Highland Heights, Ky. – A strong first quarter helped push the Robert Morris University women's basketball team to its first victory of the season this afternoon, as the Colonials led wire-to-wire in a 59-50 win over Northern Kentucky in non-conference play from BB&T Arena.
Robert Morris (1-2, 0-0 NEC) rebounded from its previous game against Bowling Green – where it fell behind 30-11 before mounting a comeback – by outscoring Northern Kentucky (0-4, 0-0 Horizon League), 19-9, over the opening 10 minutes. The Colonials held serve from there, never letting the deficit go below six points through the remainder of the contest.
RMU's defensive efforts carried on throughout the game, as it held NKU to 26.1 percent (12-46) shooting and a 1-of-17 (5.9 percent) performance from beyond the arc. The Norse scored half of its points from the free throw stripe, converting 25-of-38 (65.8 percent) attempts.
"We didn't defend particularly well against Bowling Green and got ourselves in a hole," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "I told the team that the challenge for today was to come out and set the tone defensively. We did a better job at that for sure. The passion of doing what we do is going to be very important for this young team."
Playing in her first game of the season, Nneka Ezeigbo led the charge with a game-high 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting. She also shared high honors in rebounds with seven, and added an assist and a block in 24 minutes of action.
"Today was a day where we could get the ball inside to (Nneka) and she did a great job of finishing," said Buscaglia. "Some of her shots were difficult finishes, but she did a great job at staying dialed in. She gives us a good presence inside and that helps a lot."
Holding a six-point lead with 3:40 remaining, Laura Carrasco worked the shot clock down before converting a tough left-handed layup in traffic. Carrasco then took a charge on the next possession, reversing the momentum the hosts had after their 8-0 run.
While a team turnover preceded a Grayson Rose lay-in to trim the gap to six once more, NKU could never get closer than that. The quartet of Nina Augustin, Megan Callahan, Jocelynne Jones and Mikalah Mulrain made 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
"It was something that was I was thinking about in the last minute of the game when we had three freshmen out there," said Buscaglia of playing Augustin, Callahan, Carrasco, and Honoka Ikematsu in the closing minutes. "I said, 'this is a great experience for them, let's see how we handle these possessions.' They handled it well. They took care of the ball and knocked down some late free throws. Great experience for them."
RMU owned a 36-22 edge in points in the paint and shot 43.1 percent (22-51) from the floor overall.
The Megan duo of Smith and Callahan each scored eight points in the win. Smith added six rebounds and three assists to her scoring numbers, while Callahan tallied four caroms, three helpers, and a steal.
Robert Morris continues a three-game road trip on Friday, Nov. 24 at 5:00 p.m. (ET) against Cal Poly. This will be the first meeting between the Colonials and Mustangs in their histories and it will serve as the kick-off to the ShareSLO Holiday Beach Classic.
