HACKENSACK, N.J. – Freshman guard
Kamrin Weimer had a career-high 17 points and Fairleigh Dickinson held Colgate to 12-percent shooting from three-point range to get the 61-51 win on Wednesday afternoon.
The win moves the Knights to 4-1 to start a season for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.
Fifteen of Weimer's 17 came from behind the arc as the Knights hit 7-of-15 from deep.
Peniel M'Bikata hit the other two triples for Fairleigh Dickinson (4-1). One of M'Bikata's threes came with 2:46 left in the fourth to move the Knights' advantage to 10, 54-44, after Colgate (2-3) used a 6-0 run to make it a seven-point affair.
Fairleigh Dickinson outscored Colgate 21-6 from 3-point range, which keyed the win as both sides shot similar from the field overall—Colgate at 34% and Fairleigh Dickinson at 39%--and from the free throw line—Colgate 69% and Fairleigh Dickinson 64%.
Head coach
Peter Cinella said post game, "We focused on switching defenses and get out to shooters at the three-point line. We did a great job of finding our shooters with skip passes. One thing we need to do better is playing with a lead in late-game situations."
The Knights used a 23-point second quarter to turn a four-point deficit into a 7-point halftime lead, 31-24. In the second, Fairleigh Dickinson went 2-for-1 with Colgate to slowly build the lead to seven. Weimer hit a three to key a 6-0 spurt;
Lauren Francillon hit a pair of free throws to close the scoring for the quarter.
The Raiders cut the lead to three in the third quarter three different times, but each time the Knights answered with a bucket to thwart the Raiders. Colgate got to 35-32 with 4:49 left in the third, however, the Knights responded with a 6-0 stretch to bring the lead back to nine, 41-32.
Elise Graham, Francillon and Weimer accounted for the six points.
A free throw from
Amina Markovic gave the Knights their largest lead of 13, 51-38, with 4:53 left in the game. Colgate would not get any closer than seven for the remainder of the game.
Francillon finished nine points and a career-high 12 rebounds. M'Bikata and Markovic both finished eight points.
Rachel Thompson led Colgate with 17 points. Summer King added 10 points.
Fairleigh Dickinson returns to action on Sunday at Longwood in Farmville, Virgina. The tip will be at noon.
