The women’s basketball team struggled on a two-game Patriot League road trip, losing to Bucknell 53-35 before getting downed against Holy Cross 75-57 last night.

Last Saturday, Colgate continued to sputter on offense. After scoring just 12 points in the first half against American on Valentine’s Day, the Raiders unfortunately turned in a worse one-half performance by getting just nine in the first half against the Bison. Bucknell led 19-2 after the first 12:51, with the only Raider points coming from a pair of Taylor Wejnert free throws. Colgate finally ended the run with a three from sophomore guard Sami Kozlowski, but Colgate could not crack double digits in the half and went into the break down 26-9. Colgate shot just 2-22 (9.1%) from the floor in the half.

Thankfully, Colgate managed to eclipse its first-half offensive output in the first 4:20 of the second half, managing to power a 10-4 run thanks to five points from senior guard Gretchen Polinski, a Wejnert three-pointer and a Kozlowski layup. However, the Bison responded with a 7-0 run to take a 37-19 lead with 12:57 left. Despite some more spurts as the game went on, Colgate managed to never come closer than 11 points again and fell by a 53-35 score.

Wejnert was the only Raider that managed to score in double digits and make at least half of her field goals by scoring 15 points on 5-10 shooting, including all three from downtown. She also was tied for the team lead in rebounds with senior guard Polinski; both had eight boards. For Bucknell, Morgan Wrightson led the team with 12 points, while Joyce Novacek pulled down 11 boards.

The most disturbing stats of the night were undoubtedly Colgate’s season-high 29 turnovers and 24.1% field goal shooting. Despite the Raiders’ great defensive effort in holding Bucknell to 53 points, any basketball team will struggle when it has as bad an offensive day as the Raiders did. These struggles have been due in large part to the loss of injured first-year center Tricia Oakes, but junior tri-captain Katie Garman pointed to other issues as well.

“We have been in a bit of an offensive slump lately,” Garman said following the Bucknell game. “Our offense has been pretty stagnant, with little movement and shots coming late in the shot clock. We really need to get productive motion that will free up some passing angles and get our offense flowing better. This will help us with our recent turnover issues, too.”

Bucknell was stymied on offense as well, shooting just 34.8% and committing 14 turnovers, so Colgate’s defense deserves some props.

“I think the defensive effort against Bucknell was a team one,” Garman said. “Everyone stepped up well to stop their big scorers, which was something we had been working on in practice all week.”

Colgate’s offense perked up against Holy Cross, as the team shot a respectable 38 percent from the field. However, the defensive intensity was lacking on this night. Holy Cross managed to make half of its field goals, and four players scored in double figures.

The Raiders started out the game well, taking a one-point lead after seven minutes of play. But the Crusaders roared back with a 21-7 run and took a 38-26 lead into halftime thanks to 16 field goals.

Not to be denied, Colgate hung around and was only down nine points in the beginning of the second half. This is when a see-saw battle began. Holy Cross went on an 11-4 run, but Colgate once again fought back within nine points (56-47) at the under eight timeout. However, the Crusaders, unlike their previous efforts in the controversial Children’s Crusade, won this battle by ending Colgate’s hopes of victory with a 19-9 run. Holy Cross stretched its lead to as many as 20 points before taking the win.

Wejnert had a well-rounded game, contributing 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

For Holy Cross, the always dangerous Brianna McFadden, the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year last season, scored 19 points to lead Holy Cross.

Colgate will face first-place Lehigh in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday, Match 7, but first, the Raiders will close out the regular season with a home game at Navy on Saturday at 2 p.m.