HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lafayette College women's basketball team opened up Patriot League play with a 59-37 win over Colgate on Wednesday afternoon. The win was the Leopards' first victory in Hamilton since 2014.
 
The Leopards were led by senior Makaila Wilson who totaled a team-high 13 along with a team-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Makayla Andrews and senior Naomi Ganpo each also found themselves with double-digit points, recording 11 and 10, respectively.
 
Lafayette (5-6, 1-0 PL) opened up the game on a 6-0 run, sparked by a basket from senior Nicole Johnson. Colgate (2-10, 0-1 PL) battled back within a bucket after the media timeout to bring the score to 6-4. The Raiders then took an 8-6 lead with 4:05 left to play in the first quarter.
 
Johnson tied the game up for the Leopards with 3:30 left to play before freshman Claire Gallagher drained a shot from beyond the arc to make it 11-8 in favor of the visitors. Colgate responded with a three-pointer of its own to make it 11-11, but junior Jessica Booth made the last two buckets of the quarter to send Lafayette into the second quarter up 15-13.
 
Ganpo got the second quarter started off with a bucket for the Leopards before Colgate responded with one of its own to pull the score within two. Wilson and Booth then made back-to-back buckets to pull the Leopards out in front by six, 21-15. Colgate pulled within three before Wilson made a layup to put Lafayette back in front by five.
 
Colgate once again pulled back within three before it was Wilson who made back-to-back buckets to put the score at 28-22. Colgate ended the second quarter with a jumper to put the score at 28-24 heading into halftime.
 
The Raiders put in the first bucket of the third quarter to pull within two of Lafayette. Both Andrews and freshman Abby Antognoli each then responded with a bucket of their own to put the score at 33-26 in favor of the Leopards.
 
Junior Jessica Booth drew a foul with the score 35-27, made one of her extra shots, and then a bucket by Ganpo pushed the Leopards out to a 12 point lead. The score would stand at 41-30 in favor of Lafayette heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
 
Lafayette opened up the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run before Colgate was able to put in its first bucket of the game with 6:43 to play putting the Leopards in front by 16. Senior Nicole Johnson put in a layup to make it 51-33 before a timeout was called.
 
Andrews came out of the timeout and put in a layup to push the Leopards' lead out to 20 and from there, the Maroon and White closed out their first Patriot League game of the season with a 59-37 victory.
 
Lafayette returns back to Kirby Sports Center on Sunday to play at home for the first time since December 4. They are set to welcome American for a 2 p.m. tip-off.