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Chris Mueller's Take

Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team got red-hot in the second half to defeat LIU Brooklyn, 65-49, in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Northeast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. The Colonials improve to 19-11 overall and will host the lowest remaining seed in the NEC Tournament on Wednesday, March 12, at 7:00 p.m.
 
The Colonials went 19-for-31 (61.3 percent) in the second half, erasing a seven-point halftime deficit. On defense, RMU held the Blackbirds (9-21) to 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from the floor in the second half.  
 
Robert Morris has won 11 consecutive home games and has 14 home victories this season, both numbers tying the team records.
 
"The first game of the tournament, any tournament anywhere in the country, men's or women's, there's going to be some jitters and some nerves. I think that played a part in our slow start," said 11^th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "We have such a young team, one senior and three first-year players in our starting lineup. I was a little worried about that. And I have to give Coach Striegler and LIU Brooklyn credit. They mixed things up on us defensively and it took a while for us to get loosened up.
 
"I was really proud of our young ladies. They hung in there and I give credit to Artemis as a leader in the way she was able rally the troops. Once we got on a roll there a little bit in the second half, the magnitude of the game went  away and we just starting playing basketball."
 
Senior forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni) led all players with 22 points and 15 rebounds. She went 9-of-13 from the floor and tacked on three blocks, two steals and two assists. Freshman guard Anna Niki Stamolamprou (Thessaloniki, Greece / Aristotelio College of Thessaloniki) tacked on 14 points. Senior forward Kelly Hartwell (Woodbridge, Va. / Gar-Field) came off the bench to score 10 points.
 
Trailing by seven at the half, Spanou put the Colonials on her shoulders early in the second half. She scored the team's first seven points after the break with a pair of post moves before knocking down a trey. She eventually gave RMU its first lead of the game with a lay-up with 14:27 to play. That bucket came in the middle of the game-changing 13-0 run that left RMU holding a 44-35 lead.
 
Over the first 13:38 of the second half, Robert Morris outscored LIU Brooklyn 31-8. The Colonials went 14-of-19 from the floor during that stretch while forcing six Blackbird turnovers. When it ended with a 19-foot jumper by Hartwell, RMU was comfortably in front, 55-39, with 6:36 to play.
 
Robert Morris started the game 1-for-8 as it struggled to adjust to LIU Brooklyn's triangle-and-two defense. Sophie Bhasin scored four straight points to give the Blackbirds an 11-2 lead seven minutes into the game. After starting just 3-of-10 themselves, the Blackbirds connected on 9-of-13 shots to end the first half carrying a 31-24 lead into the break.
 
Bhasin came off the bench to lead LIU with 14 points. Cleandra Roberts had seven points and 12 rebounds in the first half before ending the game with 13 points and 13 boards. Kelly Robinson chipped in 12 points.
 
The Colonials will host the winner of the #5 St. Francis Brooklyn at #4 Bryant game which tips-off Sunday at 6:00 p.m. The NEC Semifinal contest is slated for 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, at the Charles L. Sewall Center.