HAMILTON – The Colgate Raiders finally ran out of steam.
A remarkable season – arguably the second-best in program history – ended here Monday night with a 69-62 loss to Lehigh in the Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinals. The WNIT is still a possibility, but Colgate's dreams of a championship – when the Raiders were riding high at 16-6 and threatening first-place Bucknell just a short month ago – crashed in a 3-5 finish and four consecutive losses.
The last two of those defeats came at the hands of preseason favorite Lehigh, which might just be hitting its stride at the right time. The Raiders were unlucky drawing Lehigh for the program's first quarterfinal under the Cotterell Court lights. The Mountain Hawks are better than most sixth-place teams. They held the lead against Colgate for more than 37 minutes last week and nearly 32 minutes on this night.
Lehigh was just too good when it counted.
Still, Colgate – if it's over – finishes 19-11 for the second-most wins in program history. It's just the second winning season in program annals covering 33 seasons of Division I play.
Only the 2003-04 Patriot League champions at 21-10 did it better.
Colgate fashioned a 6½-game improvement over last season's 12-17 record and finished above .500 in the Patriot League for just the third time at 11-7. The Raiders were 11-4 before dropping their last three.
But that's spilled milk. No need to cry. This was a heck of a season and a building block for sure in head coach
Bill Cleary's fourth campaign at the helm. More talented young players are on the way and the 2019-20 squad definitely set the bar higher.
Kudos to the seniors for giving all they had.
Rachel Thompson stamped her name all over the Colgate records book – it would take a separate story to list all of her accomplishments. The St. Louis senior played in her 100th game Monday night and walks away in the top 10 for scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. And that's season and career in all four categories.
In this game, Thompson scored 15 points to become the first Raider (and sixth overall) to reach 500 for a season since Emily Braseth in 2003-04. Thompson added seven boards, six assists and two steals.
Thompson's 144 assists and 4.8 assist average set Colgate season records, and she landed on the All-Patriot League First Team and Patriot League All-Defensive Team.
Abby Schubiger had a remarkable season. The New Jersey forward shot 51.4 percent from the field to rank among the Patriot League leaders all year. She scored at a 10.5 clip and totaled more points this campaign (315) than in her first three years combined (302). Schubiger also set personal season highs in rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals en route to All-Patriot League Third Team honors.
Schubiger was the team leader with 119 career games played.
Tegan Graham led the Raiders in scoring Monday night with 16 points to end her Colgate career with five consecutive games in double figures – a personal best. She ranks among the Patriot League leaders in field goal percentage (47.0), and her 9.2 season scoring mark is higher than at any point of her 98-game career. Graham's 53 career blocks are the 12th-most in program history.
Haley Greer on Monday night became the 13th Raider to eclipse 100 made 3-pointers. She swished two in four attempts on her way to a 13-point night and finishes with 101 treys in 91 games. Greer led the Raiders this season with 34 made 3-pointers and 23 blocked shots.
Bottom Line
• Lehigh 69, Colgate 62
Monday's Other Quarterfinal Results
4 Holy Cross 52, 5 Lafayette 33
2 Boston University 46, 7 American 44
1 Bucknell 87, 9 Army 61
From the Source
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Head Coach Bill Cleary: (On the game) "Obviously, this one's going to sting. I'm really proud of how our players left everything on the floor tonight. I loved the energy we started with. Couldn't ask for anything better but we just couldn't capitalize on it. And Lehigh is a very good team. They withstood that pressure and withstood that run.
"The turnovers hurt us. We had 21 turnovers and it looked to me like we were trying too hard to make things happen.
"I've got to talk about our seniors. I told them in the locker room that I wasn't ready to say goodbye. There's disappointment with the way the season ended, but when the dust settles and people are able to take a look and see what was accomplished, what these four have meant to our program and how they've put us on the map – I could talk about this for another day and a half. I'm proud of them and they should definitely hold their heads high for what they have done.
"There's always room for improvement, but they set the bar high for future Raider teams. Hopefully, there's still some basketball to be played."
Stats of the Game
• Colgate missed season team field goal percentage and free throw percentage records by the slimmest of margins.
• The Raiders this year finished at 43.8 percent from the floor, or 43.780 to be more precise. The program record set way back in 1988-89 was 43.838.
• Colgate came into the game at 43.820 but shot 42.6 percent Monday night to fall just shy.
• It was even more gut-wrenching at the free throw line.
• Colgate entered Monday night at 74.3 percent after Wednesday's 10-of-11 effort against Lehigh.
• The program record of 73.9 was set four years ago.
• But the Raiders on Monday night were just 6-of-10, dropping them to the magic 73.9.
• Do the math and the 2015-16 team ends up at 73.904 compared to this year's 73.902.
• It was THAT close!
• Something to shoot for next season. Literally!
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Cool Note of the Night: Jenna Paul swished her only attempt of the game, a second-half 3-pointer. Paul for the season finished an amazing 8-of-12 from 3-point distance. Look for more from Paul next season.
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at Cotterell Court was 514.
• Raiders junior
Keelah Dixon got the evening started with a terrific rendition of the national anthem.
Up Next
• Colgate's season may or may not be complete as the Raiders await word on a possible WNIT bid.
