Colgate Facing Big Week with Patriot League Seeding on Line
By John Painter
(Annapolis, Md. – Feb. 23, 2013) Navy’s 63-
48 win over Colgate here Saturday night could have been a precursor to the Patriot League tournament’s first round on March 7.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Colgate’s loss didn’t affect its standing as far as final seeding for the conference tournament. The Raiders remain in eighth place at 2-10. But Bucknell and Lafayette both lost Saturday to fall to 4-8, still just two games ahead of Colgate with now two to play.
One of those games is a Colgate-Lafayette matchup Wednesday night in Easton, Pa. The Raiders close their season next Saturday afternoon at home for Senior Day against Holy Cross, while Lafayette finishes at American. Bucknell plays this week at American and home against Navy.
Should the Raiders win twice this week, it’s not too far-fetched to envision a sixth-place finish thanks mainly to Colgate’s shocking win over Army this past Wednesday.
“Two games are going to decide if we can move our way back up,” Raiders head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “What I’ve told the team is we’re not getting an (NCAA) at-large bid; we’re in the Patriot League. And what that means is we’ve got to win the tournament.
“We just want to keep getting better so we keep peaking this week and in the tournament. We did a good job of competing tonight; we just didn’t do a great job like we did against Army.”
It works like this.
If Colgate wins twice and gets to 4-10 and is tied with either Lafayette and/or Bucknell, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head. Nothing doing there because all three would be 1-1 against the other. But assuming Army stays in the top two in the league, Colgate’s win over the Black Knights would be the tiebreaker when comparing how teams did against the first-place team, second place and so forth.
“Losing tonight puts a little bit more pressure on us as we try to inch our way back,” Hays Fort said. “Obviously, we need to take care of ourselves first and then need to have some other people lose some basketball games.”
Geif Makes Her Case
Patriot League Player of the Year candidate Jade Geif scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the first half. She had eight of Navy’s first 11 points and was 7-of-9 from the field at the break.
“She’s a really good player,” Hays Fort said. “We had some things we wanted specifically to do against her on defense and we did not do those in the first 12 minutes. She was getting any shot she wanted.
“But after a couple of timeouts, it’s like we remembered what were supposed to do and we started doing a good job. She’s just a really strong player.”
Colgate freshman Josie Stockill recognizes that Geif is an excellent model for her own game.
“You always want to beat an opponent, but she’s a really good player and I really like her moves and her patience with the ball,” Stockill said. “I can really learn from her.”
The Raiders slowed Geif to only eight points in the second half, but that’s when Kara Pollinger took over and scored 12 of her 17. Pollinger hit three 3-pointers and Chloe Stapleton three more as the Mids finished 7-of-29 from downtown.
Hays Fort wasn’t surprised Navy was connecting from outside.
“They’re a good basketball team and they always have four shooters on the floor,” she said. “They’re really patient and they get the open shot.”
Jones Leads Again
Colgate sophomore Mariah Jones helped keep the Raiders close in the first half by making her first four shots from long range. The Silver Spring, Md., native led the visitors with 14 points in front of some familiar faces.
“Annapolis is not too far away from my home, so it was good to see my family and close friends at the game,” said Jones, who scored 17 in Wednesday’s win over Army. “That was nice.
“I just tried to do whatever I could. We weren’t really getting too many offensive options, so when I had an open look I was going to hit it. My teammates told me to keep shooting, so that’s what I did.”
The Raiders were within 29-26 when Jones hit the fourth of her long-range bombs, but then Colgate didn’t score the last 5:09 of the half and Navy went to the locker room leading 35-26.
Lulu Brase scored the first two to start the second half, but then the Mids pushed their lead to as many as 16 on a couple of occasions and coasted to their 17th victory against 10 losses. Navy is 10-2 in the Patriot League and still one game clear of second-place Army.
Stockill scored eight points and Brase six points and five rebounds for Colgate. Lauryn Kobiela added six assists. Geif and Alix Membreno tied for rebounding honors with nine.
Colgate shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field and made six of 18 from 3-point distance. The Raiders were just 2-of-4 at the line.
Navy shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) from the field and was 4-of-6 from the line. The Mids won the rebounding battle, 39-33.
Colgate played the entire second half without starting forward Kelly Reid, who was injured midway through the first. Her status for this week is to be determined.
Navy 63, Colgate 48
Colgate (8-19, 2-19): Kelly Reid 4, Lulu Brase 6, Lauryn Kobiela 4, Mariah Jones 14, Randyll Butler 3, Catherine Lewis 3, Kathryn Taylor 2, Josie Stockill 8, Carole Harris 4. Totals: 20-6-48.
Navy (17-10, 10-2): Audrey Bauer 3, Jade Geif 22, Alix Membreno 7, Erin Meador 4, Kara Pollinger 17, Chloe Stapleton 10. Totals: 26-4-63.
Halftime: Navy 35-26.