HAMILTON – Lehigh's best-shooting night of the season and a huge Mountain Hawk advantage at the free throw line were way too much for Colgate to overcome in an 86-58 defeat here Wednesday night.
 
The hosts shot 47.5 percent from the floor and were 24-of-31 from the line. The field goal percentage was a season high and the free throw numbers were season highs for made and attempted.
 
Lehigh was hot from the start, making 10 of 18 attempts and mixing in a 10-0 run to lead 23-13 at the end of one quarter. They were 17-of-34 from the field by halftime and led 44-24.
 
Colgate's best quarter was the third, continuing a season trend, but it didn't look like that would be the case. It took a serious jump-start from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, native Mackenzie Carroll, who swished four 3-pointers in the period and added another early in the fourth to lead the Raiders with 15 points.
 
Before Carroll's first trey of the game with 6:29 showing in the third quarter, Colgate had been outscored 10-0 to start the second half and trailed 54-24.
 
The Raiders pulled within 14 points on a couple of occasions, the last at 69-55 with 7:37 left in the game before the rally faded.
 
Rachel Thompson wasn't her usual sharp-shooting self but she still filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, eight assists and three steals against just two turnovers. Tegan Graham added 10 points and four assists against just a single turnover.
 
Lehigh placed four in double figures, led by Gena Grundhoffer with 18.
 
Bottom Line
• Lehigh 86, Colgate 58
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 7-10 overall and 3-4 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh improved to 12-6 and 4-3.
 
Stats of the Game
• Carroll scored her season-high 15 points over a 7:11 stretch of the second half. That's what five 3-pointers can do in a hurry.
• Those five 3-pointers tied a career high and were the best by a Raider since Carroll made five late last February in a comeback win over Lafayette.
• This was Summer King's 100th career game, but she was limited to just three minutes by an early injury.
• Haley Greer returned to the starting lineup, and Chelsey Koren was a late scratch from the roster because of an illness.
• Colgate's eight 3-pointers were the second-most in a game this season.
• Lehigh ended the game on a 15-3 run.
• It wasn't a season-high for points allowed but Colgate for the first time this season gave up at least 20 points in all four quarters.
 
From the Sources
• Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the game) "You've got to credit Lehigh. They came out, had a game plan, followed the game plan and that's something we can take away from tonight. You have to follow the game plan; you can't just do your own thing. That's who we were today and I don't care which team you are, you can't win doing your own thing.
 
"That's on me in terms of getting our players to be more disciplined and getting them to understand the game plan better. We will be better and we will be back Saturday."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Stabler Arena was 464.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is home Saturday against Loyola for its Pink Game and National Girls and Women in Sport Day.
• The Greyhounds are 1-6 in the Patriot League and 2-16 overall after Wednesday night's 75-57 home loss to Bucknell.
• Start time is 2 p.m. from Cotterell Court, with the Patriot League Network and 94 WKXZ-FM carrying all the action.