at XAVIER MUSKETEERS
Sunday, November 30, 2014 | 2:00 p.m. | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cintas Center
Twitter: @RMU_WBB | @RMUScoreboard | @XavierWBB
 
The Capsule
The Robert Morris University women's basketball team wraps up its five-game season-opening road trip by traveling to the Queen City for a 2:00 p.m. game against the Xavier Musketeers Sunday, Nov. 30, at the Cintas Center. The Colonials have won two straight by 18 points while the Musketeers are winners of four of their first five games.
 
The Series vs. Xavier
The Colonials and Musketeers have played three times with Xavier coming out on top of all three. RMU has not played Xavier since 2008 and all three of the meetings have taken place in Cinicinnati.
 
Record Road Trip
Robert Morris opens the season with five consecutive road games, the most road games to start a season in program history. 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.
 
Rookie of the Week
Freshman forward Megan Smith is the reigning NEC Rookie of the Week. Smith is seventh in the nation shooting .667 from three-point range. The Canadian-born forward is averaging 11.8 points per game.
 
Musket Shots
• Anna Niki Stamolamprou scored 22 points at Coppin State, setting a new career high by going 8-of-15
• Megan Smith, the NEC Rookie of the Week, is 7th in the nation shooting 66.7% (10-15) from three-point range
• Nationally, the Colonials are 7th in three-pointers (10.3/game) and 13th in three-point percentage (.423 | 41-97)
• 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
• Buscaglia was named the Brenda Reilly Coach of the Year for the third time in 2013-14
• The Colonials went 21-12 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 2014-15 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
 
From Way Downtown
Robert Morris has a plethora of three-point specialists that have come to the forefront of the team's offense. The Colonials are 7th in the nation making 10.3 three-pointers per game and 12th with a .423 (41-97) shooting percentage from long range. The three-ball accounts for nearly 45% of the team's scoring.
 
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.
 
Bench Depth
The Colonials have nine players averaging at least 10 minutes of playing time and seven scoring at least five points or more per game. Ten different players have seen action in all four games this season.
 
Second Half Improvement
The Colonials have played significantly better in the second half of games this season compared to the opening half. RMU is shooting 46.2 percent and scoring 40.8 points in the second half compared to 32.5 percent and 27.8 points in the first half.
 
Stamolamprou Sets Career High
Sophomore guard Anna Niki Stamolamprou set a new career-high with 22 points against Coppin State. She went 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of 6 from three-point range and knocked down both free throw opportunities.
 
Randi Dealing Dimes
Junior point guard Randi Jackson had seven assists against Coppin State, a new career-high for the California-native who has started every game this season.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Growing Pains
The 14-player Robert Morris roster features 10 underclassmen and just four upperclassmen. Jolie Olingende is the lone senior and Ashley Ravelli, Lou Mataly and Randi Jackson make up the junior class. RMU has five sophomores and five freshmen.
 
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 2-0 in such situations this season. All-time, RMU is 481-0 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.