WEST POINT, N.Y. – For
Keelah Dixon and the Colgate Raiders, it was more than worth the wait.
Dixon announced her return to action with a scintillating career-high 30 points, and Colgate (1-0, 1-0 North) began its delayed start to the 2020-21 season by posting an impressive 87-76 victory over Army here Saturday afternoon.
The Raiders never trailed and were never tied after a 2-2 start. Colgate outscored the hosts 25-13 in the first quarter as Dixon broke fast and scored 14 on 6-of-6 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 at the stripe.
Alexa Brodie added seven of her career-high 21 points in that opening quarter and
Lindsay Blackmore scored four of her 15 in a sparkling debut.
That trio continued to account for all of the Raider points in Quarter 2 as well, sending Colgate to the locker room leading 46-35.
Army (3-3, 0-1) never drew closer than seven points in the third quarter thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from
Katlyn Ghavidel and one from
Jenna Paul.
Then it was double-digits all the way in the fourth as
Tiasia McMillan got loose for seven of her nine points and Blackmore closed with six as the first-year Raiders paid immediate dividends.
Blackmore added seven boards to tie for game honors.
Colgate in the second half was 8-of-11 from 3-point range, finishing 10-of-16 for the afternoon.
Dixon is just the ninth Raider in Division I program history to score at least 30 points in a game, with Saturday's performance the 21st 30-point game by a Colgate Raider.
Player 30-Pt Games High Total
Megan Gibbons (1996-99) 3 38
Jen Smith (1992-95) 3 35
Kara Crismale (1994-97) 1 35
Emily Braseth (2002-05) 2 35
Suzanne Bowen (1988-91) 7 34
Rachel Thompson (2017-20) 2 33
Jaime Glenn (2000-03) 1 31
Malissa Burke (2001-04) 1 30
Keelah Dixon (2018-21) 1 30
This year's Covid-19 Pandemic schedule has these two teams playing again Sunday afternoon, also at West Point. These games count in the North Mini-Conference standings, and the top two finishers in each mini-conference earn automatic qualification to the Patriot League tournament.
Bottom Line
• Colgate 87, Army 76
From the Source
•
Head Coach Bill Cleary: (On Dixon's performance) "Am I going to sit here and say we thought 30? No. But did I think she was going to be able to explode and do some things? Absolutely. Keelah is that type of player. Unfortunately, she's been hampered a bit by injuries, but she was always an explosive player. When we were recruiting her, we knew how explosive she could be and this really doesn't shock us. We know what type of player she is and we are just thrilled that she was able to have that first game back, to be able to play as well as she did and lead as well as she did to give her some confidence as well."
Listen to the rest of Coach Cleary's comments
HERE.
Stats of the Game
• Think Dixon was eager to get back on the court? In addition to her scoring, the Boston native also tied Blackmore for game rebounding honors with seven and led the Raiders with four assists.
• This was Dixon's first action since the thrilling overtime win over Yale back in November 2019.
• The Raiders began the game 4-of-4 from the field and never looked back.
• Colgate shot 57.1 percent in the first half, led by Dixon at 10-of-14.
• For the second year in a row, Brodie sank the opening basket of the season for the Raiders.
• Dixon (23) and Brodie (17) had posted career scoring highs by halftime. Along with Blackmore (6), they were the team's only three scorers in the first half.
• The Raiders committed just seven turnovers to miss by one tying the fewest in a game since Cleary became head coach in 2016-17.
• On the plus-minus chart, Blackmore led at +16, while Brodie, Paul and
Maggie Walsh all finished at +11.
• Ghavidel, McMillan and
Jenna Paul made their starting debuts.
• Army entered the day 3-2 overall, having played a combined five nonconference games in November and December.
Up Next
• Colgate and Army wrap up their two-game weekend series Sunday in West Point. Tipoff is 2:30 p.m., with ESPN+ carrying the telecast.
