Moon Township, Pa. – Thanks to a strong second half, the Robert Morris University women's basketball team improved its home mark against Bryant University to 9-0 all-time with a 62-46 victory over the Bulldogs this afternoon in Northeast Conference (NEC) action from the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Trailing by two early in the third quarter, Robert Morris (9-9, 4-3 NEC) used a 12-4 run over the next 5:39 to regain a lead that it would never relinquish. The Colonials shot 64.3 percent (18-of-28) in the second half after making just 7-of-36 attempts from the field over the opening 20 minutes, and held Bryant (9-9, 4-3 NEC) to just 28.9 percent shooting (13-of-45) – making the Bulldogs the fifth team this season to be held under 30 percent shooting by a relentless RMU defense.
"It's amazing when the team looks at you at halftime with so much positive energy when you're not shooting well," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We were in the game at half after one of our worst shooting performances all year. That was a moment where we had to step up and get through it, and we did, and I was very proud of that. Things didn't come easy, but we earned everything we got in the second half."
Anna Niki Stamolamprou led all scorers with 20 points and moved to third place in the program record books for career scoring as she surpassed 2005 RMU Hall of Fame member Elise James (1996-00) on the leaderboard. Stamolamprou now has 1,570 points for her career and needs 45 more to jump into second place, ahead of another Hall of Famer in Laura Lindak (1989-94).
"It's a great accomplishment," said Buscaglia. "It's a testament to a lot of hard work by being able to come into the system early and taking on a big role. When she came over from Greece, she wanted to have a special experience, and it's been nothing short of special for her thus far."
"What was great about [Anna Niki's] performance was that the first half was tough, but she kept going and pushing in the second half," continued Buscaglia. "I could see that her focus was there and as a leader, as a senior, you have to hold that on your shoulders all the time. Some days it's not easy, but today was a big moment for her because of how tough it was early."
Stamolamprou, who had just three points in the first half, helped the Colonials take back their advantage with a three-point play in the lane. Bryant sandwiched a Janee Brown bucket to go back ahead by one, but another Brown layup started a 7-0 stretch that put RMU ahead, 30-24.
After a pair of free throws from Kierra Palmer, Stamolamprou canned her second three of the quarter to extend the gap to seven points. The visitors continued to answer with two points on the other end, but Shakema Dashiell sunk two trifectas late in the frame to push the score to 39-30.
Bryant cut the deficit to 41-36 with 8:12 remaining after an Alex Klein jumper, but the hosts responded with a 12-1 run over the next 4:21 to put the game away.
The Colonial defensive pressure forced Bryant into 29 turnovers, which is the most RMU has forced since Feb. 16, 2013 when it also caused 29 errors at Sacred Heart. The hosts also allowed just one three-pointer on the afternoon, which came on the Bulldogs' final possession with nine seconds left.
Brown paced RMU with four of the team's 16 steals, followed by Rebeca Navarro and Jocelynne Jones, who each tallied three. The Colonials scored 27 points off Bryant's turnovers and held a 28-16 edge in points in the paint.
Robert Morris closes a three-game home stand on Monday, Jan. 23 at 7:00 p.m. against Central Connecticut.
