The women’s basketball team continued to struggle in its Patriot League campaign and remained winless in conference play. First-place Lehigh beat Colgate, 67-37 on Cotterell Court last Wednesday while Bucknell avenged last season’s Patriot League tournament loss to the Raiders by defeating them, 65-36 last Saturday at the Sojka Pavilion.

The Lehigh game started with both teams attacking nervously and missing all their shots. First-year Evan Librizzi opened up the scoring for Colgate with a three-pointer after four minutes of play, but it was immediately evened out by the Mountain Hawks’ next attack. It was interesting to see how both teams tried to attack from long range at the outset of the game. As the contest progressed, Lehigh went on a commanding 14-4 run to take a 20-10 lead halfway through the first half. Thereafter, Lehigh’s defense proved to be the key factor in winning the game, as the Raider offense never clicked on this night. As a result, the Mountain Hawks were able to sustain their momentum, which proved crucial at the beginning of the second half when they sealed the victory with another 13-3 run.

Colgate shot 32 percent from the floor and 36 percent from long-range for the game. Four Mountain Hawks finished in double digits while senior Shevorne Martin led Colgate with 12 points.

Head Coach Pam Bass was not overly disappointed by the loss. Rather, she is sticking to her preseason plan of reshaping the team’s outlook by helping her younger players to buy into her system.

“That game was another step in our program for team development,” Coach Bass said. “I think it’s really important to see what happens when we play together.”

Perhaps fatigued by their previous game, the Raiders were unable to turn the page against their next opponent, Bucknell, who took it to them right from the start. The Bison took the lead from the very beginning and never let the Raiders get closer than 17 points. The Bison defense was so proficient that Colgate shot a meager 16 percent in the first half. On the other hand, Bucknell hit five-of-six three-pointers during the first half, which immediately put the game out of reach. In the second half, the Raiders showed more competitive desire by making 38 percent of their shots,. However, despite the marginal improvement, the Raiders could not overcome Bucknell’s offensive prowess. Bison Kesha Champion played like one by leading her winning team with 16 points.

The most positive result of the game was undoubtedly the rookies’ development, as they have become the core of the team. First-year Sami Kozlowski led the way with 10 points in this game while classmate Georgia Gier grabbed 10 rebounds.

“You could definitely see the energy that the freshmen brought to the game,” Coach Bass said afterwards.

Last night, Colgate lost another tough one to Holy Cross, 59-37 in Worcester. Colgate fell behind 26-16 at the half and could not find the bucket in this game, shooting only 30 percent from the field. Rookie Sami Kozlowski had another stellar showing, knocking down five threes and scoring 15 points. Classmates Georgia Gier and Krista Moser each scored seven points to supplement the scoring effort. In her first game back, junior Gretchen Polinski led the team in rebounding with eight caroms.

Colgate hosts Navy on Saturday at 2 p.m in its only game of the week. Both teams are winless in conference play.