Photo courtesy of Justin Berl

Moon Township, Pa. – A trio of Robert Morris University women's basketball players reached double-digits as the Colonials defeated visiting LIU Brooklyn, 69-53, in a Northeast Conference game at the Charles L. Sewall Center Monday night. The win improves the RMU record to 15-12 overall and 9-7 in the NEC while LIU Brooklyn slips to 8-19 and 6-10 in the league.
 
"I thought, collectively, we played hard and I think that was the reason we won," said 13th-year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "As I told the players, it's not all about strategy. It's about who wants it more and who is willing to do whatever it takes to win. I felt, for the most part, we did that today. Now, we have to continue to do that for the remainder of the season."
 
Junior Rebeca Navarro had a season-high 17 points to lead a trio of Colonials in double-digits. She went 5-of-7 from downtown and added a pair from the charity stripe. Senior Ashley Ravelli tacked on 15 points on a 4-of-9 night that included a trio of threes. Megan Smith finished with 13 points, going perfect from the floor on five attempts. She also added five rebounds, four assists and a block. In all, nine players found the basket as RMU shot 47.1 percent (24-51) from the floor and 40.9 percent (9-22) from three-point range.
 
Both teams came out hitting with RMU starting out 7-of-8 from the floor. Despite that, the Colonials found themselves deadlocked with the Blackbirds at 16 late in the first quarter. Navarro drilled a three-pointer with 1:14 left in the first to start a 7-0 run. Megan Smith followed with four consecutive points and RMU rode a 12-2 surge to a 28-18 lead midway through the second quarter.
 
LIU trimmed the margin to seven points thanks to six points from DeAngelique Waithe over the next two minutes. A traditional three-point play by Wormack, however, ended the Blackbirds run and helped Robert Morris carry a 38-28 lead into halftime.
 
Stylz Sanders had the first six points of the second half, helping LIU Brooklyn to eventually make it a one-possession game. Shanovia Dove, who had a game-high 19 points, trimmed the margin to two points with just under four minutes to play in the third quarter.
 
That's when Ravelli took over. She scored every RMU point during an 8-1 run late in the quarter and staked her team to a nine-point lead. It eventually built into a 16-4 surge that put the Colonials on top by 14 points with 6:24 left in regulation. The Colonials scored eight of the game's last 11 points, going by as many as 19 points with 2:36 to play.
 
The Colonials play their final road game of the season on Saturday, Feb. 27, when they travel to Wagner for a 1:00 p.m. at Spiro Sports Center on Staten Island.