HAMILTON – In a season that already has been filled with several occurrences of best-this and first-time-since-that, Colgate added a big one Saturday and finally, finally – finally! – brought The Streak to a close.
Good riddance.
Colgate knocked off nemesis American 63-62 in overtime for the Raiders' first victory over the Eagles since 2007. It ended a streak of 27 consecutive losses in the series and boosted Colgate to 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the Patriot League, good for solo second place.
No Colgate women's basketball team has ever been 14-5 through 19 games and only the 2003-04 Patriot League champions were 6-2 at this point on their way to 10-4 and a first-place finish.
The Raiders also improved to 9-0 at home this season, best in the conference and best in Colgate's Division I era.
Ending The Streak took every ounce of energy the Raiders could muster. The players were exhausted when it was all over. That's how badly Colgate wanted this one.
Despite the fact that Colgate led for nearly 37 of the 45 minutes, there was very little wiggle room. Colgate ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to take an 18-11 lead, but then American ended the second quarter 7-0 to lead 29-28 at intermission.
Colgate won the third quarter and led 47-42 heading to the fourth, and the Raiders increased that lead to as much as 52-44 on
Haley Greer's layup with 8:04 to play.
But the Raiders ended up making just five of their 18 shot attempts in that final period and American fought back for the tie with a Play of the Day candidate if ever there was one.
Colgate had scored with 1.4 seconds remaining when
Taylor Langan found
Abby Schubiger for a layup and a 58-56 lead. Game over, right? Not so fast.
American advanced the ball via timeout and Eagles guard Indeya Sanders lofted the perfect alley-oop to Jade Edwards on the far side of the rim. Edwards didn't miss and overtime beckoned.
Rachel Thompson swished a corner three for a 61-58 Raiders lead with 4 minutes remaining. Emily Fisher's layup drew American within 61-60 with 2 minutes left, and then Edwards sank two free throws with 1:17 showing for a 62-61 Eagles edge.
On the ensuing possession, Langan knocked down what proved to be the winning shot, a 17-footer inside the free throw circle with 57.6 to play. American misfired on its possession and Langan grabbed the board.
Tegan Graham worked her way for a great look at a layup and some breathing room for Colgate, only to have it hit about five rims and trickle off. American grabbed the board and called timeout with 13 seconds remaining to set up the final play.
The Eagles got the ball to Edwards, who had provided the winning edge late in American's 63-61 victory in Washington earlier this month. But this time she lost the handle of her dribble and Thompson secured the ball and the victory.
Thompson led all scorers with 20 to go with eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. Schubiger added 14 points and nine rebounds, while
Ava Williams contributed 10 rebounds.
American dropped to 7-11 overall and 3-5 in conference. The Eagles placed three in double-figures, led by Edwards with 17. Edwards played with four fouls from the 7:15 mark of the third quarter.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 63, American 62 (OT)
From the Sources
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the win) "I'm proud of these players. They did everything we asked them to do and showed a lot of resolve. When the game went to overtime, it would have been easy to get deflated and come out flat. But Rachel hits that three and we have control, they get the lead back but then
Taylor Langan with that big shot at the end.
"I'm proud of this team's resiliency and fight."
(On another tough conference game) "Buckle up, because today is the way it's going to be. Home or away, the games are going to be tight and that speaks to the parity of this league. Anyone can beat anyone on any given night, which we saw today with Bucknell at Loyola.
"Our players know that and understand that and they welcome the challenge."
(On the box score) "
Nia Ahart had zero points but her defense was incredible. She's disciplined and she follows the scout. And
Haley Greer had a great game on both ends of the floor.
"This was a great team win, no question about it. There were contributions up and down our bench. Even those who didn't get in today continue to do a great job of getting our team prepared."
•
Sophomore Taylor Langan (On her winning shot) "I was setting a screen for Tegan to dive but I read the defense and they were over-helping against Tegan. So I just popped and my defender was playing off a bit and decided to shoot it. I didn't hesitate.
"The group we had at the end was really clicking. We all knew that even if our shots weren't falling, our defense was huge and that meant boxing out and getting rebounds."
Stats of the Game
• Where were you in 2007? That's the last time Colgate defeated American before Saturday.
It was a 66-53 Raiders victory back on Feb. 10, 2007, in Hamilton. Gretchen Polinski scored 21 points to lead the winners.
• American is now 36-7 all-time against Colgate, which means the Eagles held a 9-6 advantage when the streak began.
• Colgate's 14 victories tie for the second-most in any season since the Raiders elevated their women's basketball program to Division I 33 years ago. The 1990-91 Raiders finished 14-14 and the 2001-02 squad went 14-17.
• Only the 2003-04 Patriot League champions at 21-10 won more than this year's team.
• Langan finished with just 5 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, but the sophomore contributed massively in crucial moments with game-deciding plays.
• Thompson is now top 10 on the Colgate career charts in scoring (10th), rebounding (10th), assists (6th) and steals (9th).
• Her eight rebounds Saturday give her 593 and counting, and move her past Katie Weigert (1987-90) and Carole Harris (2012-15) into 10th on the list.
• Colgate was 8-of-9 at the free throw line but didn't toe the stripe for the last 22:18 of game action. American finished 10-of-12.
• The Raiders posted 19 assists against just 12 turnovers for another strong ratio. Colgate leads the Patriot League at +1.3 per game.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 407.
Up Next
• Colgate is back on the road Wednesday to take on Lafayette.
• The Leopards are 9-9 overall and 5-3 in the Patriot League after Saturday's 61-53 home victory over Lehigh. Colgate defeated Lafayette 73-52 in Hamilton back on Jan. 15.
• Tipoff from Easton is 7 p.m., with the Patriot League Network carrying all the action.
