March 5, 2005

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Colgate scored 16 straight points late in the second half to erase a 12-point deficit and defeat Lehigh, 65-60, in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, Mar. 5, at Stabler Arena. The Raiders will defend their 2004 tournament title against regular-season leader Holy Cross on Wednesday, Mar. 9, in the championship game in Worcester, Mass.

Colgate trailed, 54-42, with 9:17 to play when the Raiders went on a 16-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 58-54, at the 4:02 mark. Lehigh broke a six-minute scoreless drought and knocked down a pair of baskets to tie the game at 58 with 2:23 left, and answered a Colgate bucket to make it 60-all at the 1:41 mark. On the next possession, sophomore guard Molly Patterson (Euclid, Ohio) hit a three to put the Raiders up 63-60 with 1:27 to play. Lehigh missed three shots, including two attempts to tie, in the final 90 seconds. With six ticks on the clock, senior guard Allison Lipinski (Garfield Heights, Ohio) sank both ends of a one-and-one to put the game out of reach.

Lipinski led the Raiders with 25 points, including 20 in the second half. She sank 5-of-9 from long range for the game, including 4-of-6 after the break, and nailed all eight of her attempts from the foul line. Patterson finished with 13 points, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, five rebounds and three assists. Fuller posted eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, four rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior forward Emily Braseth (E. Grand Rapids, Mich.) added six points, seven rebounds and three steals. Junior forward Devon Warwick (Amesbury, Mass.) came off the bench to contribute five points, seven boards, three steals and two blocks. Senior guard Chigozie Ozor (Ann Arbor, Mich.) added four points, four caroms, three steals and a team-best four assists.

Patriot League Player of the Year Jessica DePalo scored Lehigh's first eight points, and the teams were tied, 8-8, five minutes into the game. The Mountain Hawks scored eight straight points to double-up Colgate, 16-8, at the 12:03 mark. The Raiders reeled off five straight points to cut the deficit to three, 16-13, with 11:10 to play. The teams traded baskets, and LU was up, 20-17, with 7:24 on the clock. Lehigh scored six straight to go up 26-17 with 5:34 left, but Colgate answered with a 5-1 run that made it 27-22 in favor of the Mountain Hawks at the 3:53 mark. Lehigh went on a 7-0 tear to take its largest lead of the game, 34-22, with 45.1 seconds left. Lipinski hit her first three of the game with under 30 seconds on the clock to cut the deficit to single digits, but DePalo nailed a runner as time expired to give the Mountain Hawks a 36-25 halftime advantage.

DePalo finished the opening session with half of her teams points at 18. Lehigh out-shot Colgate, 42.4 percent (14-of-33) to 27.8 percent (10-of-36). The Mountain Hawks dominated the Raiders on the glass, pulling down 29 rebounds to Colgate's 18. In the second half, however, the Raiders edged Lehigh from the floor, 40.6 percent (13-of-32) to 35.3 percent (12-of-34), but sank 6-of-13 long balls (46.2 percent), while the Mountain Hawks missed all nine of their attempts.

Lipinski opened the second half by nailing back-to-back threes to make it a five-point game, 36-31, less than a minute into the session. Lehigh answered with an 8-2 run that opened up a 44-33 advantage with 16:03 to play, and outscored Colgate 10-9 over the next seven minutes to go up 54-42 at the 9:17 mark, before the Raiders took over.

Colgate and Holy Cross meet in the Patriot League championship game on Wednesday, Mar. 9, at 7:00 p.m., at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass.