HAMILTON, N.Y. - After the first four minutes, Colgate never trailed and went on to beat American 74-60 for the Raiders' first home Patriot League win of the season.
Alexa Brodie was unstoppable and led all scorers for the day with 23 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Three other Raider players added over a dozen points with freshman
Taylor Golembiewski adding 15 to the team's season best point total. American was led in scoring by Emily Johns with 16 points.
First quarter action saw five ties and three lead changes. Both teams ended the quarter with 16 points. Brodie scored her first eight points in the first ten minutes of play and Morgan McMahon added four points to the board. Tiasia McMillan added the first of 12 points in the paint and Taylor Golembiewski sank two free throws.
Golembiewski started off the third quarter right by sinking one from behind the arc. From that point on, Colgate never relinquished the lead. McMillan kept adding the points from the paint and Sophia Diehl was fouled and made both her shots. Next to add points from beyond the arc was McMahon. At 6:14 left in the quarter Brodie made a reverse layup and American needed a timeout as Colgate had stretched their lead to ten. Brodie added the next two points on a jump shot from within the paint followed by a layup by Diehl. Brodie would add another jump shot and two from the stripe to tally 16 points for the first half. Colgate entered the locker room up 36-30.
American pulled within three points twice in the third quarter but Colgate kept coming right back to increase its lead. McMillan kept her steadfast start and scored first for the Raiders on a jump shot outside the paint. Brodie then added her first three-point basket of the game. McMahon put her first two free throws for the day in the basket followed by yet another layup from McMillan. Jenna Paul then went to work and added a lay-up and a jump shot to end the quarter with Colgate leading 51-45.
The fourth quarter saw Golembiewski add eight of her 15 points, while Brodie, McMillan and McMahon all added four points to bring their totals to 23, 12, and 13 respectively. Diehl added a three to contribute to Colgate outscoring American 23-15 in the final period. The Raiders went 12 for 14 from the charity stripe to continue to be ranked second in the Patriot League. Colgate grew its lead to 16 midway through the quarter, American made a short run to come within six, but the Raiders responded pushing their lead back up to 14.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan
"I am very excited about how my team played today. We were fortunate to have an alum, Emily Damuth '04, come talk to the team this weekend, and she talked about what her Colgate team did to be successful and she said it was their mindset. Alexa Brodie came today with the mindset that she was going to do whatever it took both offensively with 23 points and defensively to help us be successful against American. Brodie is a competitor who plays with her heart and wants to win badly. What we saw today is a culmination of the work that she has put in and the resiliency she shows to push through despite adversity
.
This was a great team win with everyone contributing. Everyone played aggressive and tough. Four players scored double digits and defensively our players played hard the entire game. We are getting better each game, building this program the right way by keeping the focus on being process driven."
UP NEXT
The Raiders head to Bethlehem, Pa. on Wednesday to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
