The Raiders picked up two wins this past week ending their long losing streak and igniting hope for the remainder of the season. After a long nine-game losing streak, the Raiders won at home against Army. They travelled next to Loyola where they picked up an overtime victory on a final second winning shot.

Facing Army for their second-to-last home game, the Raiders saw a strong first half and didn’t look back. Shooting 62 percent from the field in the first half, the Raiders jumped out to a 12-point lead while holding Army to just 27 percent. Their strong combination of taking the right shots and forcing poor shots by Army led to one of the best halves the Raiders have played this season.

Colgate additionally held a strong rebounding advantage in the game, with junior forward Carole Harris grabbing 12 defensive boards and a total of 14 in the game. Harris also added 13 points for her sixth double-double on the season. In addition to Harris, the Raiders saw first-year Jackie Hudepohl grab seven defensive rebounds, her season-high.

In addition to strong play from some of Colgate’s forwards, the Raiders guards also put up big numbers. Senior captain Lauryn Kobiela scored eight points on 50 percent shooting. Her five assists moved her into fifth on Colgate’s all-time assists list. Kobiela was joined by junior Mariah Jones who had 23 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. Additionally, sophomore guard Randyll Butler did a great job of getting to the free throw line, making 7-10 from the charity stripe and scoring 11 points on the night. The Raiders allowed Army to outscore them by one point in the second half, but their strong first half led them to a 71-60 victory.

The Raiders looked to build on their momentum in their next game as they travelled to Baltimore to take on Loyola. Colgate again had a strong first half, outscoring the Hounds 31-22 and getting out to a lead they desperately needed against a strong team. The defense was strong again, as they held Loyola to 27 percent shooting. The Raiders’ shooting wasn’t as strong this first half, only shooting 35 percent, but their defense kept them in the game.

Unfortunately, the Raiders saw a strong second half from the Hounds, who shot 44 percent and climbed back to tie the game and send it to overtime. Once in overtime, the Raiders allowed the Hounds to get a big lead, before they hit an 8-0 run, including a last second shot from Butler. Butler led the Raiders on the day, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds and hitting the last second shot to win the game for the Raiders.

After Butler missed two free throws in overtime that would have put the Raiders in great position to win the game, she took matters into her own hands to score the team’s final six tallies including a bank-shot to win the game.

The Raiders two victories will help carry momentum into this weekend’s game as they host Lehigh on Saturday March 1, at 4 p.m. for the team’s Senior Day and final home game of

the season.                       

Contact Jack Murray at [email protected].