Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter but was unable to hold on as they suffered a 72-70 loss to Northern Kentucky at the Charles L. Sewall Center Sunday afternoon. The Norse, who have already registered wins against top-tier opponents Miami (Ohio) and Marquette, improve to 5-1 while the Colonials even their season record at 3-3.
 
"We knew coming into the game that this was going to be a big challenge just by looking at who Northern Kentucky played and the wins they've had to date - all over high-profile schools from major conferences. These are the type of teams that we want to play," said 13th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "We had every opportunity to close this game out, but as we've been preaching, you have to play for 40 minutes and want to win more than the other team wants to in the last three or four minutes. You can't allow them to win the 50-50 balls, grab offensive rebounds and collect loose balls on the floor, especially when the game is on the line.
 
"Having said that, I felt we took some positive steps. Megan Smith played a very solid game along with Rebeca (Navarro) and Ashley (Ravelli). And I thought Lou Mataly, coming off the bench, gave us some good minutes doing the things we're asking her to do. Even though it was a loss, I'm optimistic that this has shown us that we can play with anybody. But we need to understand that we need to win the battle of wills when the game is on the line."
 
Smith scored a season-high 19 points, going 7-of-13 from the floor and knocking down a trio of three-pointers. Navarro and Ravelli both hit four three-pointers scoring 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jocelynne Jones filled up the stat sheet with five points, a team-high seven rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block.
 
Smith scored the first seven points of the game for the Colonials. She pulled RMU out of an early hole, starting a 13-1 run by hitting two shots from the charity stripe four minutes into the game. Anna Niki Stamolamprou followed with a jumper to tie the game at nine before Navarro splashed a trey. The Norse hit one free throw before Ravelli drilled a trey and then Stamolamprou hit from long range to put the Colonials on top, 18-10.
 
Robert Morris pushed the lead to as many as 10 points, 27-17, on a Mikalah Mulrain lay-in off a feed from Jones with 8:02 to play in the first half. A 10-for-20 performance from the field, including four three-pointers, in the second quarter put RMU on top, 44-37, at halftime.
 
Northern Kentucky scored the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to two points. RMU recovered to hold on to a four-point lead heading into the final frame.
 
Molly Franson, who had a career-high 16 points, scored the first eight points of the final frame for Northern Kentucky. The first points after Franson's outburst came from Courtney Roush and gave the Norse the lead, 65-63, with 5:05 to play. Another Roush jumper pushed the margin to four points as the visiting squad pulled away in final minutes. A Navarro three-pointer with one second left made the final margin, 72-70.
 
The Colonials will host Morgan State on Wednesday, Dec. 2, with game time slated for 7:00 p.m. at the Charles L. Sewall Center.