at ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 — 8:00 p.m. ET — Champaign, Ill. — State Farm Center
TV: None
Radio: FightingIllini.com
Streaming: btn2go.com
Live Stats: FightingIllini.com
Twitter: @RMU_WBB & @RMUScoreboard; @IlliniWBasketball
 
The Capsule
The Robert Morris University women's basketball team continues its five-game season opening road trip by taking on its second consecutive Big 10 opponent. The Colonials travel to Champaign, Ill, to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini in an 8:00 p.m. ET game at State Farm Center Tuesday, Nov. 18. RMU gave the 19th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes all they could handle in a season-opening loss while the Illini started the year with a seven-point win against IPFW.
 
The Series vs. Illinois
The Colonials have never played Illinois.
 
Record Road Trip
Robert Morris opens the season with five consecutive road games, the most games in program history to start a season. The five-game swing is also the second longest road trip in team history and the first five-game trip since 2007-08. The 1989-90 squad had six consecutive road games.
 
Preseason Favorite
Robert Morris earned five first-place votes and was picked first in the NEC Preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Poll. It's the second straight season RMU is the preseason favorite and the fourth time overall.
 
Musket Shots
• Anna Niki Stamolamprou had a career-high 21 points at Iowa and tied her career-best with seven rebounds
• Stamolamprou and Cassie Oursler earned spots on the 2014 NEC All-Rookie team
• RMU opens the season with five consecutive road games for the first time in team history
• Eight of the Colonials 14 players hail from outside the United States
• In 11 seasons at the helm, Sal Buscaglia has led the Colonials to six 20-win seasons
• RMU has won three of its five NEC Championships with Buscaglia on the sideline
• Sal Buscaglia was named the Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year for the third time
• The Colonials went 22-12 in 2013-14, winning the NEC and earning their third NCAA Tournament berth
• RMU is 112-30 (.789) at the Sewall Center since 2004-05, including 75-15 (.833) in NEC games
• Robert Morris has a 13-game home winning streak and set a team record for home wins with 15 last season
• The Colonials also set season records for rebounds, three-pointers and defensive rebounds
• Four starters and nine letterwinners return from last season's NEC Championship squad
• The Colonials were selected first in the 2014 NEC Preseason Poll garnering five first place votes
• Robert Morris has made it to the NEC Tournament semifinals in eight of the last 10 seasons
 
Stamolamprou Sets Career High
Sophomore guard Anna Niki Stamolamprou set a new career-high with 21 points in the Colonials season-opener against Iowa. The Greek-point two-guard went 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-9 from long range. She also tied her career-high by collecting seven rebounds.
 
The Road to The NCAA Tournament
The Colonials earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Northeast Conference Tournament, taking advantage of the top seed they secured by winning the regular season title witha 14-4 record. RMU has won five NEC titles, earning NCAA Tourney berths in 2007, 2008 and 2014. A 16-seed last season, the Colonials lost to #1 seed Notre Dame, 42-93.
 
Bringing Home the Hardware
Four Colonials were honored with NEC Postseason accolades in 2013-14. Artemis Spanou was the Player of the Year for the second straight season while Sal Buscaglia was the Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year for the third time. Anna Niki Stamolamprou and Cassie Oursler earned spots on the All-Rookie team.
 
Team Records For Home Wins
The Colonials went 15-4 at home last season, setting a team record for home wins. RMU has won 13 straight games at the Chuck, the longest such win streak in team history.
 
Third Best Scoring Squad
RMU scored 2,283 points in 2013-14, the third-most points by a Colonials squad in program history. They averaged 69.2 points per game, fourth in team annals.
 
Three-nomenal
Robert Morris hit seven three-pointers in the NCAA Tournament game against Notre Dame, and in the process set a new team record for three-pointers in a season. The Colonials knocked down 203 shots from long-range last year, eclipsing the previous record of 199 set by the 2008-09 and 2011-12 teams.
 
Rebounding Review
With 1,374 rebounds last year, the Colonials broke the team record for boards by 38. The Colonials +5.9 rebounding margin in 2013-14 was the second-best in team history. The margin is bolstered by four games in which RMU outrebounded its opponent by at least 25 rebounds.
 
Jolie's Seven Jargons
Redshirt senior Jolie Olingende is fluent in seven languages. The 6' 1" center speaks French, English, Lingala, Kingwandi, Kisango, Kkongo, Munukutoba. French is the offical language of the Congo. Kisango is her mother's native language while Kingwandi is her father's. Lingala is the language of northern Congo and Kkongo was the language spoken where she attended school. Olingende picked up Munukutuba on her own and didn't learn English until she attended school at Arizona Western. She plans on learning Spanish as well when she travels to Spain next year.
 
International Love
The Robert Morris roster once again features members from all over the world. The Colonials 14-player roster features eight international players. Of the six Americans, all come from different states with Maryland, New Jersey, New York and California represented. RMU's imported players hail from Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Greece, Italy and Spain.
 
Chuck's Charms
The Charles L. Sewall Center, a.k.a. "The Chuck", has lent a certain advantage for the Colonials over the past 10 seasons. Since 2004-05, RobertMorris is 111-30 (.788) in home games, including an even more impressive 74-15 (.831) record against Northeast Conference opponents.
 
20 Win Again
The 2013-14 squad reached the 20-win plateau for the eighth time in school history. Six of those 20-win seasons have come in the 11 seasons that Sal Buscaglia has been at the helm of the program.
 
Dialing Long Distance ... From Europe
The Colonials European born players have accounted for 198 of the team's 203 three-pointers in 2013-14. Anna Niki Stamolamprou had 59, Ashley Ravelli 53 and Rebeca Navarro 44.
 
Insurmountable Lead
Robert Morris has never lost a game in which it has held the lead at the end of the game. The Colonials were 22-0 in such situations last season. All-time, RMU is 479-0 when leading at the end of the second half.
 
Perennial Playoff Potential
Robert Morris has missed the NEC playoffs just once since 2004-05. RMU had eight consecutive playoff appearances from 2004-05 through 2011-12 and finished first in three of those seasons, earning the tournament's top seed in 2010. The Colonials returned to the postseason last year by taking the regular season title.