Colgate came away with a huge win on Saturday against Loyola, making their Senior Day celebration truly memorable. After losing by just one point to Army earlier in the week 47-48, the Raiders turned their luck around and took the victory against the Greyhounds by the same one-point margin, 54-53. Junior Randyll Butler had all eyes on her when she scored a single free-throw with only 8.6 seconds remaining to solidify the win. Colgate has improved their record to 5-11, now tied for eighth place in the Patriot League with Loyola.

This season, 11 of Colgate’s games have ended in devastating losses of eight points or less. During the match up against Army, there were six ties and seven lead changes in the score. By halftime, it was all tied up at 24 points apiece. The second half remained tight again as both teams strove to claim a lead. Thanks to Missy Repoli and Tori Pozsonyi, Colgate’s largest lead in the game was recorded at 41-33 with 6:50 left to play. The two teams had reached 45-all when Patriot League leading scorer Kelsey Minato drained a corner three-pointer with just over a minute remaining, giving Army the upper hand. 

When Mariah Jones was fouled, she connected both times on a 1-and-1 free-throw, but less than a minute remained in the game. With almost no time left on the clock, Missy Repoli shot from 12 feet, Carole Harris found the rebound and attempted to score, but her shot seemed to be deflected and didn’t quite reach the rim as the buzzer sounded.

It was clear that the Raiders had put in their best effort. Repoli almost clocked in 40 minutes of playing time, sitting out for just 15 seconds in the first half. Harris followed with 38 minutes. 

On Saturday against Loyola, the team certainly chose a great way to commemorate Senior Day. The Raiders did a full 360, this time taking the win by the one-point margin. Once again, Colgate faced a tight game, but with less than 10 seconds on the clock, the team found their opening. First, Jones ran down the clock and then passed the ball to Butler who was fouled. This was the team’s gateway for the win. Butler missed the first but drained the second, giving her team the lead 54-53. 

The lead was almost short lived, as Loyola’s Colleen Marshall went for a 3-pointer, but missed, hitting the front rim instead. Butler noted the importance of looking out for moments like this. 

“We knew Loyola was a good team and they weren’t just going to lay down for us. We had to come out each possession ready to play,” she said. 

Although there was no time to lose focus during either the Army or Loyola game, Butler felt that the team definitely kept in mind that Saturday was meant as a day to honor their seniors. 

“Throughout the day we had a lot of celebrations for our seniors. It can be a bit of a stressful day – with decorations, their families being here, the honoring at the game, preparing for the game, the game itself and the banquet after, but I think the biggest way we commemorated them was sending them off with a great team win,” said Butler.