HAMILTON – Colgate finally turned the annual Kids Game into a true celebratory affair with a 60-49 triumph over Lafayette here Wednesday afternoon.
The Raiders picked up their first home Kids Game victory thanks to lights-out play in the second and third quarters. After a sluggish first period that ended with an 8-7 Lafayette lead, Colgate put 47 points on the board over the next 20 minutes.
That was just enough cushion to outlast a Lafayette rally attempt in the fourth quarter that never drew closer than nine points.
Colgate scored the game's first five but then the Leopards answered with eight, and it was 8-7 at the end of 10 minutes. Colgate for the quarter shot 3-of-18 for 16.7 percent; Lafayette was only slightly better at 4-of-15 for 26.7 percent.
But the Raiders found their range in the second quarter, sparked by
Rachel Thompson's eight points. Colgate outscored Lafayette 26-9 for its best-scoring second quarter of the season.
The Raiders led 33-17 at intermission.
The good times continued into the third quarter as Colgate scored the first eight points to lead 41-17 on Thompson's fast break layup from
Mylah Chandler's full-court pass. That was Colgate's largest advantage of the game.
Passing was crisp during that third period, with the Raiders swinging it from side to side and
Haley Greer finding
Summer King for a baseline jumper that made it 45-22 with 5:37 showing. Colgate led 54-30 heading to the fourth.
That's when the Raiders suddenly lost their shooting touch and missed their first eight shots, helping Lafayette compile a 12-0 run.
Keelah Dixon's bucket with 3:47 remaining finally ended the drought and Colgate was able to keep the Leopards at bay over the closing minutes.
Thompson led the Raiders with 14 points and 10 rebounds. It's her third double-double in the last four games, fifth for the season and eighth career.
Nia Ahart matched her season high with 10 points and
Haley Greer scored nine.
Lafayette's Natalie Kucowski led all scorers with 22.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 60, Lafayette 49
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate improved to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in the Patriot League.
• Lafayette is now 6-8 and 1-2.
Stats of the Game
• Lafayette's 49 points were the fewest by a Raiders opponent this season.
• The Raiders won their home Kids Game for the first time in four tries.
• Colgate over the middle two quarters shot 20-of-29 from the field for 69.0 percent. The Raiders were 6-of-10 from 3-point distance during that stretch.
• Colgate's 19 assists and 15 steals were both season highs.
• Lafayette's 25 turnovers were a season high and the most by a Raiders opponent this season.
• Colgate won its sixth straight at home against the Leopards.
• Chandler led the Raiders with four assists and four steals.
• Chandler and Dixon (3) tied career game highs for steals.
• The Raiders were just 3-of-4 at the free throw line; they were 3-of-6 at Siena.
• The early 8-7 score line marked Colgate's fewest points and fewest allowed points in the first quarter this season.
From the Source
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Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the second and third quarters) "We were doing a great job defensively and that generated a lot of easy baskets in transition, particularly in that second quarter. We did a really good job defensively and that got everything started for us.
"We also played well defensively in the first quarter, but the shots just weren't falling for us. We just said to stay with it and believe and trust that the ball would start falling, and it did for those two quarters."
(On contributions throughout the lineup) "One of the things we talk about when we are recruiting players is we want five players on the floor who can score. We want five threats on the floor. That's what we want to be and we had five threats on the floor today. There was a point in the third quarter when that ball whipped around, hit every player and did not touch the ground before Summer made that jumper. If it has been hockey, we would have needed to give a second assist. Great offense for us in those first three quarters. The fourth quarter was, eh."
(On the Kids Game win) "
Nathalie Carter and
Brigid St. Leger do a great job and they really packed that place for us. It was great to get a win for everyone who came out."
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Junior guard Rachel Thompson (On the second and third quarters) "It started with our defense and the intensity we displayed on defense. We followed the scout and knew we just needed to tighten up after that first quarter.
"We just had to keep up that defensive intensity, which turned into points."
(On the Kids Game win) "We used the kids' enthusiasm and excitement to fuel our energy and intensity. That's what we love about the Kids Game."
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance for the annual Kids Game at Cotterell Court was 1,574, the largest crowd for a Colgate home game since No. 1 Connecticut played here in 2015 before a packed house of 1,782.
• Schools represented this year for the Kids Game were Hamilton Central, Brookfield, Madison Central, Morrisville-Eaton, Sherburne-Earlville and Whitesboro.
Up Next
• Colgate is home again Saturday against Navy in the first game of a women's-men's doubleheader.
• The Mids were 6-6 overall and 1-1 in conference heading into Wednesday night's home game against American.
• Start time is 1 p.m. from Cotterell Court, with the Patriot League Network and WKXZ-FM carrying all the action. The Colgate men host Lehigh in Game 2 of the doubleheader.
