Minneapolis, Minn. / Williams Arena - Junior forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smryni) tallied 24 points and ripped down 15 rebounds as the Robert Morris University women's basketball team suffered a 82-60 setback at Minnesota Sunday night at Williams Arena. The Colonials slip to 0-8 on the season while the Gophers move to 9-3 with the victory.

For Spanou, it marks her fifth double-double of the season. She also had five assist and two steals to lead all scorers. Freshman Ashley Ravelli (Milan, Italy / The Hun School) scored a career-high 15 points, going 5-of-8 on three point attempts. Classmate Lou Mataly (Toulouse, France / Lycee-Bellevue) added 12 point and a trio of treys.

"I'm very proud of our performance in a loss today," said RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "With three freshman starting and key players injured, to be competitive with a very good team like Minnesota is something we can build on. I believe if we can put a full 40 minutes together and fight through fatigue, the wins will come. Like I told the team, the future is bright for us."

The Golden Gophers had four players in double-digits led by Shayne Mullaney's 18 points. She had four three pointers as did Sari Noga who had 13 points. Rachel Banham added 12 points and Micaella Riche chipped in with 11 points.

Five straight points by Mataly gave Robert Morris the early lead before the Golden Gophers answered with the next seven points. The Colonials trailed Minnesota 10-2 when Spanou finished a four-point play and started a 9-0 run that gave RMU a 16-10 lead when Anna Kavasila (Cholargos, Greece / Glyfada) scored her first career field goal with 14:33 to play in the first half.

Minnesota battled back as the half of runs continued. The Gophers pulled ahead 33-30 with 5:46 left to play in the first half. A pair of free throw by Spanou whittled the lead down to one point before Minnesota went on a 15-2 surge in the final four minutes to take a 48-34 lead.

Ravelli's third consecutive three-pointer cut the lead to nine points, 52-43. Again the Gophers answered, scoring the next 10 points to take took control for good. They would push the lead to as many as four points down the stretch en route to a 82-60 victory.

Minnesota shot 51.8 percent (29-56) and went 9-of-19 from long range. The Colonials, who opened the contest hitting nine of their first 14 shots, finished the game at 34.5 percent (19-55). RMU hit a season-best 10 three pointers.

The Colonials return to action Dec. 17 when they travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., to take on Central Michigan in a 6:00 p.m. game.