Hamilton, N.Y. – The Colgate Raiders claimed a win over the Le Moyne College women's basketball team on Friday evening in an exciting non-conference contest at Colgate's Cotterell Court.
After trailing 39-32 at halftime, Le Moyne outscored Colgate 13-8 in the third period, then took a 51-50 lead with 6:17 left in the fourth, but Colgate responded with a 9-0 run between the 3:55 and 1:01 marks of the final quarter to earn a 65-57 victory.
Graduate guard
Sydney Lusher (Oneida, N.Y./Oneida) scored a game-high 17 points for the Dolphins with three assists, while fifth-year guard
Lytoya Baker (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) tallied her third consecutive double-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
With 598 career rebounds, Baker is now tied with former teammate Jenna Zimmerman for the ninth-most career rebounds by a Le Moyne player.
Sophomore guard
Kaia Goode (Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) was the third Le Moyne player to score in double figures with 10 points to go along with three assists and two steals.
Freshman guard
Leah Middleton (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) scored eight points for the 'Phins, while junior forward
Brianna Williams (Brampton, Ontario/Southwest Academy/Hartford) pulled down five rebounds.
Colgate fifth-year guard Alexa Brodie led the Raiders in scoring with 16 points and added three assists. Junior guard Taylor Golembiewski contributed 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Junior forward Sophia Diehl grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds with eight points, three assists and a steal.
Quotes from Coach Grimes:
On the fourth quarter: "We were getting shots at the rim and they were just rolling out. It's tough to withstand (the Colgate run) when we're not making shots. It wasn't like we were jacking up a lot of threes, we were getting stuff at the basket, so we just have to finish better and finish through contact."
On outrebounding Colgate 40-35: "That's one of the things we talked about, because they were outrebounding their opponents by five coming in, so we definitely wanted to box out and limit their second-chance opportunities."
"I think we figured them out early, which we've been struggling with. We got out and ran. That was the biggest thing is we didn't look tired, we just ran and ran and ran. Some of those layups just rolled out. We were at the rim a lot of times and they were just rolling out. I don't think that's an issue for us. We're in great shape and we just have to finish the basketball."
Reading the box score:
Le Moyne recorded a season-high 18 offensive rebounds during the setback, while Colgate grabbed five offensive boards. The Dolphins scored a season-best 34 points in the paint.
The Raiders shot 50% from the field on 50 attempts, and went 12-17 at the free-throw line. Colgate went 6-6 from the line in the final 39 seconds of the fourth quarter to close out the win.
Le Moyne shot their second-lowest free-throw percentage of the season, making make 11 of their 16 attempts at the line, and the Dolphins were 0-10 from three-point range.
How it happened:
With the Dolphins trailing 10-4 midway through the first period, Williams collected a missed shot in the paint and converted the putback. During the next Le Moyne possession Williams posted up her defender in the paint, received a pass from
Emily Florvil (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth), then turned and scored a layup on the left side of the hoop to make it 12-8 in favor of Colgate.
Le Moyne trailed 18-12 with 1:53 left in the opening quarter, but Lusher knocked down a jumper from the short corner with 1:36 remaining in the period, then she swished a jumper from the opposite side of the floor during the next Le Moyne possession to cut the deficit to 18-16 after 10 minutes of play.
With 6:39 left in the second quarter Lusher received a pass from Baker near the left corner and swished another jumper to give Le Moyne its first lead of the contest, a 22-20 advantage.
The Raiders climbed back into the lead, then a four-point play from junior guard Morgan McMahon gave Colgate a 36-28 lead.
Following two free throws from Goode with 33 seconds remaining in the half, Brodie got into the paint, converted a floater, drew a foul and made the additional free throw to put Colgate up 38-30 with 2.9 left on the clock.
Lusher inbounded the ball under Le Moyne's basket and launched a one-handed pass up the court into the path of Baker. The ball bounced at the three-point line, then Baker caught it in stride at the right block and finished a contested layup before the buzzer to trim the deficit to seven at halftime.
Early in the third quarter, Lusher contested a shot at the rim, grabbed a defensive rebound, pushed the ball up the left side of the court, dribbled all the way to the rim, made the layup drew a foul and completed the three-point play.
Baker created an and-one opportunity for herself a little over a minute later, then she scored a putback layup following a one-handed offensive rebound with 7:15 left in the third to make it a four-point game.
Florvil grabbed an offensive rebound between two Colgate defenders and converted the putback with 5:00 left in the third, then Baker scored another field goal during the next Le Moyne possession.
Le Moyne scored the final points of the third quarter at the 3:15 mark when Goode delivered a pass to Lusher on a backdoor cut to make it 47-45 in favor of the Raiders.
Middleton scored Le Moyne's first two baskets of the fourth quarter on a high-difficulty runner and a pull up jumper from just inside the three-point line to give the 'Phins their first lead of the second half.
A three pointer from Golembiewski during the next possession put the Raiders back in front.
Le Moyne regained the lead less than a minute later when Lusher received the ball in transition on the right side of the floor then crossed over to her left, drove into the paint and finished a left-handed scoop layup.
The Dolphins went scoreless over the next five minutes and 35 seconds as the Raiders got a fastbreak layup from Golembiewski, a jumper from Diehl, a layup in the paint from Diehl and a corner three from sophomore guard Madison Schiller to establish a 59-51 lead with a minute to go.
Middleton ended the run with a jumper from the left wing at the 0:42 mark.
As the Dolphins fouled to extend the game, Brodie made four consecutive free throws, and Diehl made two free throws to secure the victory.
Up Next:
The Dolphins will return to action on Saturday, December 16 at University at Buffalo.
