HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Union College women's basketball team battled hard against its second Division I opponent in program history, dropping a 92-51 matchup to Colgate University on Tuesday evening at Cotterell Court.
 
Senior Emma Riley led Union (4-5) with 15 points, hitting 3-of-4 shots from long range and 5-of-10 overall while adding three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Junior Grace Ceseretti scored nine points with four caroms in the first half for the Garnet Chargers, while junior Jelena Perovic chipped in six points and a team-best five boards.
 
Anne Bair netted a game-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead four Raiders in double figures, followed by Tatiana Matthews with 14 points and Sophia Diehl with 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds for Colgate (7-3).
 
After Ceseretti sunk a three on the game's opening possession, Union struggled with Colgate's full-court pressure for most of the opening period, with 11 turnovers leading to 17 points on the other end. Combined with Colgate's 48.0 percent shooting, Union trailed by a 29-11 score after 10 minutes.
 
Union settled in after the initial challenges, however, and remained within 10 points of the Raiders in each of the final three periods. The visitors turned the ball over only four times in the second stanza and had only one miscue in a relatively clean fourth frame, limiting the home team to only 11 points off turnovers over the final 30 minutes.

The shots also started to fall with a little more frequency for Union in the second half, hitting 6-of-13 attempts in the third period and 6-of-16 in the fourth frame. Riley led all players with 13 points after the intermission, hitting five of her final six shots of the night.
 
The Garnet Chargers finished the evening shooting 35.8 percent (19 of 53) from the field and 42.9 percent (6 of 14) from long range, while the Raiders hit at a 49.3 percent (36 of 73) clip.
 
Union will return to action on Thursday, when the team gets back to Liberty League play with a 5:30 p.m. matchup at Bard College.