NEW LONDON, N.H. – The Colby-Sawyer women's basketball team dropped a huge Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup on Wednesday to Rivier by a 70-59 final. With the loss the Chargers slip to the 10th seed and are fighting for a spot in the playoffs.
Rapid Recap:
- Sophomore Elyza Mitchell (Spofford, N.H.) started the game by burying a three, which was quickly answered by a triple by the Raiders. First year Catherine Chick (Glen, N.H.) added a three of her own followed by another by sophomore Makenna Grillone (Walpole, N.H.) as the Chargers clinged to a 9-5 lead in the early going. The Raiders responded in a big way with a 16-0 run led by Lyric Grumblatt as the Raiders took a 21-9 lead with 2:10 remaining in the first. Mitchell stopped the spurt with a huge and-one, but Rivier continued its attack holding a 24-16 lead into the second quarter.
- Alexa Dufries buried a three to start the second as the Raiders continued to lead by 11, but a 6-2 run led by junior Courtney Brewster (Castleton, Vt.) to cut the deficit to seven with 6:05 to play in the first half. The lead continued to grow for the visitors as Anna Stenger ballooned the lead to 39-23. Brewster and Mitchell scored six points in the final time, but the Raiders held a solid lead of 12 headed into the break.
- In the third quarter Chick laced her second triple, but Rivier continued to answer jumping the lead to a game-high 18 points with 7:02 to play in the third. Junior Gabby Lucertini (Branford, Conn.) drilled a three for the Chargers to kick start an 9-2 run with four more points going to Mitchell, but a 5-0 spurt by the visitors held the lead at 57-41. Mitchell netted another old fashioned three-point play followed by a three from junior Marissa Holt (Alfred, Maine) to cut the lead to 10 as Colby-Sawyer trailed by 11 going into the final 10 minutes.
- The lead for the Raiders blossomed back to 18 points after a 7-0 run to start the quarter. The Chargers battled right back with a 9-1 answer capped off by a third three from Chick. Time became a factor quickly and after Brewster got the game down to 67-59 with 1:05 to play the Raiders iced the game with free throws to clinch the win.
Inside the Numbers:
- The Chargers offense was led by Brewster who registered 18 points (5-12 FG, 0-1 3PT, 8-9 FT), seven rebounds and three assists. Mitchell followed with 15 points (5-11 FG, 1-5 3PT, 4-4 FT), eight rebounds and three assists. Chick added nine points (3-7 FG, 3-4 3PT) and two rebounds.
- Grumblatt paced the Raiders with 25 points (9-24 FG, 0-5 3PT, 7-9 FT), 11 rebounds and five steals. Dufries added 19 points (7-15 FG, 5-9 3PT) and six rebounds in the win.
- The Chargers were out scored in the painted area by a 34-22 margin, while getting a 25-4 advantage from bench scoring.
- Colby-Sawyer currently sits in the 10 seed in the GNAC playoff picture with a record of 4-7 in conference play and three games to play.
Up Next:
Colby-Sawyer will travel to Emmanuel on Saturday with a 3:00 PM start.
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