HAMILTON – Colgate women's basketball opened 2023 with a 69-59 victory over Lehigh at home.
After being tied at 31 points at halftime, a 38-point second-half performance pushed the Raiders to their first Patriot League win of the season.
Lehigh opened the game with a jumper, but the Raiders responded with a 7-0 run courtesy of five points from senior
Alexa Brodie. The Mountain Hawks responded with a 6-2 run, with two baskets coming from fouls to trail 9-8. Lehigh then scored their sixth answered point to take a one-point lead.
Morgan McMahon and
Tiasia McMillan scored a field goal apiece for the Raiders to tie the game at 13. Lehigh broke the tie with a three-pointer, but freshman
Lara Cook put the Raiders within one after sinking a jumper.
A foul on Colgate brought the Mountain Hawks to shoot and make three free throws to lead 19-15 to end the first period. Brodie scored 7-of-15 Raider first-period points.
Cook opened the second period with a bounce pass to
Jenna Paul to get the offense started. The Mountain Hawks answered with a 7-3 run to lead 24-20, then Lehigh scored another layup to bump their lead to six points.
Sophia Diehl took a trip to the charity stripe and scored a point to trim Colgate's deficit, but the Mountain Hawks made up for the foul with a jumper. The Raiders felt the pressure and went on a 6-0 run with field goals from
Christina Midgette, McMillan, and Brodie to cut Lehigh's lead to 28-27.
Both teams made a push, scoring back-to-back baskets that had Colgate behind by a point. The first half ended with both teams going to the foul line, with sophomore
Taylor Golembiewski making both her shots to tie the game at 31.
McMillan opened the third with a basket in the paint to break the tie, but a three-pointer from the Mountain Hawks gave them the lead again. Golembiewski downed another layup to steal the lead again for Colgate, but Lehigh scored four straight points to lead 39-35.
A 5-2 Raider run, including a three-point field goal from
Madison Schiller, had Lehigh ahead by only one point. Keeping the offense hot, Diehl scored her first basket of the second half, and Cook sank a pair of free throws to push Colgate into the lead at 44-41.
Not going down easily, Lehigh went on a 9-2 run to regain the lead at 50-46. Golembiewski broke up the run to have the Raiders trail by only two points, but a foul on Colgate brought the Mountain Hawks to the line to make a free throw with less than a minute left of the third. McMahon closed the period with a jumper to have Colgate trail 51-50.
Colgate opened the final 10 minutes with back-to-back chances at the charity stripe to take the lead back at 53-51. Pushing hard, McMahon and Diehl scored one after another to extend the Raiders' lead to six points.
Lehigh finally scored their first basket of the period to cut their deficit to four points, but Paul answered quickly with a trey. Both teams scored two baskets a piece to have Colgate on top at 64-57. Continuing the back-and-forth play Lehigh crushed another jumper, but Brodie downed a layup to bump the Raiders ahead 66-59. Diehl and Brodie ended the game at the foul line making three free throws to push Colgate's lead to 10 points.
NOTES
- For the second straight game, Brodie led the Raiders with 13 points. McMahon rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points.
- Bench players stepped up in the game, as 29 points were scored by reserved players.
- The Raiders shot 50 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, making six of 12 attempted field goals.
- A combined 62 points from both teams were made in the paint.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Women's Basketball Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan
"We reflected on our last game going into today's matchup. We were not happy with the final result, so we turned the page in today's game. We talked about what we didn't do well and what went well, and we were able to execute what we talked about in practice today.
"We have players who have the ability to make big plays in big moments, but here at Colgate women's basketball, the way we want to play offensively and defensively is by sharing the ball and trying to find an open shot at the right moment, and that is what we did today.
"We expect another battle at Navy on Thursday and the rest of the Patriot League season. It's wide open, but it's who shows up every game and executes what we have to prepare for."
UP NEXT
Colgate (7-6, 1-1 PL) hit the road for a mid-week matchup at Navy on Thursday, Jan. 7. Tip-off against the Mids is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Alumni Hall.
