Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team had 11 different players score as it cruise to a 66-44 victory over Mount St. Mary's in the Northeast Conference opener for both teams at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday afternoon. In all, the Colonials had 12 players play at least nine minutes as they improved to 3-9 and, more importantly, 1-0 in league games.
 
Robert Morris dominated the glass to the tune of a 54-35 rebounding advantage. The Colonials had 27 offensive rebounds which led to 23 second-chance points, a number that reflects the 22-point difference in the final score. RMU also committed a season-low 11 turnovers while also managing to convert 18 Mountaineers turnovers in 20 points.
 
Freshman Megan Smith led the Colonials with 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds as well. She also had three of the team's 12 assists. Sophomore Anna Niki Stamolamprou tacked on 10 points and Mikalah Mulrain just missed out on double-digits with nine points.
 
"It's great to start out 1-0 in the conference, especially by beating a team that made it to the conference tournament semifinals last year," said 12th-year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "We've been stressing playing for a full 40 minutes and we took a step in that direction today. It was also nice to see 11 of 12 players score and we were just two minutes short of all 12 of players reaching double-digit minutes. We know we have a target on our back – being the defending champions and having a tradition of winning – and that adds to our challenge and motivation."
 
Trailing with just under eight minutes left in the first half, Jocelynne Jones hit a jumper that started a 15-4 surge by the Colonials to end the half. Her score gave RMU a 15-14 lead. Six different players scored during the run which ended with a 9-0 RMU run that built a 28-18 lead.
 
The Colonials really put some distance between themselves and Mount St. Mary's (2-10, 0-1 NEC) with a 10-0 run in the second half, pushing a 13-point advantage to 23 points. It was Jones who again sparked the surge with a jumper that was followed a by a Stamolamprou three, a lay-in from Mikalah Mulrain and one of two three-pointers by Rebeca Navarro who finished with eight points.
 
Robert Morris continues NEC play Monday, Jan. 5, when it travels to Saint Francis University for a 5:00 p.m. game.