After their dramatic overtime win against Canisius, the women’s basketball team struggled through a tough road trip. Along the way though, it has became apparent that a young star might be emerging. The trip started against the perennial title contender, University of Connecticut. The Huskies were ranked seventh in the nation and they truly competed like a top ten squad. Connecticut’s talented first-year Tina Charles posted 18 points and seven boards en route to an 81-37 Connecticut win. Colgate did boast a strong performance from junior Melanie Cargle, who scored 18 points of her own.

The Raiders’ next opponent was Cleveland State. Colgate had the lead 39-33 at halftime but let it slip away in the second half. Cleveland went ahead 59-57 with just over 5 minutes left in the second half and never looked back, winning by a final score of 70-65. Nicole Thomas led the Vikings with 17 points and seven rebounds, while junior Caitlin Gillard, delivered an impressive 18 point performance to lead the losing cause.

Colgate’s next stop was St. Bonaventure where the Raiders lost by a final score of 70-49. Despite the lopsided score, first-year TaHara Williams proved to be a huge bright spot for Colgate. Williams led all scorers with 16 points and was recently named Patriot League Rookie of the Week.

“TaHara is a very quick player, she has a great speed end to end,” Head Coach Kristen Hughes said. “If she keeps working hard, she could become a great player for us.”

After the three game skid, the Raiders are now 1-4 for the year, but they play three of their next four games at home. Their defense and rebounding have been solid thus far; however, Colgate must limit its turnovers. Colgate averaged a little over 24 turnovers a game during its three game losing streak.

“The biggest issue has been the turnovers, but otherwise we’ve been really competitive,” Head Coach Hughes said. “A lot of games we lost we feel we could have and should have won.”

Hopefully, with some games coming up in friendly territory, the Raiders can get their season back on track.