Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center - The Robert Morris University women's basketball team battled back from a 12-point second half deficit before succumbing to the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, 64-62, in overtime at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday evening. The Colonials slip to 7-19 overall and 6-9 in the Northeast Conference with the loss while the Knights move to 11-15 overall and 6-9 in league games.

The Colonials received another impressive double-double from junior forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni) while freshman guard Ashley Ravelli (Milan, Italy / The Hun School) scored a team-best 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-6 from long range. Spanou tied her career-high by pulling down 21 rebounds and added 18 points. Both Ravelli and Spanou, along with freshman guard Randi Jackson (Oakland, Calif. / Bishop O'Dowd) played all 45 minutes of the game.

Senior Anna Gailite (Riga, Latvia / Riga Secondary) had one block in the game to tie the Robert Morris season record of 54 set by Kim Mong in 1981-82. Junior Kelly Hartwell (Woodbridge, Va. / Gar-Field) just missed out on a double-double as well, scoring nine points and pulling down 10 rebounds to go with three assists.

"I'm very disappointed for our team because they played so hard. We had three players play all 45 minutes while they were able to rotate 10 players in and out of the game," said RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "We played with tired legs and missed key free throws. This team has battled through injuries and a short roster and, in a loss, gave everything they had, something I'm sure they will continue to do in the final three games of the regular season."

Fairleigh Dickinson scored the first nine points of the second half and the Colonials found themselves trailing, 43-31, when Erika Livermore came up with a rebound and put-back just over four minutes into the half. A three-pointer by Ravelli started what would turn into an extended 28-11 run.

Ravelli scored 12 points during the surge and the Colonials would eventually take the lead, 54-52, when Hartwell got a steal and finished off an old-fashioned three-point play with just over five minutes to play. Another Ravelli trey was followed by a jumper from Livermore before Jackson hit a runner in the lane that gave RMU a five-point lead with 3:19 to go.

FDU answered with five consecutive points. A pair of free throws by Spanou were offset by another Livermore jumper and the game would go into overtime tied at 61.

The only points of the extra session came from the charity stripe, and unfortunately for RMU, it was an off night from the chalk. The Colonials went just 1-for-5 in overtime and finished 5-of-14 for the game on their free throw chances. Brianna Thomas hit one for FDU and Amanda Andrades knocked down a pair later in overtime as they held on for the 64-62 win.

Robert Morris scored the first six points of the game building its biggest lead in the opening 2:36. A 13-4 surge later in the half, started by a Danielle Pankey trey and fueled by six points from Livermore put FDU on top, 25-18 just past the midway point of the frame. Five straight points by Spanou late in half tied the game at 31 before a Kelsey Cruz trey gave the Knights a 34-31 lead at the break.

Livermore led all scorers with 23 points and tacked on 11 rebounds for a double-double. She went 11-of-15 from the field. Cruz added 17 points and Andrades finished with 10.

Robert Morris wraps up the home portion of its 2012-13 slate this Monday, Feb. 25, when they host the Monmouth Hawks in a 7:00 p.m. game at the Sewall Center.