Sophomore Paige Kriftcher tallied 14 points for Colgate in an 82-39 exhibition win over St. Lawrence Friday night. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
Impressive Exhibition Victory Sets Up Next Week’s Season Opener at Cornell
By John Painter
(Hamilton, NY – Nov. 1, 2013) Lauryn Kobiela was no problem for Colgate in an 82-39 Friday night exhibition victory over St. Lawrence at Cotterell Court.
The Raiders were impressive against last year’s NCAA Division III tournament participant, despite playing without their senior guard. Kobiela injured her ankle in a recent practice, but the rest of the team more than made up the difference in the first live competition of 2013-14.
“Lauryn’s been so big for us; she’s really stepped up her game tremendously,” Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “But everyone else stepped up (tonight). Everyone came in, everyone contributed and everyone scored. Our guards – that was big for us and it was great to see them step up tonight.”
Colgate forced 31 St. Lawrence turnovers while committing only 14, and the Raiders finished with a 33-3 advantage in points off those turnovers. Second-chance points were 19-0, fast-break 19-2 and bench points favored Colgate by a 55-13 spread.
Colgate out-rebounded St. Lawrence 46-24.
“Our defense and rebounding are much better right now than they were a year ago,” Hays Fort said. “That was the difference tonight versus the start of last season.”
In last year’s exhibition, Colgate beat Division III Hartwick 76-65.
Repoli Back to Form
The teams were tied as late as 11-11 at the 12:50 mark of the first half before Colgate posted an 8-0 run. Missy Repoli had five of her game-high 19 points coming off the bench during that stretch – the junior’s first action since the middle of last season.
Repoli missed the final 11 games of her sophomore campaign with an injury, but she was 6-of-7 from the field – including 3-of-3 from long range – and a perfect 4-of-4 from the line against the Saints.
Mariah Jones helped handle things from the point, scoring eight and dishing out seven assists. The Raiders as a team finished with 19 assists to just the 14 turnovers.
“Our defense was really good tonight,” said the junior guard. “We were in the passing lanes and denying like we’ve been practicing, and we really got a lot of deflections and steals off our defense.
“That brought a lot of energy.”
A few of Jones’ feeds on the offensive end found sophomore Paige Kriftcher, who tallied 16 points. Kriftcher’s official career high remains at 13 from her rookie season (exhibition numbers don’t count), but the Long Island product sees herself as a different player in Season 2.
“Over the summer I gained a lot more confidence, got a lot stronger,” said Kriftcher, who added five of Colgate’s 16 steals. “Because I got so much stronger, I’m definitely getting to the rim easier. I’m trying not to rely just on my outside shot.”
First-Half Run Ends It
Colgate scored the first half’s final seven points and closed on a 35-12 run to double the score at 46-23 by intermission. St. Lawrence never drew any closer and the Raiders slowly expanded their lead.
Kelly Reid added 10 points to go with seven boards, tying Randyll Butler for game honors in rebounding. Butler chipped in four assists, while Josie Stockill scored nine and freshman Katie Curtis seven. Colgate’s other two first-year players – Jackie Hudepohl and Steph Poland – added two points and two rebounds apiece.
Starters Catherine Lewis and Carole Harris combined for seven points, eight rebounds and five steals.
“We had a lot of good continuity tonight,” Jones said. “There was no letdown when the nonstarters came in, so that was really good for them and for us as a team. Everybody gets a lot of playing time and everybody gets comfortable on a game day.
“Games like these are good for us to see where we are.”
One holdover from last season appears to be free-throw shooting. The Raiders last November led the nation from the charity stripe before finishing at 71.2 percent.
Friday night against St. Lawrence, Colgate made its final 19 free throws to finish 21-of-23 for the game. Eight of the 11 players dressed for the game contributed.
Colgate opens the regular season next Friday at Cornell in a 7 p.m. start. The home opener is Nov. 10 against St. Bonaventure in a 2 p.m. tip.
Colgate 82, St. Lawrence 39
St. Lawrence (0-0): Kara McDuffee 12, Allison Cady 6, Lauren Quattrocchi 6, Caroline Dalton 2, Samantha Godfrey 2, Julie Raue 2, Kelly Legg 9. Totals: 15-4-39.
Colgate (0-0): Randyll Butler 2, Mariah Jones 8, Catherine Lewis 5, Kelly Reid 10, Carole Harris 2, Jackie Hudepohl 2, Katie Curtis 7, Paige Kriftcher 16, Steph Poland 2, Missy Repoli 19, Josie Stockill 9. Totals: 27-21-82.
3-Point Field Goals: St. Lawrence 5 (Quattrocchi 2, McDuffee, Cady, Legg); Colgate 7 (Repoli 3, Kriftcher 2, Lewis, Curtis).
Halftime: Colgate 46-23.