NEWARK, N.J. – Total team effort.
 
That might be the best way to describe Colgate's 79-52 dismantling of NJIT in the 2019-20 season opener here Tuesday night.
 
Five players in double-figures; none with more than 11 points. Keelah Dixon and first-year Alexa Brodie were the two Raiders at 11, but Nia Ahart, Haley Greer and Taylor Langan were right behind with 10 apiece.
 
Abby Schubiger was spectacular on defense, tying for the team leads with both five boards and a pair of steals to go with eight first-half points.
 
And Rachel Thompson? Colgate's Preseason All-Patriot League pick? She played just 13 minutes and scored eight points. Wasn't exactly her night – she still contributed five assists and four rebounds – but it didn't much matter.
 
Colgate won each quarter, building leads of 18-13, 34-23 and 51-35 at the breaks. And then they really turned on the jets.
 
The Raiders scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, hitting 9-of-12 from the field including 5-of-7 from long range. Colgate built its lead to 75-38 with 3:21 showing, outscoring NJIT 24-3 over that 6½-minute stretch, before head coach Bill Cleary gave his reserves some valuable playing time.
 
Cleary earned his 250th career victory to kick off his 17th season, improving to 250-214.
 
It was Colgate's largest season-opening win in 29 years and the second-largest to begin a season in program history. Only an 86-48 triumph at Northeastern to open the 1990-91 season was better. The last time the Raiders won by at least 27 points was a 72-45 triumph at Loyola back in 2015.
 
Bottom Line
• Colgate 79, NJIT 52

From the Source
• Head Coach Bill Cleary (On the game) "It's what we've been building toward since we got here, where you have players who pick each other up and there's no drop-off. You have intensity the entire time, and kids are engaged. It was a fun game tonight. This is what our kids have worked hard for and I give a lot of credit to our seniors. The seniors have done a great job of getting our players to where we are right now, they really have. It was a lot of fun."
 
Listen to the rest of Coach Cleary's interview HERE.
 
Stats of the Game
• Cleary is 2-2 in season openers. Before his arrival, the program was 8-20 on opening night in the Division I era.
• After Northeastern and now NJIT, the next-best win was 63-47 over Presbyterian to begin the 2009-10 campaign.
• Brodie scored the first points of each half on 3-pointers.
• The second-half trey bounded high off the rim before swishing through and igniting a 7-0 Raiders run that made it 41-23 with 8:28 left in the third.
• The lead never fell below double-digits the rest of the way.
• Colgate's three New Jersey products all performed well. In addition to Schubiger and Langan, Jenna Paul scored six points in a solid 6½ minutes.
• Langan's line was 3-of-3 from the field, 1-of-1 from downtown and 3-of-4 at the stripe.
• She is a sophomore but missed all of last season with an injury.
 
Gate Grab Bag
• Attendance at the beautiful Wellness and Events Center was 359.
• Colgate's three New Jersey natives – Langan (Lake Hopatcong), Paul (Toms River) and Schubiger (Morristown) – drew a nice crowd for the Raiders.
 
Up Next
• Colgate's home opener is Sunday against UMass Lowell.
• The River Hawks in their Tuesday opener lost 89-46 at Boston College.
• Tipoff is 2 p.m. in Cotterell Court. The Patriot League Network and 94 WKXZ-FM carry all the action.