Loretto, Pa. / DeGol Arena - Junior forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni) had 21 points and 20 rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Robert Morris University women's basketball team suffered a 72-63 setback at Saint Francis University Monday night. It was the second 20-point, 20-rebound performance of the year for Spanou who leads the nation in rebounding. RMU slips to 4-15 overall and 3-5 in the Northeast Conference while the Red Flash move to 11-8 and 6-2 in league games.

Spanou went 9-of-18 from the field and 3-of-6 from the charity stripe. She also moved into second all-time at RMU with 911 career rebounds. Senior forward Anna Gailite (Riga, Latvia / Riga Secondary #47) tacked a season high 12 points to give with five rebounds and four blocks.

"I thought we played really hard even though we were shorthanded in the second half with Lou (Mataly) having to sit down," said RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "Fatigue really set in in the second half. When you lose someone who has been playing as well as Lou is, it doesn't help. Now all our attention is focused on Lou's health and getting her back on the floor."

The Colonials and Red Flash battled back-and-forth in the forth with the lead exchanging hands 12 times in the opening 20 minutes. The Colonials got the scoring started, jumping out to what turned out to be the biggest lead of the half, 4-0, after scoring the first four points. The Red Flash never led by more than three points in the opening frame.

Spanou and Mataly did the majority of dame for RMU. Spanou needed just over 15 minutes to record her 14^th consecutive double-double as she finished the half with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Lou Mataly (Toulouse, France / Lycee-Bellevue) nailed a tri of treys to tack on nine points and the Colonials carried a 32-31 lead into the break.

The Colonials pushed the margin to 38-31 by starting the second half on a 6-1 run as three different players scored. The Red Flash slowly cut into the RMU lead and eventually took the lead, 47-46, as they drained three consecutive free throws.

The Red Flash continued to finish its 11-2 run pushing the margin 53-48 as Alli Williams finished off an old-fashioned three-point play. Williams scored all 21 of her points in the final 11:30 of the game. Kelly Hartwell (Woodbridge, Va. / Gar-Field) sliced the margin to one-point as she scored four straight points. The lead went back to five and again RMU cut it to one point, 60-59, with 3:19 left in regulation.

Williams then scored five straight and seven of the game's next nine point to push the margin out to 68-61 with 1:31 to play as the Red Flash held on for the 72-63 victory.

Alexa Hayward, who went 7-of-14 on three-pointers, finished with a game-best 28 points. Hartwell tacked on 11 points and five boards.

The Colonials to New York for a pair of contests starting with a Noon game at LIU Brooklyn Saturday, Feb. 2.