New Britain, Conn. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team suffered a 48-39 setback against Central Connecticut State University Monday night at Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, Conn. The loss is the second straight for the Colonials who fall to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in Northeast Conference games. The Blue Devils move to 7-12 overall and even their league mark at 4-4.
 
Jocelynne Jones led the Colonials with 11 points off the bench. She scored nine of those points in the second quarter and finished 5-11 overall with four rebounds and two steals. Megan Smith tacked on nine points. RMU had its worst shooting night of the season converting at just 29.1 percent (16-55). The Robert Morris bench accounted for 25 points as Rebeca Navarro scored seven and Janee Brown tacked on six.
 
"I simply don't know where our shot has gone. Missing 14 layups in one basketball game is not going to help you win and yet, we were still in it until the last few minutes," said 13th-year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "The stats don't lie – we shot 29 percent from the field and 18 percent from the three-point line. That's been consistent in these games that we've lost. Free throws were part of it too – we were 4-9 at the line.
 
"I think we worked hard on defense, although we missed some assignments we worked extremely. It's really puzzling how well we did in non-conference play against very good opponents and how, now, we're really struggling. The good news is it's still early – there are 10 more games to play in conference – and we have opportunities to get back to playing how I know we're capable of playing."
 
The Colonials were ice cold to open the contest, missing their first 12 shots and finding themselves in a 10-0 hole seven minutes into the game. Leah Wormack finally go the Colonials on the board with a free throw with 2:08 left in the quarter and Brown got the team's only first quarter field goal with 10 seconds left. CCSU carried an 11-3 lead into the second quarter.
 
Robert Morris hit five consecutive shots beginning with Brown's lay-in and would eventually take the lead, 13-12, on a jump-hook by Jones with 5:08 to play in the first half. A Camden Musgrave three-pointer on the next possession started a 10-0 run that stretched the Blue Devils lead to 22-13. The Colonials scored the last four points of the half on a lay-up by Jones, who had nine points in the quarter, and an Anna Niki Stamolamprou drive cut the margin to five points at the break.
 
The Colonials fell behind, 30-21, with six minutes to play in the third quarter. A lay-up on a fast break by Navarro was followed by a 15-footer from the Spanish-born guard. Three-pointers from Megan Smith and Stamolamprou put RMU on top, 31-30, with just under a minute left to play in the third quarter.
 
Central Connecticut started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run as Musgrave buried a three-pointer then hit a long jumper before TeJahne Malone hit from the baseline. Back-to-back lay-ins by Smith and Jones trimmd the margin to two points, but the next nine points all belonged the home team. The last seven of those were by Epps from the charity stripe.
 
Musgrave led all scorers with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Epps tacked on 11.
 
Robert Morris continues a four-game road trip next Saturday, January 30, by making the 90-mile trip east to Loretto, Pa., to take on Saint Francis U in a 4:00 p.m. game.