On Wednesday, January 24, 133 students filled the bleachers at Cotterell Court to watch the Colgate women’s basketball team take on Army. A resulting loss pushed the team to 4-16 overall and 0-9 in the Patriot League. 

Junior captain and forward Summer King put Colgate on the board with a layup early in the first quarter. The Raiders continued to keep up with Army, tying the score five times in the first quarter. Colgate rallied from a 17-13 deficit in the second quarter, outscoring Army 18-11. This put the Raiders ahead 30-26 at the end of the second quarter, the first time Colgate has been ahead at halftime since their December 2 win over UMass Lowell. 

Army scored the first six points of the second half, but Colgate answered back. Sophomore guard Tegan Graham and senior forward Tori Pozsonyi contributed six straight points on jumpers, while King rallied up free throws. These combined efforts gave the Raiders their final lead of the game at 41-40 in the third quarter. 

Despite the Raiders’ hard work, Army led in points in both the third and fourth quarters. King scored the last Raider basket in the fourth quarter, moving the score to 54-57. Army put up 20 points in the fourth quarter and held the Raiders scoreless for the last two minutes of the game. The final score was 62-52 Army, moving Army to 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the Patriot League. 

Although Colgate was unable to come up with the win, multiple players put forth impressive performances. King, the Patriot League’s top shooter, finished with 12 points on 4 of 7 on the floor. She also had a game high eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Junior forward Mylah Chandler also had impactful effort with seven points, six rebounds and a career high three steals. Chelsey Koren, Colgate’s junior guard, had five assists for the second game in a row. With only 10 players dressed for the game, Colgate showed a hard fight against Army. 

“We were happy with the intensity and today is an indication that when we have that intensity, it gives us an opportunity to win. As disappointed as we are with the outcome, we have to use this as a teaching point. We have to give ourselves an opportunity every game. And for that to happen, we have to play with intensity the entire game,” head coach Bill Cleary said.

After falling to Army, the Raiders then moved on to face top-ranked American University on Saturday, January 24, in Bender Arena. With 405 American fans watching, the Eagles defeated the Raiders 67-44, improving to 10-0 in the Patriot League. Despite the Raider’s 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter, the Eagles outshot Colgate in every quarter. American’s Emily Kinneston had a scorer high of 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.

A couple of Raiders also showed noteworthy statistics, with first-year guard Nia Ahart leading the Raiders with nine points. Chandler and King led the team in rebounds, while King also matched her career high blocked shots. The Raiders had 84.6 success rate from the free throw line, their best game statistically this season. 

“We just need to retain what we are learning and apply what we have been taught, and we’ll be fine. It’s going to come together. I know I keep saying that every game but we’re going to get this turned around,” Cleary said when asked about the rest of the season. 

The team will get a bye this week before hosting Navy on Saturday, February 3 at Cotterell Court. With the Patriot League Network reporting on all the action, the Raiders are hoping to get their first Patriot League win against Navy.

Contact Cassie Warwick at cwarwick@colgate.edu.