Women’s Basketball Edged by Lafayette, 89-80
Emily Braseth scores career-high 26 points in losing effort.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Julie Greco
PHONE: (315) 228-7860
January 11, 2003

Game Statistics

HAMILTON, N.Y. – Sophomore Emily Braseth (E. Grand Rapids, Mich.) went 8-for-14 from the floor and 10-for-17 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers with a career-high 26 points as the Colgate women’s basketball team dropped a nail biter to Lafayette, 89-80, on Cotterell Court on Saturday afternoon.

The game was an offensive battle with both teams shooting well above their season averages. Despite having the best field-goal percentage defense and three point field-goal percentage defense in the Patriot League, the Raiders were unable to shut down Lafayette as they shot 52.0% from the floor and 41.7% from beyond the arc. The Raiders shot 42.9% overall and 25.0% from three-point range.

The first half proved to be a close-fought battle but Colgate used solid free-throw shooting by freshman Megan Ballard (Atlanta, Ga.) and junior Malissa Burke (Traverse City, Mich.), who sunk two apiece and a lay-up by Braseth to take their largest lead of the half, 30-25, with 6:44 remaining. The Leopards fought back, going on a 16-2 run to take a 44-32 lead with 1:29 remaining. The Raiders outscored Lafayette, 7-4 over the final minute and a half but Lafayette took a 48-39 advantage into the intermission.

After sinking the first basket of the second half, Lafayette went cold and the Raiders went on a 10-2 run to pull within four, 53-49, at the 17:07 mark. The Leopards came right back though, using a 7-1 run of their own to take their largest lead of the half, 60-50 with 15:07 remaining in the game. The teams see-sawed back and forth over the next 10 minutes before Colgate was able to use a 5-0 run to whittle the Lafayette lead to three, 71-68, with 5:17 remaining. That was as close as the Raiders would get though as the Leopards were able to hold on for the 89-80 victory.

Colgate (5-8, 0-1) had three players score in double-digits and were led by Braseth’s 26 points. Sophomore Leandra Fuller (Harrisburg, Pa.) and freshman Meghan Curtin (Bronx, N.Y.) had 10 points apiece. Senior Ali Hanson (Norwalk, Iowa) led the Raiders with seven rebounds, scored seven points and had a team-high four assists.

Lafayette (2-11, 1-0) was led by Liz Rojahn, Kim Costello and Ashley MacLelland who had 13 points each while Colleen Fitzpatrick and Brittney Rothweiler had 12 points apiece.

The Raiders are back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 14 when they face Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.