Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team stormed back from 19 points down force overtime in its home opener against Bowling Green, but the visiting Falcons got the better of the Colonials, 64-62, on Career & Education Day from the North Athletic Complex.
Playing in its first game at the brand new NAC Student Rec & Fitness Center after spending 32 seasons calling the Charles L. Sewall Center home, Robert Morris (0-2, 0-0 NEC) came out of the gates slow and trailed 30-11 with 6:21 left in the second quarter before chipping away at the 19-point deficit. The Colonials took the lead at 54-51 with 1:21 remaining in regulation thanks to a Honoka Ikematsu three-pointer, but Bowling Green (3-0, 0-0 MAC) managed to hold serve and force an extra frame.
"We didn't come out and defend really well," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "Once we started getting after it defensively, the whole game changed. That's the backbone of our team. We have to sprint a little bit harder at the beginning of the game, we have to box out stronger – all those things hurt us early, and as we fixed that we were competing better with a lot of young players. I'm proud of how we responded, but we're much more capable than how we came out."
Mikalah Mulrain matched her season-high from a season ago with a team-best 18 points, as the senior center shot 6-of-7 from the field and 6-of-9 at the free throw stripe. Fresh off being recognized as NEC Rookie of the Week on Monday, Megan Callahan added 16 points (6-12 FG) in a team-leading 42 minutes of action, while Megan Smith provided 11 points and seven rebounds in the post.
"(Megan Callahan) did a nice job at playing within herself," said Buscaglia. "She hit some big shots for us and really had a flow going there. She was able to get going offensively, but it was the defense I was really happy about for the most part."
Trailing by 16 at halftime, RMU seized momentum early in the third quarter with an old-fashioned three-point play from Mulrain. Haley Puk and Smith then matched each other with buckets, which was followed by a free throw by Carly Santoro to extend the Falcons' advantage to 40-26. The senior duo of Smith and Mulrain then combined to score the game's next 12 points to pull the Colonials within two, before a Sydney Lambert foul shot set the score at 41-38 heading into the fourth quarter.
Callahan opened the fourth stanza with a step-back three-pointer to tie it at 41, but the Falcons responded with a layup and two foul shots to regain a two-possession advantage. The gap remained between one and three points for the majority of the period, before Callahan again drilled a three with 2:09 left to knot it at 51. Jocelynne Jones then pulled down a rebound after a strong defensive possession, setting the stage for Ikematsu to bury the aforementioned three-pointer with 1:21 on the clock.
Santoro split a pair of freebies to pull Bowling Green within two, then after a defensive stop the Falcons picked up two free throws from Andrea Cecil with 18 seconds left to force overtime.
Layups by Nadège Pluviose and Mulrain pushed the Colonials ahead, 58-57, with 3:04 remaining in the extra stanza. Santoro responded with three straight points to put the Falcons in front, followed by a couple of Mulrain foul shots to create a 60-60 deadlock. Sydney Lambert then sank a layup with a minute left and added a free throw 33 seconds later to make it 63-60. After a Callahan lay-in with 18 seconds left, Bowling Green managed to maintain its slim advantage with a defensive stop and Santoro freebie.
The 19-point comeback would have been the second largest in program history, narrowly behind a 21-point deficit on Jan. 4, 2014 against Central Connecticut (W, 61-59).
The Colonials held the Falcons to just four points in the third, missing the school record for points allowed in a quarter by a single tally. RMU previously held LIU Brooklyn to three points in the opening frame of an 83-42 victory on Jan. 9 of this year.
After establishing a new career high in steals in the Colonials' opener at Michigan State, Jones surpassed that with five this morning. The senior forward, who now needs seven more steals to tally 100 for her career, matched Smith with a team-best seven rebounds in a career-high 38 minutes.
Puk led all scorers with 26 points. Santoro posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Robert Morris kicks off a three-game road trip on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 11:00 a.m. when it travels to Northern Kentucky.
