Box Score
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Chris Mueller's Take (The Sentry)

Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center –  Following a slow start, the Robert Morris University women's basketball got red hot en route to a blowout victory, 90-66, against the Sacred Heart Pioneers at the Charles L. Sewall Center Monday night. The win clinches a spot in the Northeast Conference  playoffs as the Colonials increase their lead in the league standings to two games with a 10-2 record, 14-9 overall.
 
"Except for a slow start, the remainder of the game truly indicated what we are capable of. Although we still have many things to correct, I like the way we are coming together as a team," said 11th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "We had 24 assists to just 13 turnovers and I think that indicates that we are not a selfish team and are willing to share the ball. I was proud of each and every one of them, but certainly there are still a lot of games left and we must continue our focus and get better each and every day."
 
The Colonials had four turnovers in the first five minutes and fell behind the Pioneers, 16-4. From that point on, RMU outscored visiting Sacred Heart, 86-50. Robert Morris went 29-54 (.537) from the field and committed just eight turnovers in the final 35 minutes.
 
Senior forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smryni) finished the game with 31 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and two steals. She was 10-of-18 from the floor and went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.
 
Freshman guard Rebeca Navarro (Galicia, Spain / Las Siege Palmas) came off the bench to spark RMU. She went 5-for-5 on three-pointers in the first half and finished the game with a season-high 20 points, drilling six three-pointers and doling out five assists. She hit six of her seven three-point attempts, tying for the second-best three-point shooting performance in team history.
 
The Colonials went 12-of-20 (.600) from downtown, the second-best long-range shooting performance in team history and the third most three-pointers by the squad. RMU had a season-best 24 assists on their 31 field goals.
 
Sacred Heart pounced on Robert Morris immediately off the tip, surging out to a 16-4 as Katie Shepard, who finished with 30 points, scored eight in the first five minutes. The Colonials, however, quickly turned things around.
 
A Spanou jumper, her first points of the game, started what would be a 16-2 run over the next 7:32. Spanou had nine during the run as RMU went 7-for-11 and SHU missed seven straight shots from the field.  The run was part of a larger 26-8 surge that gave the Colonials the lead, 30-24, with just under five minutes to play in the first frame.
 
After carrying a seven-point lead into the break, Robert Morris watched Sacred Heart cut the margin to three points as Shepard converted an and-one situation with 14:51 to go. This time, redshirt-junior Jolie Olingende (Kinshasha, Democratic Republic of the Congo / Arizona Western) provided the much-needed energy. She pulled down four rebounds, three on the offensive end of the floor, over the next five minutes to spark a 10-2 run that left the Colonials holding a 59-48 lead.
 
Sacred Heart would cut the lead to double-digits just once over the final 10 minutes. A final 15-1 run ended with three-pointers by Navarro and freshman Anna Niki Stamolamprou (Thessaloniki, Greece / Aristotelio College of Thessaloniki) that gave the Colonials their biggest lead, 90-63.
 
Sophomore guard Ashley Ravelli (Milano, Italy / The Hun School) added 11 points while Stamolamprou led all players with seven assists.
 
Robert Morris returns to action Saturday, Feb. 15, when they host Central Connecticut State in a 1:00 pm. game at the Charles L. Sewall Center. RMU is 71-15 (.826) against NEC teams at The Chuck since 2004-05.