Raiders Rally from Eight Down in Second Half but Drop 63-58 Decision
By John Painter
(Durham, NH – Nov. 25, 2013) Two evenly-matched teams played to the wire before home-standing New Hampshire escaped with a 63-58 victory over Colgate here Monday night.
The Raiders dropped to 1-4, but not before challenging for their second straight road victory. Kelly Reid was an early force, scoring eight of her team-high 12 points in the opening 10 minutes.
Reid’s fourth bucket pushed Colgate in front 12-11 with 10:34 remaining.
“We were doing a good job of getting the ball inside,” Reid said. “Coach (Nicci) Hays is emphasizing an inside-outside balance – we’re working on that before we get to Patriot League games.
“It was working well.”
But Reid went down with an ankle injury when she was fouled in the Colgate paint by New Hampshire’s Kaylee Kilpatrick with exactly 10 minutes showing.
“I landed on someone’s foot, which always seems to be the thing that happens,” Reid said.
While Reid would return with five minutes left in the half, her shooting touch for the remainder of the first period was sorely missed. The Raiders made only eight of 31 attempts from the floor and trailed 27-23 at intermission.
“We had some great looks but really struggled knocking down shots,” Colgate head coach Nicci Hays Fort said. “New Hampshire did a good job defensively. They were making us second-guess ourselves.
“You can’t be hesitant, and that was the difference in us not making shots.”
No Problems on Defense
A case in point was late in the first half when Colgate held New Hampshire scoreless for nearly five minutes. The Raiders trailed 19-15 with 8 minutes left, didn’t allow a Wildcats point until 3:05, but could only tie the score at 19-all.
“Our problem tonight was not defense,” Hays Fort said. “We held them to 63 points and it would have been under 60 if not for having to foul there at the end.”
The teams traded buckets to begin the second half before New Hampshire opened its largest lead of the game. Elizabeth Berlanger’s jumper made it 37-29 with 15:35 to play.
But defensive pressure again was the key to another Colgate rally. The Raiders forced four turnovers during a 6-0 mini-run, and then came up with a fifth miscue to spark a 5-0 spurt that pushed Colgate in front 46-44 with 8:40 remaining.
New Hampshire called timeout and the Raiders bench erupted.
“That was all because of our defense,” Hays Fort said. “We were all over the place there.”
Carole Harris, who made the basket that put Colgate in front, made another after a steal and coast-to-coast layin for a 48-46 advantage with 7:44 showing. From there, however, the Colgate offense went quiet.
New Hampshire scored four straight before Randyll Butler connected on a layup with 4:10 remaining that retied the score at 50-all. But then New Hampshire’s Kelsey Hogan and Kristen Anderson made consecutive 3-pointers – UNH was 0-of-9 from downtown to that point – and suddenly the lead was six with less than three minutes to play.
Another minute-plus went by before Reid stopped the slide with four straight free throws that pulled Colgate within 56-54 with 1:16 left. Mariah Jones made two free throws with 40 seconds to play that made it 57-56 UNH, but that was as close as it got.
New Hampshire hit free throws and grabbed a couple of key 50-50 rebounds to hold on for its third victory in five games to start the season.
Double-Double for Reid
Behind Reid’s first career double-double – she had 10 boards to go with her dozen points – Harris, Lauryn Kobiela and Missy Repoli scored nine apiece. All of Harris’ points came after the break, and she added nine rebounds as well.
Jones chipped in seven points and six assists, while Kobiela pocketed a career-high four steals.
The Raiders shot 32.3 percent (20-of-62) from the floor and made just three of 19 from 3-point distance. They were, however, a sparkling 15-of-17 at the line and finished with 15 turnovers to 18 for the hosts. New Hampshire won the rebound battle, 45-41.
Hays Fort wonders if the quick turnaround from Saturday’s Harvard game played a role down the stretch.
“Maybe it was bad scheduling on my part because you could see the fatigue on our faces,” Hays Fort said. “We had fewer possessions than we normally have and maybe we weren’t ready for back-to-back games like this.”
Next comes another kind of test, a visit to No. 24-ranked Gonzaga. The Raiders and Bulldogs tip off Saturday at 2 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m.Eastern) in front of one of the great environments in collegiate women’s basketball.
“We’re going to play in front of a sellout crowd, and it’s amazing for our women to be able to experience something like that,” Hays Fort said. “We’ve had some great home crowds already this season, and I’m really proud of the way the community and university have rallied around us. Hats off to our administration for the work they’ve done.
“But this is a special opportunity. Why would we want to go all the way out there? Because it’s Gonzaga. They’re a top-25 team and I always want to take our team to great women’s basketball environments.”