we weren't going to give up. We shot the ball with WAY more confidence in the second half, and that was the difference.
Haley Greer hit some big threes, Tegan hit two from the corner – you don't have enough time for me to go through all of the contributions we had. Abby had big game, Summer was terrific in the fourth quarter, Nia and Keelah gave us everything they had – it was one after another.
"Tonight, Rachel led that charge. She put us on her back in the third quarter and led us back. But instead of Rachel carrying us on through, everyone else started chipping in. They believe in themselves. I'm just so proud of these kids, because they're starting to have that confidence. To see it come through tonight, that's the rewarding part."
•
Junior guard Rachel Thompson (On the comeback) "We knew we had to bump up our intensity and make changes on defense in order to come back. We also had to adjust how we were playing on offense, and that's what we did in the third quarter. Once we started to get defensive stops, that led to our offense. And we felt this energy that we weren't going to lose. If we stood together and played our game, we wouldn't let this game slip away from us."
•
Junior guard Haley Greer (On the comeback) "It had to do with our team energy. When we come out with that energy, it's like we can't lose. It's everyone from first to last – the bench was amazing (39-16 scoring edge) – and everyone was really happy for each other.
(On the hot shooting late) "That was all about moving the ball and people getting open shots. Everybody wanted everyone else to score, and it's good when we play like that."
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Case Gym was 319.
Up Next
• Colgate is home Saturday against Bucknell.
• The Bison are 4-1 in the Patriot League and 13-4 overall after Wednesday night's 71-53 home win over Lehigh. Bucknell is in a three-way tie for first place.
• Start time is 2 p.m. from Cotterell Court, with the Patriot League Network and 94 WKXZ-FM carrying all the action.
