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Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center – Robert Morris University senior forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni) collected 20 rebounds Monday night to become the all-time leading rebounder in Northeast Conference history with 1,296 career boards. The Colonials outscored the Knights 46-29 in the second half to secure a 66-51 win and improve to 3-1 in Northeast Conference play and 7-8 overall.
 
Spanou had 14 points and 20 rebounds to pick up her 22^nd consecutive double-double against a conference opponent. Already the RMU leader for points and assists, Spanou surpassed Jess Zinoble of Saint Francis University for the league record. Zinoble had held the mark since 2000.
 
Freshmen Rebeca Navarro (Galicia, Spain / Las Sieges Palmas) provided a second-half spark and finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting that included a pair of three-pointers. Freshman Anna Niki Stamolamprou (Thessaloniki, Greece / Aristotelio College of Thessaloniki) tacked on 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.
 
"It was certainly a very disappointing first half. After the first few minutes, we did not play at a level of basketball anywhere near what we are capable of," said 11th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "I thought in the second half, we played 10 good minutes. It was enough to win this game, but certainly won't be good enough as the season goes on. Being a young team can no longer be an excuse for us as far as understanding the need to play for 40 minutes.
 
"I do once again want to congratulate Artie for breaking another record, this one the NEC career rebounding record. Rebounding comes from hard work, and hard work certainly defines her."
 
Trailing 32-29 with just under 14 minutes to play, Stamolamprou hit a three-pointer to tie the game. That basket cued a 13-0 run that included seven consecutive points by sophomore Ashley Ravelli (Milano, Italy / The Hun School). The surge was the start of what would eventually be a 30-4 run that lasted 9:33 and ended with Robert Morris holding 59-36 lead with 4:39 to play.
 
The Colonials forced eight turnovers and held the Knights to 1-9 shooting during that time. Navarro scored nine of her 12 points during the surge while Spanou and Ravelli each scored seven points.
 
In the first half, Robert Morris jumped out to a 9-0 lead with Stamolamprou scoring five points. RMU would stake itself to a 14-5 lead midway through the half. The Knights, however, answered with a 13-3 surge that put them on top by two points and eventually led to them taking the lead, 22-20, at half time.
 
Robert Morris hosts Saint Francis University in a 3:00 p.m. game Saturday, January 18, at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
 
Notes: Robert Morris shot 47.1 percent (16-34) in the second half after connecting at just a 23.1 percent (9-39) in the first half … The Colonials outrebounded the Knights, 60-39, the third most rebounds in team history … RMU had as many offensive rebounds, 29, as FDU had total … Freshman forward Cassie Oursler (Grand Island, N.Y. / Grand Island) has seven blocks in the last two games after recording eight in the first 12 games. She had three against Fairleigh Dickinson.

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