Despite their best efforts, the Raiders’ season came to a close this past week. After defeating Lehigh a few days prior, Colgate could not pull off another victory, falling to the Mountain Hawks in the first round of the Patriot League tournament 59-49.

Traveling to Bethlehem for their first round matchup, the Raiders were hoping to pull what would have been an upset. With a trip to top-seeded Navy on the line, both teams came out with defensive intensity. This intensity seemed to work well, as both teams shot 26 percent from the field in the first half, resulting in a conspicuously low score. Lehigh headed into the half with just 21 points but still found themselves with a two-point lead over the Raiders.

What ended up separating the two teams were the adjustments that were made in the locker room. Coming out for the second half, the Raiders’ shooting improved as they made 35 percent of their 40 shots from the field, but the Mountain Hawks shot an astonishing 55 percent.

In addition to the strong output by the Mountain Hawks from the field, they saw a strong advantage in the game rebounding, grabbing 49 boards compared to the Raiders’ 41.

Lehigh also shot a respectable 33 percent from beyond the arc, while the Raiders only made two of their 23

attempts from downtown.

While the Raiders struggled shooting the ball, individually the team saw strong performances from their two starting guards in the final game of the season. Senior captain Lauryn Kobiela saw 37 minutes of action and recorded 11 points while also dishing out five assists. Helping out Kobiela was junior Mariah Jones, who scored 12 points in just 18 minutes of play. Jones will look to take over the backcourt next season with

Kobiela graduating.

Both starting junior forwards, Kelly Reid and Carole Harris, scored six points and between the two grabbed seven rebounds, providing a force inside.

The leading rebounder for the Raiders, however, came from the bench, as sophomore Randyll Butler continued her strong finish to the season. Butler came off the bench and logged 27 minutes, scoring eight points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Despite all this, the Raiders could not seem to stop the Mountain Hawks defensively in the second half, who saw two players in double figures shoot above 50 percent from the field.

Despite the Raiders’ best efforts to claw back into the game in the second half, the Raiders could only come as close as six points.

The Raiders finish the season with an 8-22 overall record and a 4-14 conference record. Despite losing key players in seniors Lauryn Kobiela, Catherine Lewis and Kathryn Taylor, the Raiders return a strong base and hope to improve on their experiences this season.

Contact Eric Reimundat [email protected].