Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team used a huge third quarter run to hand the Bryant Bulldogs their first loss in Northeast Conference play, 55-53, at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday afternoon. The victory moves the Colonials to 13-9 overall and 7-4 in the NEC while the Bulldogs slip to 13-9 overall and 10-1 in league games.
 
"We exposed our character in this game. By that, I mean we could have folded after being down by 16 but we continued to battle. As I have told them, especially during conference play, we will never give up," said 13th year RMU head coach Sal Buscaglia. "It's hard to point out one particular player, because I felt in the second half, they all played with a sense of urgency and gave an outstanding effort.
 
"Anna Niki's double-double and playing with four fouls much of the second half is certainly something to point out. Megan Smith's eight rebounds, Mikalah was a different player in the second half and the way Ashley Ravelli worked hard, got at it and played with a sense of determination. Rebeca got her shooting rhythm back, Janee ran the point really well along with Ashley. And although their statistics might not show, Jocelynne, Leah, Lou, Nia, Shakeema and Randi gave everything they had.
 
"However, we can't settle and we have to play a tough Central Connecticut team Monday. We can enjoy the win today and get back to work tomorrow."
 
Anna Niki Stamolamprou earned her third double-double of the season and fourth of her career with a game-high 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Ashley Ravelli came off the bench to score 11 points and needs just one more to reach 1,000 for her career. Rebeca Navarro was 2-for-2 on three-pointers and finished with 10 points off the bench.
 
The Colonials run started with 1:12 left in the second quarter after they had missed their first nine shots of the second frame. Trailing 31-16, Jocelynne Jones finished off on offensive rebound before Stamolamprou drilled a three-pointer to end the first half on a 5-0 run and make the halftime margin 31-20.
 
Robert Morris would reel off 13 straight points to start the third quarter to extend their surge to 18 consecutive points, taking their first lead of the game on a Lou Mataly runner with 6:40 to play in the quarter. Morgan Olander briefly tied the game at 33 before a Stamolamprou trey kick-started a 9-0 run.
 
During the 8:28 stretch, RMU outscored Bryant 27-2 to turn a 16-point deficit into a nine-point lead. The Colonials went 10-13 during the surge, forced eight Bulldog turnovers and received scoring from seven different players.
 
Bryant made things interesting late in the fourth quarter as Tiersa Winder and Ivory Bailey led their squad on a 6-0 run, trimming the margin to two points with 50 second to play. Ashley Ravelli pushed the lead to three points with a free throw, but Winder answered with a quick lay-in to make it a one-point game with 25 seconds left. Ravelli again made one from the chalk with eight seconds showing and Bryant was unable to hit the game-tying shot before time expired to give RMU a 55-53 win.
 
Robert Morris shot 29.8 percent (17-57) while holding Bryant to 31.0 percent (18-58). RMU edged the league's leading rebounding team on the glass, 43-42, and tallied 20 points off turnovers.
 
The Colonials host Central Connecticut in a 7:00 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, on ESPN3.