Colgate

The No. 6 seeded Raiders will take on the third-seeded Navy this weekend in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. Colgate, which finished tied for fourth in the league standings, ended the regular season with a record of 10-18 overall and 5-9 in the league. Both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will take place at Holy Cross’ Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. with the championship game coming a week later, March 13 at the site of the higher seed. The sixth seed is the highest position in the tournament the Raiders have received since earning the No. 5 seed in 2006. The Raiders, which ended their regular season against the Mids in Annapolis, Md. this past weekend, will again face them exactly one week later.

Navy earned the third-seed in the tournament after defeating Colgate, 69-50, in its final regular season game this past Saturday, Feb. 27. The Mids finished the regular season 8-6 in the league and 16-13 overall. They are 5-2 in their last seven games after dropping a game to both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. The Mids are led by Cassie Consedine and two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Angela Myers. Consedine contributes 10.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while Myers is averaging 10.5 points and 5.9 boards per game. Myers leads the team in assists (4.0) and steals (1.9) as well as leading the league in assists in conference play averaging 4.9. Seniors K.C. Gordon and Kristin Bowen contribute 9.5 points per game apiece while Gordon also picks up 4.8 rebounds and Bowen 3.8.

The Raiders dropped their final regular season game to Navy, 69-50, this past Saturday, Feb. 27. Senior Katie Garman (Poplar Grove, Ill.) scored a team-high 10 points while junior Sami Kozlowski (New Market, Md.) added eight points and rookie Jhazmine Lynch (San Diego, Calif.) picked up a team-high nine rebounds. Navy’s Angela Myers led all scorers with 23 points while Cassie Consedine contributed 14 and Kristin Bowen added 12. Colgate shot 32.8 percent in the game and 60.0 percent from the free throw line. Navy shot 45.9 percent from the floor and went 5-10 from behind the arc in the first half. The Raiders led in rebounding 44-34.

 

 

Navy – The Mids currently own a 25-16 advantage in the all-time series against Colgate after splitting with the Raiders during the regular season this year. Colgate took the first meeting of the season, defeating Navy 56-54 at home back on Jan. 30. The Mids then downed the Raiders in their final regular season game, 69-50, down in Annapolis, Md. Katie Garman led the Raiders in scoring for both games tallying a two-game total of 26 points. The Raiders are 1-1 against the Mids in Patriot League Tournament action, with Colgate winning their last meeting, 60-55 back on March 2, 2006.

Colgate heads into the 20th annual Patriot League Tournament sporting a 12-18 record in tournament play. Colgate will be meeting Navy in the tournament for the third time overall. The Raiders are 1-1 all-time against the Mids in postseason play with Colgate winning the most recent meeting in the 2006 quarterfinals to advance to the semis. The Raiders won that last postseason meeting 60-55, back on March 2, 2006. Colgate’s last postseason win was back in 2007 when they defeated No. 1 Bucknell.

Colgate freshman Jhazmine Lynch was selected as this year’s Patriot League Rookie of the Year. She is the first Raider to ever receive the Rookie of the Year award. The guard averages 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and leads the team in steals with 1.5 per game. She led the team in scoring during Patriot League play with 9.3 points per game. Lynch also led the squad in scoring five times and twice led them in rebounding during the regular season, recording a career-high 25 points against Rider on Nov. 16. She was also named the Patriot League Anaconda Rookie of the Week three times during the season.

The Raiders return 10 players to this year’s squad, including four starters from the 2008-09 season. Junior Tayler Wejnert (Ramsey, N.J.) returns to the Colgate squad after appearing in 20 games last season. Wejnert led the team in scoring averaging 11.7 points per game, followed by fellow junior Sami Kozlowski who averaged 9.7 points and led the team in steals with 33 in 30 starts with the Raiders. Tricia Oakes led Colgate on the boards as a freshman, pulling down 6.0 rebounds in 22 games. Sophomore Candice Green also started in all 30 games for the Raiders last season averaging 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds.

 

The Colgate women’s basketball team was picked to finish seventh in the 2010 Patriot League preseason coaches and sports information directors poll. Defending champion Lehigh was selected to repeat this year, with 97 total points and 13-first place votes.  Following the Mountain Hawks in order are American (76, 3 first-place), Holy Cross (76), Navy (54), Bucknell (52), Army (50), Colgate (22) and Lafayette (21). Lehigh’s Erica Prosser was chosen as the Preseason Player of the Year. 

 

Colgate welcomed three freshmen to this year’s squad, center Lulu Brase of Lake Wylie, S.C., guard Jhazmine Lynch of San Diego, Calif., and guard Rebekah Ward of Montreal, Que.  

 

The winner of the Navy/Colgate match-up will advance to the semifinals to take on the winner of the No. 2 American/No. 7 Lafayette game. The semifinals game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. The championship game will be played on Saturday, March 13 at 6 p.m. on the campus of the highest remaining seed.