West Long Branch, N.J. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team pulled away from Monmouth over the final 15 minutes of play to secure a 60-47 victory at the Multipurpose Athletic Center in West Long Branch, N.J. The win improves the Colonials record to 2-1 while the Hawks, playing in their home opener Thursday, fall to 0-2 on the year.
 
"I'm really proud of the way battled for 40 minutes and that's been our theme since our last game," said 13th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "When they cut the lead to one, that's when I was most proud that we were able to answer with a big run. Monmouth tries to make the game ugly at times with their full court press, and for periods, we didn't react well to it. But, overall, a couple of adjustments were made and the ways the kids executed those adjustments was one of the differences in the game."
 
Senior guard Ashley Ravelli led all scorers with 16 points with an efficient outing. She was 6-of-11 from the field and 3-of-6 from long range. Anna Niki Stamolamprou ended with her second career double-double, scoring 12 and adding 10 rebounds. Rebeca Navarro chipped in with 10 points on a night when nine different players found the scoring column for RMU.
 
"There were a number of people who contributed – Ashley got her shot back like I knew she would, Rebeca shot well once again and Megan Smith did a great job on the boards. And, although Anna Niki didn't have her typical shooting performance, she did a great job handling the ball and pulling down 10 rebounds. Even though we didn't play a lot of people, Lou Mataly, Nia Adams, Mikalah Mulrain and Leah Wormack all gave us valuable minutes. In every game, certain people will shine, and the next game it will be different people and I'm always confident they will," said Buscaglia
 
Monmouth scored the first six points of the third quarter and eventually cut a nine-point lead for the Colonials to 31-30 with 5:30 to go in the quarter. A three-pointer on the next possession by Stamolamprou kick-started an RMU offense which had begun to falter. Robert Morris would finish the quarter on a 19-4 surge fueled by seven points from Ravelli.
 
The Colonials lead reached as many as 19 points, 60-41, as Navarro buried a trey from the wing and then a mid-range jumper. The last six points of the contest belonged to Monmouth, but the Colonials dribbled out the clock to take the 13-point victory.
 
Robert Morris clamped down defensively against the Hawks, holding them to 32.2 percent shooting and just 4-of-23 (17.4 percent) from three-point range. The Colonials outrebounded the Hawks, 43-34, and forced 19 turnovers that turned into 15 points.
 
After allowing a basket on the first possession of the game, RMU buckled down, holding the host Hawks scoreless for the next six minutes. Robert Morris then hit six of its final seven shots to end the first quarter with a 6-0 run and an 18-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
The hot shooting continued with the Colonials hitting three of four to start the second quarter. Leah Wormack had six points during the 15-2 run that ended with RMU on top, 27-13, after a lay-in by Mikalah Mulrain. Monmouth was able to trim the margin to nine points at halftime as Robert Morris cooled off, hitting just one of its final 14 shots.
 
Robert Morris continues its four-game road trip by traveling to Philadelphia, Pa., to take on the La Salle Explorers in a 7:00 p.m. contest Saturday, Nov. 21.