Brooklyn, N.Y. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team took advantage of 26 turnovers by LIU Brooklyn to hold on for a 52-49 Northeast Conference win at the Steinberg Wellness Center Monday night. The win is the sixth straight for the Colonials who improve to 10-5 overall and 4-0 in league games. The Blackbirds slip to 4-10 and 2-2 in conference.
 
"Although we're happy with a victory in the second game of a two-game road trip, I can't say myself or my staff felt we took a step forward today. And the players agree," said RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "Though I thought in the first quarter, we played with a great deal of energy and communicated well, it was short lived. We had a chance to break that game open at the end of the first half when we were up by 14, but we turned the ball over and they got two run outs. That's not the way to go into halftime."
 
"We didn't shoot the ball very well in the second half and didn't move the ball as well as we'd like to. It's better to learn from wins than losses. I hope we learn that we still have a lot of work to do to reach our ultimate. We also have to get through a lot of our bumps, bruises and injuries and get back to full health with a number of our players."
 
Credit to Mikalah with 10 rebounds, Anna Niki's three-point play after they cut it to one was big, Megan chipped in with 11 points and we only turned the ball over five times in the second half."
 
The Colonials had 15 steals and forced a total of 26 turnovers. RMU turned all those miscues into 26 points, a big key in Monday's back-and-forth battle.
 
Sophomore center Mikalah Mulrain recorded her third double-double of the season and the fourth of her career with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She also led the squad with four steals and two blocks. Her front-court partner megan Smith tacked on 11 points while Anna Niki Stamolamprou topped the team with 12 points, six of which came in the final five minutes of action.
 
Robert Morris seized with a 17-3 surge that stretched over nine minutes into the second quarter. The Colonials forced 11 turnovers during that time, taking a two-point deficit and transforming it into an 18-6 lead when Jocelynne Jones fed Mikalah Mulrain in the post. Brown scored the final four points of the first quarter of the push, including a pull-up jumper on the baseline as time expired.
 
LIU Brooklyn scored three straight baskets midway through the second quarter, trimming the lead to six points. A three-pointer by Rebeca Navarro from the left wing snapped the Blackbirds momentum and was followed by a short jumper and trey by Smith that gave RMU its biggest lead, 28-14, of the first half. The final five points before the break belonged to LIU and sent the game to half with RMU on top, 28-19.
 
LIU Brooklyn took advantage of a sluggish RMU start to the third quarter. They chipped away at the Colonials lead until a 7-0 surge, featuring five points from Paris Jones, made it a one-point game. A Stamolamprou three on the other end was followed by a steal and lay-up by Jones and then a Mataly trey. The eight consecutive points came in just 62 seconds of action and put the Colonials on top 42-33.
 
DeAngelique Waithe was crashing the offensive glass and earned herself eight trips to the charity stripe. She made four of those from the chalk during a 7-0 run that brought the Blackbirds to within one point, 45-44, with just over five minutes to play.
 
Stamolamprou, a preseason All-NEC pick, responded on the next possession, blowing by her defender on the baseline and getting an old-fashioned three-point play. Another lay-in by the Greek guard put the Colonials lead at six points with 1:27 to go and LIU would not threaten again.
 
Jones finished with 13 points to lead the Blackbirds. Shanovia Dove tacked on 10 points and nine rebounds and Shanice Vaughan added 12.
 
The Colonials return to the Charles L. Sewall Center next Friday, Jan. 16, when they host Fairleigh Dickinson in a 1:00 p.m. game.