Fairfield, Conn – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team claimed its sixth Northeast Conference Tournament Championship with a 56-51 win at Sacred Heart University Sunday afternoon in Fairfield, Conn. This title is the second in three seasons for RMU and puts a final feather in the cap of head coach Sal Buscaglia who announced his retirement prior to this season.
 
With the win, Robert Morris (20-12) earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Colonials will learn their first round opponent following the national selection show on Monday, March 14.
 
The Colonials played a suffocating defense that limited the Pioneers to 34 percent shooting overall. Robert Morris was timely in its efforts, shooting 35.7 percent but burying key shots every time they needed one.
 
Ashley Ravelli finished with a game-high 14 points, none bigger than a pair of free throws with 12.6 seconds left that gave Robert Morris a three-point margin. Anna Niki Stamolamprou added 10 points and was named the NEC Tournament most valuable player. A total of 10 players scored for RMU, the 12th time that many have scored in a game for the Colonials this season.
 
The Colonials carried a six point lead into the final quarter and stretched it to seven points as Leah Wormack tallied three straight and Lou Mataly followed with a pull-up jumper in the paint with 4:28 to play. RMU went cold after that, the Pioneers scoring the next six points to trim the margin to just one with 14 second left when Adaysha Williams hit one of two shots from the free throw line. Ravelli got fouled on the ensuing inbounds and buried both shots before Sacred Heart missed on its last possession.
 
Robert Morris missed its first five shots before Stamolamprou broke the scoreless tie with a fast-break two minutes in. The Colonials would then hit 8-of-11 for the rest of the quarter, a 7-0 run putting them on top 12-5 when Megan Smith and Stamolamprou hit back-to-back three-pointers. NEC Player of the Year Hannah Kimmel helped the Pioneers keep it close with 10 first quarter points as RMU carried a 19-14 advantage after 10 minutes.
 
Sacred Heart used a 7-0 run in the second quarter to tie the game at 23-23 on a trey by Kelcey Castro from the top of the key. Mataly found Mikalah Mulrain under the basket to end the run and keep the Colonials on top of the remainder of the quarter. RMU finished the half holding a four-point lead, 31-27, when Ravelli hit a pair of free throws just before the break.
 
Mataly drilled a trey from the left wing giving the Colonials their biggest lead of the game, 40-31, early in the third quarter. Sacred Heart responded with the game's next seven points, but fifth-year transfer Leah Wormack knocked down a 17-foot jumper to start a 7-1 surge from RMU. Nia Adams put an exclamation point on the run with an old-fashioned three-point play as time expired in the quarter that left Robert Morris on top 45-39 with one quarter left to play.