Buffalo, NY – In a game of momentum swings, Colgate came up short after a tremendous second half comeback to lose to Canisius at the Koessler Athletic Center Saturday afternoon. 

Colgate started the contest on a six-point run off of two three-point baskets by Jenna Paul with assists coming from Tiasia McMillan and Alexa Brodie respectively. Canisius put their first point on the board with Lydia Gattozzi making the first of two free throws. Paul added two more points to her tally to put Colgate up 8-1 midway though the quarter. Canisius stormed back to tie it up at eight, and after an exchange of baskets, the score remained tied at ten. Canisius went on a seven point run before Morgan McMahon added a three pointer to the board to end the first quarter with Colgate down 13-17. 

The second quarter saw the Griffs outscore Colgate 17-8. Despite Brodie's three baskets, the Colgate offense shot only 25 percent from the floor and was outrebounded 13-8. The Raiders had closed the gap to within eight points after being behind by as much as 15 but were unable to hold it and finished the first half down 34-21.

Upon taking the court in the second half, the crowd saw an energized Colgate team. Two minutes in, Taylor Golembiewski stole the ball at mid-court and raced down to secure the layup and the first of her 10 points of the game. A little over a minute later Golembiewski added two more in the paint. Colgate continued to chip away with Brodie adding a three-point basket to knock the deficit back to 11 with the assist coming from Sophia Diehl. The quarter closed out with Diehl netting her first three of the game and Brodie knocking in two free throws to bring Colgate within nine points. The aggressive play by the Raiders did send Taylor Golembiewski to the bench as she earned her fourth foul of the game with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Entering the fourth quarter the momentum was shifting in Colgate's favor. The Raiders quickly got within five points off a jumper from Brodie and a layup from McMahon. Canisius responded with five points of their own until Paul dropped in a basket with a three-point play off the free throw to cut the lead to seven. Midway through the fourth quarter Colgate found themselves down by 12 points but Golembiewshki re-entered the game and sparked some great plays with Brodie scoring back to back baskets and Diehl with her second three of the game with the assist from Brodie. 

Colgate was right back in it. The next play was a mirror image with Diehl and Brodie adding three more points to the tally on the basket and assist. With just under three minutes to go, Colgate was within four points. A layup by Diehl and Golembiewski's one of two free throws had the Raiders just down by one. After a Canisius timeout, the Griffs extended the lead to three at 56-53. Golembiewski tied it up with her first three point basket of the night with just 38 seconds remaining in the contest. A jumper by Shaunae Brown sent the Griffs back in the lead at 58-56 and Colgate was not able to get any closer than within one point in the last 13 seconds. 

The final score was 61-58 with a tough loss by the Raiders after a gritty comeback. The high scorer for the Raiders was Brodie with 19 points and six assists and both Paul and Diehl brought in 11 points for the day.

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan

"I'm proud of my team's effort, fight and resiliency. As much as I would have loved to not be in the position we were in, I am pleased to see that we have more in us. So, I will keep pushing them to grow and learn from the things that this game taught us. I'm especially proud of Alexa Brodie and the heart and passion she plays with on both ends of the floor. Day in and day out she gives her very best while consistently playing in a lot of pain, but you would never know it. We will regroup with the goal of continuing to get better."

UP NEXT
Colgate will travel to Staten Island to play Wagner University at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.