HAMILTON – The Colgate women's basketball team used a red-hot shooting performance from behind the three-point arc and a prolific third quarter to blow past Navy, 73-56, Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
Colgate shot an incredible 9-for-10 from deep on the day, which set a new season-high for made three-pointers and it was the most in a single game for the Raiders since Feb. 12, 2022. The 90% conversion rate is just shy of a program record, which was set in 1995 when Colgate shot a perfect 8-for-8 against Lehigh.
With the win, the Raiders have won four games in a row, which is the longest winning streak for the program since it opened the 2019-20 season with five straight victories. Colgate improved to 2-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since the championship run in 2003-04.
COACH ADEDUNTAN'S COMMENTS
"We did a good job of passing the ball, moving it around, and playing unselfish basketball. We're always going to be a team that prides itself on defense. I always felt like once we can get things rolling offensively, we're going to be a tough team to beat.
"We believe that this could happen (on shooting 9-of-10 from three-point range). It goes back to the work that we've been putting in, the extra shooting that we've been doing, and the type of shots that we're getting. This is a group of kids that plays so hard who believe and trust everything that we're trying to do. They deserve this – they deserve to take the open shots and knock them down. We talked about confidence alot. We define it as demonstrated ability.
"Our gameday is every single day. We come to practice every day with the mentality to win. As long as we keep that mentality we're going to keep putting ourselves in position to find success."
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Navy got the game's first bucket, Colgate took its first lead less than a minute later and only allowed the Midshipmen to tie the game once more with 2:29 to play in the first quarter before the Raiders began to pull away. The hosts outscored Navy 16-8 in the second quarter to take a 28-18 lead into the halftime break, then the floodgates opened in the third.
A pair of Midshipmen baskets to begin the second half narrowed the margin to six, but Colgate scored the next nine points to establish a 15-point lead. The Raiders then used a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to all but put the contest out of reach at 53-29.
When the dust settled on the third, Colgate outscored Navy by a 25-13 count and the three-point ball was key to the explosive offense. The Raiders knocked down six jumpers from behind the arc in the quarter, including multiple threes from
Taylor Golembiewski and
Sophia Diehl.
The Raider offense was spread out with four different players in double figures including Golembiewski (21),
Madison Schiller (14), Diehl (13) and
Alexa Brodie (13).
Golembiewski had a game-high six assists, which doubled up her previous season-high of three and was just one shy of tying her single game career-high. Her big effort also included eight rebounds and two steals.
Tiasia McMillan was the game's top rebounder with nine boards and added seven points, four assists and a block.
Colgate has now exploded for back-to-back games with 73 points scored and is 12-for-14 shooting the three during those two games.
UP NEXT
The Raiders hit the road to Easton, Pa. Wednesday morning in search of their fifth straight win when they battle Lafayette. Tip time is set for 11 a.m. from Kirby Sports Center.
