ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Colgate built up just enough capital during an excellent first half to hold off Navy and secure a 65-53 Patriot League victory.
The Raiders improved to 16-6 overall and 8-3 in the Patriot League, good for solo second place. The win assured Colgate of just its second winning season in program history and also completed a sweep of Navy for the first time since 2000-01.
The Raiders outscored the host Mids 21-6 in the second quarter to lead 38-18 at halftime. That was Colgate's largest halftime lead of the season.
But after scoring just the 18 points in the first half, Navy put 22 on the board in the third quarter to climb within 49-40 of the Raiders heading to the fourth and final stanza. Lindsay Llewellyn's 3-pointer with 8:17 remaining narrowed the score to 53-45, but that was as close as the Mids could get.
Colgate was solid once again at the free throw line, finishing 14-of-18 including 7-of-8 in the second half. Colgate is shooting 76.2 percent from the line and entered the game second in the Patriot League and 23rd nationally. The program record is 73.9 percent set in 2015-16.
Haley Greer led the team in scoring for the first time this season, finishing with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. She knocked down two of Colgate's five 3-pointers, raising her career total to 89.
Tegan Graham,
Nia Ahart and
Taylor Langan added threes for the Raiders, who were 5-of-15 from downtown.
Colgate shot 37.7 percent to Navy's 33.9, but the Mids owned a 44-37 rebounding edge. Where Colgate excelled once again was assist-to-turnover ratio, finishing with 17 assists to just 10 turnovers. Navy handed out seven assists and turned the ball over 19 times.
Abby Schubiger and
Rachel Thompson scored 11 points apiece for the winners. Thompson added nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Graham and
Alexa Naessens contributed two steals apiece.
Navy dropped to 7-15 overall and 2-9 in conference. The Mids placed four in double figures, led by Mark Kate Ulasewicz with 12 points.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 65, Navy 53
From the Source
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the first half) "Our players did everything we asked them to do. We got down 10-4, called a timeout, and then held Navy to just eight points the rest of the half. Our players understood the game plan and did a really good job.
(On finishing the game) "We knew Navy would come out firing so we needed to not only match their intensity but exceed it. They got the best of us in that third quarter but our kids did a great job of buckling down and getting stops when we needed them.
"I liked how we came out in the fourth quarter. We missed a couple of shots early but I knew we were going to be OK because defensively we were so solid."
(On locking up a winning season) "It's a tribute not only to our seniors but to all of the players who are in this program. These kids came here and believed in our vision – and they have changed the program. These players have changed the program. It's really exciting what they are doing and how they are doing it. There is still a lot of basketball left and a lot left to accomplish."
Stats of the Game
• Colgate's 16th victory of the season assures the Raiders of their second overall winning season in program history.
• The 2003-04 Patriot League champions finished 21-10. The next best record over Colgate's 33 years of Division I basketball was 14-14 in 1990-91 under head coach Kathleen Connell.
• How's this for balance: the Raiders for the season are 16-6 overall, having gone 8-3 in the nonconference and now 8-3 in Patriot League. They are 10-0 at home, with a 5-0 record against nonconference and 5-0 in conference. And they are 6-6 on the road, with records of 3-3 and 3-3.
• Colgate in the second quarter had scoring runs of 8-0 and 9-0, the latter to end the period.
• Navy didn't score over the final 4:21 of the first half.
• Thompson's five assists bumped her career total to 303 and into fifth place on the Raider list. Saturday she passed Sami Kozlowski (2008-11), who had 299.
• Colgate's victories over Navy in 2000-01 came by scores of 88-82 in Annapolis and 65-63 in Hamilton.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Alumni Hall was 662.
Up Next
• Colgate is home for the next two games, beginning Wednesday night against Boston University.
• The Terriers are 12-10 overall and 7-4 in the Patriot League after posting their fourth straight victory, 62-51 Saturday at Holy Cross. Colgate rallied for a 70-61 victory at BU back on Jan. 18.
• Tipoff from Cotterell Court is 7 p.m., with the Patriot League Network and WKXZ-FM carrying all the action.
