Sunday afternoon’s women’s basketball game was one of dramatic finishes, with freshman Lauren Daugherty hitting a three-point buzzer-beater to send the game into overtime, only to have Colgate’s Randyll Butler sink a jumper just as overtime expired to snag the victory.
The Raiders’ 67-65 win over the Hounds in front of the Women in Sports Day crowd at Reitz Arena was their third of conference play, allowing them to surpass the Greyhounds, now 2-14, in the Patriot League standings.
Nai Brown picked up her third-career double-double, recording 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead all scoring. Sophomore Diana Logan added 13 of her own, a career high, while freshman Lisa Mirarchi notched 10 points and five rebounds for the Hounds.
The opening moments of the first half consisted of the teams trading advantages, before Colgate went on an 11-0 run to grab a lead they wouldn’t relinquish until the final second of regulation.
The Raiders led by 11 three different times in the first frame, sinking four of seven three-pointers and seven of nine free-throws. While Loyola posted an impressive 8-for-9 free throw percentage in the first half, they were 0-for-6 from behind the arc.
At the break, Colgate held a 31-22 advantage.
The start of the second half began just as the first half had ended: with Colgate continuing to dominate and extending the lead to as much as 15. But the Hounds came charging back with a 13-3 run to pull within six, spearheaded by six consecutive points from Nai Brown and a pair of three-pointers from Nicole Krusen.
Krusen would hit another three with 6:25 remaining before both teams went into a scoreless drought for over two minutes. Colgate’s Carole Harris, however, broke the lull with five-straight points.
After the Raiders took a seven-point lead, the Greyhounds would head to the charity stripe six times over a span of two minutes, concluding with a set of made free throws from senior Nneka Offodile to cut the Hounds’ deficit to just two.
Colgate would once again push its lead to three in the waning seconds, and that’s when Daugherty came to the rescue, tying the score at 58 and forcing overtime.
Loyola then jumped out to its first lead of the game, taking a 65-59 advantage in the early moments of OT with layups from Mirarchi, Krusen and Daugherty. But the Raiders would answer with three baskets of their own to tie it at 65. Taking a page out of Daugherty’s book, Colgate’s Randyll Butler hit a buzzer-beater bank shot to win it.
The Hounds will play their final away game of the season on Wednesday, February 26 at the College of Holy Cross.