HAMILTON, N.Y. – Sophomore Rayne Durant (New Haven, Conn.) led her team with 16 points and eight rebounds, as UMass Lowell (0-1) fell, 74-62, at Colgate (1-0) on Monday evening at Cotterell Court.
"We had a hard-fought battle against a veteran Colgate squad," said Head Coach Denise King. "We will need to take better care of the ball for our next matchup versus Holy Cross."
Durant went 6-for-12 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line en route to her 16 points. She added eight rebounds and one steal, as well. Freshman Sille-Liis Mölder (Tallinn, Estonia) had a notable first showing with 12 points, five rebounds and one assist. She went 4-for-7 from field goal range (57.1%) with one trey and three free throws.
Sophomore Abbey Lindsey (Staten Island, N.Y.) put up 11 points and four assists, while sophomore Maddie Rice (Charlottesville, Va.) contributed nine points and a team-best nine rebounds. Redshirt-senior Sydney Watkins (Indianapolis, Ind.) also had nine points and three steals.
UMass Lowell shot 45.1% compared to Colgate's 42.1%, in addition to outrebounding their hosts, 35-30.
Lindsey would grab UMass Lowell's first points of the season, as she sunk a bucket from the baseline off a pass from freshman Carla Subirats (Barcelona, Spain) with 9:23 remaining in the first quarter. Rice would then make back-to-back shots with a layup followed by a flawless three-pointer to put the River Hawks within one at 8-7. Minutes later, Watkins would blow by the Colgate defenders in the paint to even the score, 11-11, at 2:45.
Colgate used an 8-3 spurt to create a two-possession buffer, but UMass Lowell went 3-for-4 at the foul line with 12 seconds left in the first quarter to tighten up Colgate's lead, 21-18.
The Raiders followed with a 10-2 run that stretched into the second quarter to make the score 31-20 with 6:34 to go before the break. Mölder hit a jumper to break up the streak, but the home team pulled away, 40-24, three minutes later. However, Lindsey would bank in layup in the waning minutes of the half and Durant added a pair of layups of her own to cut the difference to 42-30 heading into halftime.
The teams traded points to start the third, as the River Hawks worked to battle back. Subirats showed her range, making a three-pointer with the assist from Mölder before Durant sunk four free throws, closing the gap to just seven at 48-41 with 2:15 remaining.
Although the Raiders responded with six in a row, Mölder converted from three-point range and Watkins hit a fastbreak to keep the River Hawks close, 54-46, at the end of the third.
The River Hawks fought through the fourth, using five points from Mölder and a free throw from Lindsey to pull back within single-digits with less than four minutes to play. Two minutes later, Watkins would make it a nine-point game once more, but the River Hawks were unable to come any closer, as Colgate secured the 74-62 decision.
The River Hawks will compete versus Holy Cross in their home opener on Saturday, November 9 at the Costello Athletic Center with a 1 p.m. tipoff.
