Colgate women’s basketball saw a weekend of varying success in the LIU TurkeyClassic. Friday’s game against LIU Brooklyn ended in a victory for the Raiders with a final score of 75-61, while Saturday’s match against Drexel brought a disheartening loss with a score of 33-51. Head coach Nicci Hays Fort stood by her team’s performance,

hailing it an unqualified success.

While Hays Fort raved about Friday’s game, her reviews of Saturday’s were not quite as forgiving. In a statement she said, “We had a great team win Friday against LIU, great energy; great effort – we did so many things well. It was one of our top two games since I’ve been at Colgate, if not the top. And then just very inconsistent today.” In preparation for the game she admits there may have been too much attention placed on the LIU Brooklyn game, which led to a drop-off in the game against Drexel the following day.

Drexel’s defense held steady in the first half, allowing only nine points to be scored against them. Sophomore guard Missy Repoli scored a crucial three-pointer with 17:08 left in the first half which allowed them a brief tie with Drexel. The Raiders converted only three more baskets the rest of the period, with 6:35 left first-year guard Paige Kriftcher scored a layup that brought the score to 14-9.

The second half opened with three minutes and 29 seconds of no baskets by either team. Sophomore forward Kelly Reid was able to score a layup with 16:31 left that brought the score to 25-11. Sophomore guard Missy Repoli brought the Raiders as close as 41-29 with 5:33 left in the game, but that was as close as the scoreboard got.

In total, Colgate shot just under 27 percent, while Drexel held their lead with 35 percent from the floor. The Raiders held a narrow lead in rebounds 40-39 but committed double the number of turnovers 14-7. Reid led the Raiders scoring with eight points and Repoli followed close

behind with six.

Hays Fort saw the game as primarily defensive, saying, “Drexel is a really hard team to guard because they are just a really well-coached team. But I didn’t emphasize enough how we were going to get scoring opportunities. That really hurt us. We did get shots but we weren’t focused enough to knock them down.”

Colgate was impressively able to place two players on the All-Tournament Team, sophomore guard Mariah Jones and first-year forward Josie Stockill. Of these two players, Hays Fort commented, “Mariah stepped up and played well both games. She was solid defensively and solid with her decision-making – and that’s what we need her to be. Josie had a great first half Friday. Today, she wasn’t her normal self, and I’m hoping that’s just a little freshman inconsistency because she could be a very good player for us.”

The Raiders play their next two games in Connecticut – they will face off against second-ranked UConn in Hartford on Wednesday at 7p.m. On Saturday they will return to play Sacred Heart in Fairfield on Saturday at 1 p.m. Hays Fort anticipates a very challenging match against UConn, who’s known for a strong defense.

Contact Jessica Gorski at [email protected].