Holy Cross Defense Stifles Raiders Early; Lynch Tops 1,200-Point Mark

 By John Painter

(Worcester, Mass. – March 11, 2013) Lessons learned here Monday night will carry over to Season 3 of the Nicci Hays Fort coaching era.

At least that’s the plan after Colgate’s 2013 tournament hopes ended abruptly with a 59-38 loss to Holy Cross in the Patriot League semifinals. The Raiders finished 10-21 for a two-game improvement in wins over last season, and advanced to the team’s first conference semifinal appearance since 2007.

COLGATE C-GATE“We’re definitely headed in the right direction,” Hays Fort said. “It’s about building the program and it’s hard for the players to think about that right now. It’s not easy, but no one ever said it was going to be easy.

“We came to understand what we want Colgate basketball to stand for. We lost that a little bit in the middle of the season when we went into that slump, but we got it back.”

Colgate entered Monday’s game having won four of its last seven games on the heels of a 10-game losing streak. Included during that stretch drive were two victories over regular season champion Army. But shooting woes against Holy Cross made for a one-sided affair on this night in favor of the homestanding Crusaders.

The Raiders turned in season-low shooting percentages from the field (20.7) and from 3-point distance (6.3), making just 12-of-58 overall and 1-of-16 from long range.

Holy Cross improved to 26-0 all-time against Colgate in Worcester.

“I kept saying to myself, ‘This one’s going in; OK, this one’s going in; this one’s got to go in,’” Hays Fort said. “We had to force a couple but we had some really good looks. We just didn’t make them.

“We can’t let this game distract us from what the end goal is for our program. The underclassmen have to live and learn. We can’t let this happen next year. If we do, then we didn’t learn from it – and shame on us.”

 Upset Plans Go Awry

Just like Thursday at Army, the Raiders fell behind by a 7-0 touchdown in the opening minutes. But Holy Cross added another two-pointer before Hays Fort was able to call her first time out.

That ploy worked for the Raiders at Army; it didn’t work at Holy Cross. Josie Stockill ended the Colgate drought – again, just like at West Point – but this time Holy Cross stiffened on defense even more and poured it on at the offensive end.

By the 8-minute mark on the clock, Holy Cross led 24-2 and Colgate couldn’t throw it in the Massachusetts Bay. The Raiders were 1-of-17 from the field with eight turnovers.

“Coming out of that timeout, their defense turned it up,” Hays Fort said. “Instead of sitting back and saying, ‘All right, we have a lead,’ they turned it up another notch. They made it very difficult for us to get anything we wanted.

“The difference was we kept rebounding and we kept defending against Army. Tonight, they were getting scores because we weren’t rebounding.”

Holy Cross also moved the ball efficiently all night. The Crusaders made 24 field goals on 22 assists. Not even 11 Colgate steals leading to 21 Holy Cross turnovers made a dent in that early 22-point advantage.

“I want to watch this on film to see what happened in that first 10 minutes,” said Jhazmine Lynch, who tied for team honors with eight points in addition to four steals and two assists. “The shots weren’t falling, we weren’t there mentally on the defensive end and it was very confusing.

“That wasn’t the way we expected to start.”

Ninth and 12th

Lynch finishes her Colgate career ninth on the school’s all-time steals list with 214, and 12th in scoring with 1,205 points.

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates pushing me every day in practice and keeping me there mentally, especially when we were facing our different adversities,” Lynch said. “I commend my teammates for pushing through and finishing out this season strong.

“I definitely think we went out with a bang, playing fearless like Coach asked of us. We went out trying to compete, and I couldn’t ask anything more from my teammates.”

Colgate trailed 32-14 at halftime and then drew as close as 14 points on a couple of occasions in the second half. But seven Holy Cross 3-pointers helped keep the Raiders at a safe distance.

In addition, Crusaders forward Amy Lepley was on target throughout the night. The All-Patriot League second-teamer led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-3 from downtown.

“We cut it; we cut it; we cut it – then gave up a three,” Hays Fort said. “We would cut it – then foul.

“We matched them evenly the last 27 minutes of the game.”

Stockill scored eight points, as did Lulu Brase in her final Colgate appearance. The senior captain scored 132 of her 179 career points this season – nearly half of those coming after she thought her season had ended after just 14 games.

Instead, Brase returned and played in the final 12 games.

Like It Was Her Last

“When I got cleared, I just tried to play each game like it was my last because I knew the feeling of not being able to play anymore,” Brase said. “I just wanted to enjoy every game and enjoy the moment.

“We started putting things together and you could see how our program is building; you could see the pieces come together. I wish we had the first 5-6 minutes back tonight.”

Hays Fort said losing her three seniors, including Rebekah Ward, will be tough to overcome. But their efforts helped place the women’s basketball on solid footing moving forward.

“Obviously it’s going to hurt us losing Jhazmine and Lulu, and Bekah practiced so hard every single day,” she said. “That’s hard to do when you’re not getting a lot of time. Every single practice, you knew Bekah was going to practice hard

“Lulu and Jhaz really turned it up these last eight games. We played really well at the end of the year. Yes we had some losses in there, but we also had some really good games. It was nice to be able to execute game plans and have some kids really step up, especially in the Army game.”

Holy Cross shot 44 percent from the field, making 24-of-54, and the Crusaders were 7-of-17 from 3-point distance. Holy Cross also won the rebounding battle 45-32.

The Crusaders, now 18-13, meet Navy on Saturday night for the Patriot League Tournament championship. The game tips at 6 p.m. and is being televised by the CBS Sports Network.

In addition to her team’s progress, Hays Fort also likes the direction of women’s basketball in the entire Patriot League. Every team finishing with double-digit victories is a first in Patriot League history.

“That’s a big thing, and our league is headed in the right direction,” Hays Fort said. “We moved up in the RPI as a conference and we’re starting to be known as a basketball league.

“We got to keep fighting, staying the course and building programs. I’m so proud Colgate is a part of that progress.”

Holy Cross 59, Colgate 38

Colgate (10-21): Kelly Reid 2, Lulu Brase 8, Jhazmine Lynch 8, Randyll Butler 6, Catherine Lewis 4, Josie Stockill 8, Carole Harris 2. Totals: 12-13-38.

Holy Cross (18-13): Amy Lepley 19, Christine Ganser 4, Molly Hourigan 4, Brisje Malone 10, Alex Smith 11, Lisa Mifsud 3, Kate Gillespie 2, Raquel Scott 4, Emily Parker 2. Totals: 24-4-58.

3-Point Field Goals: Colgate 1 (Lynch); Holy Cross 7 (Smith 3, Lepley 2, Malone, Mifsud).

Halftime: Holy Cross 32-14.

 

By martha

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