Hamilton, N.Y. – Colgate fell to Merrimack 63-49 at Cotterell Court on Saturday afternoon. After a strong first half that saw the Raiders shooting at 53.3%, the Colgate women were not able to hold that pace, as they were outscored by the Warriors 36-16 in the second half. Tiasia McMillan and Morgan McMahon led the Raiders with 12 points each and McMillan grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Taylor Golembiewski finished with 10 points, her sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season. Merrimack was led by Carla Balague who finished with a season high of 14 points.

Merrimack netted the first basket of the game followed by Alexa Brodie's driving layup to put Colgate's first points on the board. The scoring was back and forth between the teams with Golembiewski dropping in two jumpers, along with Alexa Naessens' points in the paint, knotting the score at eight. Merrimack went on a short run to put them up 12-8, but a nice shot beyond the arc by Jenna Paul had Colgate right back in it. McMillan scored her first points of the afternoon, followed by a layup by McMahon. Golembiewski finished the quarter with a defensive rebound and took it to the basket all alone to put the Raiders up 17-16 at the end of the quarter. 

The second quarter saw the Raiders shooting lights out, going 8 for 13 at 61.5%. Sophia Diehl opened the quarter with a jumper, followed by points in the paint from Golembiewski. McMillan continued to add to the tally with a second chance jumper. The scoring continued with Diehl adding four more points. McMahon added to the lead with her points in the paint, and McMillan added two more layups to end the half with Colgate up 33–27. 

Golembiewski extended Colgate's lead to eight with her first basket of the third quarter and McMillan followed a Merrimack basket maintaining Colgate's lead at eight. McMahon was fouled and went to the line to add two free throws and put the lead up to nine. Similar to the plays before, Merrimack dropped a deuce and McMahon went back to the free throw line to add two more keeping the lead at nine. Merrimack went on a 8-0 run and Colgate left the floor with a one-point lead coming out of the third quarter. 

The fourth quarter saw Merrimack turn on the offensive jets as they shot over 53% from the floor and pulled away from Colgate to win 63-49. The Raiders saw points from McMillan to hold the lead at 43-42, but after that the Warriors pulled ahead to not look back. McMahon added two more baskets to her credit and Diehl sank a jumper with just over one minute remaining, but the Warriors went 6-for-6 at the stripe to extend their lead the last minute of the game. Colgate falls to 2-8 with the loss. 

FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan

"Our team played a very strong first half, both offensively and defensively, but we were unable to maintain that intensity for the entire 40 minutes. We came into the third quarter flat and that is something we have to overcome. We saw some things we worked on this week in practice have a positive result, but we need to get stops and guard the entire game to be successful in the win/loss column. Coming off a week of finals, we will re-group and review this game and get focused on our game vs Harvard on Tuesday.

UP NEXT
Colgate returns to action on Tuesday to finish out their non-conference slate with a game against Harvard. Tipoff is 12 p.m. on Cotterell Court.