HAMILTON – Cotterell Court once again proved to be just what the Colgate Raiders needed Saturday to keep their magical season on track.
The Raiders climbed to 10-0 at home this year with a hard-fought 71-60 victory over Holy Cross. It was the annual Pink Game, and players, coaches and fans alike paid pregame tributes to loved ones who have faced cancer in some form or another.
Colgate's 1-2 scoring punch of
Rachel Thompson and
Abby Schubiger shone once again. Thompson poured in a game-high 23 points, including 7-of-7 at the free throw line, and Schubiger added 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
Tegan Graham tossed in 11 points for the Raiders, who won for the 22nd consecutive time when scoring at least 70 points. The Raiders improved to 13-0 this season when tallying 70-plus.
But defense was the key. Colgate held Holy Cross to less than 35 percent shooting – HC entered third in the league at 41.5 percent – and limited Patriot League scoring leader Lauren Manis to just 2 points on 1-of-10 shooting. She fouled out with 1 minute remaining.
Manis is on pace to score 2,000 points for her career and came into Saturday's game at 18.3 for the season. Thompson entered second at 16.9.
Holy Cross scored first for its only lead at 2-0. Colgate answered with 10 straight points and led 14-4 at the first quarter break. Schubiger's jumper in the paint made it 26-14 with 2:21 left before halftime, but the Crusaders reeled off 10 in a row to pull within 26-24 at intermission.
Colgate again started fast in the third quarter, scoring the first nine points to lead 35-24 on Thompson's 3-pointer with 8:07 showing. The lead see-sawed between 13 and 7 points before Colgate put the last five on the board to end the period at 53-41 in front.
Holy Cross on its first three possessions of the fourth quarter went 3-pointer from Madalyn Smith, layup from Megan Swords and putback layup from Swords to pull within 53-48 and force a Raiders timeout.
The lead returned to 59-48 on Schubiger's baseline jumper with 5:28, but Holy Cross made one last run and drew within 61-56 on Avery LaBarbera's 3-pointer with 2:08 to play.
Colgate misfired twice on its next possession but before the Crusaders could creep closer, Thomson forced a steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup. She was fouled and sank the free throw to build a 64-56 cushion that all but sealed the deal.
The Raiders continued their excellent free throw form in the final minute, making 7 of 8 to salt this one away and win for just the sixth time in 30 tries at home against Holy Cross.
Colgate improved to 15-6 overall and stayed in a second-place tie with Lafayette at 7-3 in the Patriot League. Holy Cross dropped to 13-8 and 6-4.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 71, Holy Cross 60
From the Sources
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Head Coach Bill Cleary (On Thompson and Schubiger) "They set the table for us, no doubt.
Alexa Brodie had a great game,
Haley Greer had a great game and
Tegan Graham did great as well. We got contributions up and down the bench."
(On transition) "We did get out in transition, but when they keyed on that we did a good job of slicing when we had to. Credit
Abby Schubiger, who does a great job running the floor and stretching out those defenses."
(On answering runs) "We did. It didn't rattle us and we kept our composure. That's a very good team and we did a great job on Lauren Manis. She's a great player and they have a lot of pieces around her, and sometimes your best player has an off night. Our kids did a great job defensively."
(On the coming week) "The plan is to give our players a couple of days off and then we will refocus and regroup. We've got that trip to Navy next weekend, and they are tough at home."
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Senior forward Abby Schubiger (On defending Holy Cross) "Manis and Swords are phenomenal basketball players. We knew that and just had to figure out how we could play against those two great shot-blockers. We did that pretty well today."
•
Senior guard Tegan Graham (On home court) "We've never really had that advantage since I've been here, so it's been a real emphasis this year on protecting our home court."
Stats of the Game
• Colgate finished 17-of-19 at the free throw line. All 19 attempts came in the second half.
• The Raiders are shooting 76.1 percent as a team. The program free throw percentage record for a season is 73.9, set four years ago.
• Colgate's 15-6 record through 21 games is the best in program history. The 7-3 conference mark ties that of the 2004 Patriot League champions.
• The Raiders had a 30-6 edge in fast break points Saturday.
• Despite the Holy Cross height advantage, Colgate was 15-of-19 on layups. Holy Cross finished 15-of-32 on layups and was 0-of-8 elsewhere in the paint.
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Alexa Brodie scored nine points and handed out four assists. She also drew eight fouls against the Crusaders.
•
Haley Greer matched her season-high with five assists.
• Holy Cross won 52 of the first 57 meetings between these teams, but it's a 4-4 split since Cleary arrived on the scene.
• Swords led Holy Cross with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while LaBarbera added 17 points.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 556 – second-highest this season behind the Kids Day game.
Up Next
• The Patriot League's Wednesday off night means the Raiders are idle until visiting Navy next Saturday.
• The Mids are 7-14 overall and 2-8 in the Patriot League after Saturday's 50-44 home loss to Loyola. Colgate knocked off Navy 80-55 back on Jan. 11 in Hamilton.
• Tipoff from Annapolis is 4 p.m., with the Patriot League Network carrying all the action.
