Champaign, Ill. – The game between the Robert Morris University women's basketball team and Illinois was a defensive struggle from the tip. Unfortunately for the Colonials, it was the host Fighting Illini who found their offense first en route to a 66-48 win at State Farm Arena in Champaign, Ill., Tuesday night.
 
"Our young team has to learn what it takes to win that second game on a two-game road trip with just one day of preparation," said 12th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "You have to play two halves of basketball. The first half, certainly, was not the way we can play, especially against a Big 10 team like Illinois on the road. I still believe that starting out with two Big 10 teams on the road was a great learning experience for us. We'll see if that learning experience helps us down the road. I certainly feel it will."
 
Sophomore Anna Niki Stamolamprou finished with 14 points for RMU, going 6-of-14 from the field and 2-of-6 on three-pointers. She was also the team's leading rebounder for the second time in as many games with six caroms. Freshman Jocelynne Jones was the only other Colonial in double-figures as she finished with 11 points, seven of those coming in the final 3:49. She was 5-11 from the field and drilled one three-pointer.
 
Illinois and RMU combined for 48 turnovers, 27 of those committed by the blue and white. Chatrice White led all scorers with 23 points for Illinois. Brittany Carter finished with a double-double on 11 points and 10 rebounds while Brooke Kissinger was the only other player to reach double-digits with 10.
 
The contest was a defensive struggle early on with the Illini limping out to a 7-0 lead as the Colonials defense forced the host squad into five early turnovers. Illinois, however, was doing much the same defensively and it took RMU over six minutes to get on the board courtesy of a three-pointer from Stamolamprou.
 
Illinois built the lead to 17-7, then went on an 11-0 run to surge ahead, 28-7. It would take nearly four minutes for the Colonials to stem the tide and it came via a three-ball from freshman Megan Smith who finished with nine total points. Rebeca Navarro followed with her only trey of the night. The margin stayed at 17 with Illinois carrying a 32-15 lead into the locker room.
 
The Colonials scored the first five points of the second half as Smith hit a three and Olingende finished off an offensive rebound. After trading baskets, Stamolamprou got to the rim and Smith hit a charity shot to cut the lead to 13 points, 38-23. That's as close as RMU would get as the Illini went on a 10-2 run to pull away.
 
Four straight points by Jacqui Grant pushed the Illinois lead to a game-high 26 points with 5:25 to play. Robert Morris never gave up, however, as freshmen Jocelynne Jones and Mikalah Mulrain found their touch down the stretch. The rookie duo combined for 11 points in the final five minutes, cutting the margin to as few as 17 points before the final score of 66-48.
 
Robert Morris continues its five-game season-opening road trip by traveling to Baltimore, Md., to take on the UMBC Retrievers. The Sunday, Nov. 23, game is slated to tip-off at 1:00 p.m.