HAMILTON – It took a team effort to finally slay those Niagara Purple Eagles, and Colgate had career performances up and down the lineup during Sunday's 85-72 victory.
The Raiders ended a six-game losing streak to Niagara by placing four in double-figures, led by
Taylor Langan with 23.
Rachel Thompson missed a triple-double by one assist, finishing with 14, 11 and nine, while
Ava Williams poured in a career-high 15 and
Abby Schubiger matched her season best with 13.
And don't forget
Alexa Naessens with a career-high eight points, including 2-of-2 from 3-point distance. Or
Tegan Graham with eight points and season highs of five rebounds and five assists in her first start of the campaign.
Niagara grabbed leads of 9-5 and 11-7 before the Raiders turned on the jets and outscored the visitors 19-4 to take a 26-15 edge on Naessens' basket with 1:05 left in the quarter. Colgate led 27-20 at the first break.
Points were a little harder to come by in the second quarter but the Raiders worked leads of 34-22 and then 39-29, only to watch Niagara score seven straight capped by Maggie McIntyre's deep 3-pointer with 31 seconds showing.
It looked like the Purple Eagles would draw even closer with the final possession, but Thompson came up with a steal and layup that just beat the halftime buzzer. It was 41-36 headed to the locker room.
Colgate then put on a clinic in the third quarter, making 13 of its 18 field goal tries and scoring a season-high 29 points. Langan tallied eight in the quarter and was backed by six from Graham as the Raiders were in command 70-51 heading to the fourth.
Colgate managed the game from there, allowing the lead to dip to 83-72 but no closer as the Raiders improved to 6-2.
That matches the best start in program history, set by the 2003-04 Patriot League champions.
Niagara was paced by McIntyre's game-high 26 points, including a 6-of-9 effort from downtown. Jai Moore added 14 for the Purple Eagles, who dropped to 1-6.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 85, Niagara 72
From the Sources
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the game) "That's a really nice win for us. That's a big win and we knew they were going to be tough and would keep coming at us. Coach Pearce does a fantastic job and she always has her team prepared and they fight."
Listen to the rest of Coach Cleary's comments
HERE.
•
Sophomore guard Ava Williams (On the win) "It was a fun win. It all starts for us on defense. Whenever we get a stop, everyone feels the energy on offense and we move the ball around better and get open looks. I'm not satisfied but I am happy with today. It's motivation to work harder, go farther and be better."
•
Sophomore guard Taylor Langan (On her fast start) "I wasn't really forcing anything. I was looking out for my teammates but if I had an opportunity, I took the shot. I knew that since we had a lot of people missing because of injuries, I was going to have to shoot a little bit more."
Listen to the PLN and 94 WKXZ-FM postgame show with
Ava Williams and
Taylor Langan HERE.
Stats of the Game
• Colgate shot 52.1 percent from the floor, second-best of the season. The Raiders were especially sharp in the first (11-of-17) and third (13-of-18) quarters.
• Colgate won its 14th straight game when scoring at least 70 points. The Raiders are 5-0 this season.
• Today's 29 points in the third quarter are the most by the Raiders in any quarter this season.
• The Raiders defeated Niagara for the first time since a 75-47 triumph back in December 2005.
• The 2003-04 Raiders also began their magical season 6-2 before losing in their ninth game, 69-64 at Central Michigan.
• Colgate's 27 assists Sunday are the most of the Cleary Era and the most since at least 1999-2000. The program record is 32 against Bucknell on Feb. 20, 1991.
• The previous Cleary highs for assists were 22 in a double-overtime win over Boston University in January 2017, and 21 in a regulation victory over UMass Lowell in December 2017.
• Williams was +28 in the plus-minus category against Niagara. She leads the team at +8.3 per game.
• Neither
Nia Ahart,
Keelah Dixon nor
Haley Greer dressed today for Colgate because of injuries.
• Thompson in the game eclipsed 900 points (904) and 500 rebounds (509) for her career.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court on a snowy day was 192.
Up Next
• Colgate stays home and stays in the MAAC with a Wednesday visit from Siena.
• The Saints are 1-4 and have not played since an 83-39 loss at Florida Atlantic back on Nov. 19.
• Tipoff is 7 p.m. from Cotterell Court, with the Patriot League Network and 94 WKXZ-FM carrying all the action.
