HAMILTON – Colgate women's basketball wins their third straight game after beating the Army West Point Black Knights 65-52 at home.
Sophomore
Taylor Golembiewski scored a career-high 24 points to help the Raiders win their first game against Army since Jan. 2, 2021.
Tiasia McMillan opened the game with a block on the Black Knights that allowed
Jenna Paul to get on the board first. Both teams exchanged a few baskets, with Golembiewski scoring back-to-back field goals for the Raiders to tie the game at six. Golembiewski broke the tie, scoring the first trey in the game to give Colgate a three-point lead.
Army tied the game again at nine, but a foul on the Black Knights brought Golembiewski to the line to score a pair of free throws to give the Raiders an 11-9 lead.
Sophia Diehl kept the offense going, as she scored a layup after receiving a long bounce pass from Golembiewski to bring the lead to four points.
Colgate then took a foul that allowed the Black Knights to break up their run by scoring a free throw, but
Morgan McMahon scored her first field goal to give Colgate a 15-10 lead. Army answered right back with a jumper, but the Raiders scored a quick four points from Golembiewski and freshman
Christina Midgette.
Army broke up the run with their final basket of the first to trial 19-15, but McMahon closed the period with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give Colgate a seven-point lead. Golembiewski scored 11-of-22 Colgate first-period points.
McMillan opened the second period scoring with a layup, but the first few minutes were all Army as the Black Knights went on a 6-0 run to trail Colgate by only three points at 24-21. Colgate finally broke the Black Knights' run with a pair of free throws from
Madison Schiller. The Raiders then scored seven more unanswered points, with four points coming from McMillan and a three-pointer scored by Golembiewski to bump Colgate's lead to 33-21.
With less than a minute left of the first half, Army broke up Colgate's run with a field goal to cut their deficit to 10 points, but freshman Schiller sank a three-point field goal to close out the second period. McMillan led the Raiders in the second period with six points.
Both teams scored two baskets a piece to open up the second half, with the Raiders on top at 40-27. The Black Knights then scored four fast points to cut their deficit to 11 points, but Colgate went on a 6-0 run in retaliation to extend their lead to 46-31. Golembiewski,
Sophia Diehl, and
Abbey Ferguson scored the six unanswered Raider points.
Army ended Colgate's run with a field goal, but Golembiewski drew a foul on the Black Knights to score two points at the charity stripe. Schiller and McMahon then put up two points apiece to bump Colgate's lead to 52-33.
Army ended the third period with a 6-2 run to trail 54-39. Diehl scored the Raiders' sole field goal in the run.
The Black Knights kept the offense going to open the final period, going on a 4-2 run to trail by 13 points. Diehl broke up Army's run to start a 5-0 Raider run to push Colgate to 61-43. Army then scored eight unanswered points to trail Colgate by only 10 points with less than a minute and a half left.
Colgate closed the game with a 4-1 run with field goals from McMillan and Golembiewski to bump their lead to 13 points.
NOTES
- This is the second time in the season Golembiewski has reached a career-high number, hitting her previous-high 22 points in the season opener against Cornell back on Nov. 7, 2022.
- Diehl and Schiller both tallied nine points apiece.
- Colgate shot 50 percent from the field in the third period, making 8-of-16 field goals.
- Senior Alexa Brodie assisted a season-high six baskets in the win.
- Golembiewski also blocked a career-high three opponents.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Women's Basketball Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan
"We were ready to play today. We talk about what we have learned from our non-conference games, and being ready to go was the biggest takeaway. They were locked in on the game plan, defensively, executed, and made shots.
"Our mindset is to get stops number one. We want to defend and make sure we're making it uncomfortable for our opponent, and I feel like we did that. Army plays tough. We saw that in the fourth quarter. We were resilient enough to win in the end.
"Taylor was ready to play this morning. I heard her in shootaround this morning locked in when she was talking to everyone about the defensive game plan. That always transfers when you have that level of focus. I'm proud that she is thinking defense first and the way she made shots tonight.
UP NEXT
Colgate (9-6, 3-1 PL) opens up a two-game road swing at Boston University on Wednesday, Jan. 10. Tip-off against the Terriers is scheduled for 4 p.m. inside Case Gym.
