HAMILTON – Colgate saw its future come into a little clearer focus here Wednesday night at Cotterell Court.
 
No, the Raiders weren't victorious against Lehigh, falling 75-63. But encouraging signs from some of the younger squad members could pay dividends during the closing four games as Colgate tries to earn a first-round tournament bye.
 
Ava Williams led the Raiders with eight rebounds, Haley Greer scored 16 points to miss her career high by one, and Alexa Naessens finished with a plus-10 in the plus-minus category while registering the first three blocked shots of her career.
 
Williams and Naessens are first-year Raiders, while Greer is a junior.
 
Lehigh scored the game's first seven points and never trailed. Colgate drew within 13-12 on a Rachel Thompson jumper before trailing 22-17 at the end of one quarter.
 
The Raiders again pulled within 24-23 only to see Lehigh score 11 straight. The Mountain Hawks led 45-34 at halftime. Colgate started strong to begin the third quarter and pulled within 47-42 and 50-45, only to watch the Mountain Hawks finish the quarter on an 11-3 run for a 61-48 edge.
 
Colgate never again got the game into single digits and the Raiders lost their fifth straight.
 
Bottom Line
• Lehigh 75, Colgate 63
 
Won-Lost Records
• Colgate is now 9-15 overall and 5-9 in the Patriot League.
• Lehigh improved to 16-9 and 8-6.
 
Stats of the Game
• The Mountain Hawks are 0-6 against the three teams ahead of them in the standings and 8-0 vs. the rest of the league. They have four games remaining – Army, at Loyola, Lafayette, at Holy Cross – and Colgate needs Lehigh to continue its solid play against the second division.
• The eight rebounds for the freshman Williams marked a season high.
• In addition to Greer, Keelah Dixon scored 11, Thompson 10 and Tegan Graham 10. Thompson played just 19 minutes because of foul trouble.
• In the first half, Lehigh committed 10 turnovers to Colgate's nine. But the Mountain Hawks took advantage of their opportunities, posting a 17-5 scoring edge in points-off-turnovers.
• That category finished 19-11 in Lehigh's favor.
• Colgate committed just three turnovers in the second half, finishing with 12 to miss its season low by one.
• Lehigh swept the season series for the first time since 2012-13.
 
From the Sources
• Head Coach Bill Cleary (Postgame comments) "Obviously, we're disappointed with the result, and we've had a tough stretch of games. But there were a lot of positives to take away from tonight's game. Even though we lost, we had positives tonight.
 
"Ava Williams did a fantastic job. She looked confident out there and she looked like she belonged. She's making great strides because she's in the gym. She's working.
 
"Alexa Naessens gave us a great game tonight. She was plus-10 in plus-minus in a game we lost by 12 – that's hard to do. But she does a great job of preventing bigs from getting the ball and she's constantly moving, constantly active.
 
"Nia Ahart – if you're going to judge by stats then you're missing a big piece of who she is. Her shot selection was good and she does a great job for us defensively.
 
"Haley Greer came off the bench and really provided a spark. She really tried to will this team to a win tonight.
 
"Our future is really bright, I believe that. We told the players after the game that they have to see the bigger picture, and it's getting there. We know we're making progress."
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 217.
 
Up Next
• Colgate is at Loyola for a Saturday afternoon matchup.
• The Greyhounds are 3-11 in the Patriot League and 4-21 overall after Wednesday's 87-55 loss at first-place Bucknell.
• Tip time is 4 p.m. from Baltimore, with the Patriot League Network carrying all the action.