Brooklyn, N.Y. / Wellness, Athletic and Recreation Center - The Robert Morris University women's basketball team overcame a second-half drought to capture a hard fought 47-41 victory at LIU Brooklyn Saturday afternoon. Freshman guard Ashley Ravelli (Milan, Italy / The Hun School) scored a game-high 17 points as the Colonials improve to 5-15 overall and 4-5 in Northeast Conference games.

"I'm very happy to win, especially a game like this on the road is a positive for us, especially given our limited number of players," said RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "Although it wasn't pretty in the second half, it showed a lot of character that we were able to come back and everyone contributed to today's victory. Having a freshman (Ravelli) hit the big shot from the corner just shows you the type of player she is going to be. I'm very proud of this team today."

Robert Morris led by 13 points, 36-23, but went ice cold from the field as LIU Brooklyn battled back and took the lead, 39-38, when Sophie Bhasin made a pair of free throws with 3:13 left in regulation. The teams traded baskets and a free throw by junior Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni) tied the contest at 41 a minute later.

With the score still tied, RMU took possession with just over a minute to play and freshman Randi Jackson (Oakland, Calif. / Bishop O'Dowd) found Ravelli open in the left corner. Ravelli nailed her third trey of the game and the Colonials never looked back. Kelly Hartwell (Woodbridge, Va. / Gar-Field) and Spanou went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in the last minute to give the Colonials the six-point victory.

­­Ravelli scored seven of the team's first 10 points and finished the first half with 12 points as the Colonials used a 23-7 run to take a 26-10 lead 15 minutes into the contest. Ravelli had 10 of points during that stretch while and Spanou each had four points.

LIU Brooklyn cut the halftime margin to 10 points, finishing the opening stanza on an 8-2 run.

Spanou collected her 15^th consecutive double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Hartwell tacked on 12 points and nine rebounds.

Krystal Wells and Bhasin each had 11 points for the home-standing Blackbirds.

Robert Morris remains in Brooklyn for the weekend before taking on St. Francis Brooklyn in a 7:00 p.m. game Monday, February 4, at the Pope Center.