Women's Basketball | 11/28/2017 5:24:00 PM

GAME 6
Youngstown State Penguins (2-3) at Robert Morris Colonials (2-3)
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 // 7:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – North Athletic Complex
Live Video: NEC Front Row // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
Play-by-Play: Adam Gusky, Color Commentary: Justin Pyles

The Capsule
After completing a three-game road trip in Kentucky and California, Robert Morris returns home to play five of its next six games at home, beginning with a 7:00 PM tip on Wednesday, Nov. 29 against Youngstown State. The Colonials finished their road swing with a 2-1 record, picking up victories over Northern Kentucky and Cal Poly. The Penguins begin a long road trip of their own, playing four straight games away from Youngstown after splitting a pair of home games against Ohio Valley and Bucknell.

NOTES: Youngstown State @ Robert Morris (11.29.17)

The Opponent
Youngstown State enters this contest with a 2-3 overall record, owning blowout victories over Loyola Chicago (73-49) and Ohio Valley (86-59) and defeats to Pittsburgh (58-66), Kent State (44-55), and Bucknell (60-66). The guard duo of junior Alison Smolinski and Indiya Benjamin has provided the bulk of the Penguins' scoring thus far as they are respectively averaging 10.8 and 10.6 points per game. Smolinski has done the majority of her damage from distance as she has converted on 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) of her three-point attempts. YSU is a deep team, with 12 of its 16 players appearing in every game thus far. Eight of those 12 players are averaging more than 10 minutes per contest.

The Series
Overall: 4-16 | Home: 2-7 | Away: 2-8 | Streak: L2
Last Game: Youngstown State 55, Robert Morris 46 (11.24.15)
 
This will be the 21st meeting between Robert Morris and Youngstown State and the third since 2014. The Penguins own a 16-4 advantage over the Colonials, winning the last two matchups. Mikalah Mulrain is averaging 9.0 points and 5.0 rebounds against the Penguins in her career, and posted one of her 13 double-digit scoring performances with 10 points in a 55-46 defeat on Nov. 24, 2015.
 
Coach B Weekly
In the fifth episode of Coach B Weekly, head coach Charlie Buscaglia breaks down each game of RMU's road swing, discusses the growth of freshmen Laura Carrasco and Honoka Ikematsu, talks about the start to Nneka Ezeigbo's season, and reiterates his mindset of looking towards the next game and not further down the line.



Last Time Out
Robert Morris split a pair of contests at the ShareSLO Holiday Beach Classic this past weekend, defeating host Cal Poly, 66-50, before falling to San Francisco, 57-45. Three players (Laura Carrasco, Nneka Ezeigbo, Honoka Ikematsu) reached double-figures in scoring in the win over the Mustangs, led by Ezeigbo's 15-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench. Jocelynne Jones paced the Colonials in scoring against the Dons, scoring 14 of her career-high 20 points in the first half.
 
Protect Ya Nneka
Sophomore center Nneka Ezeigbo was named NEC Player of the Week after averaging 12.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 1.7 blocks over a three-game stretch last week. Ezeigbo, who was honored as NEC Rookie of the Week twice last season, matched career-highs in field goals made (8) and attempted (13) in a 16-point effort at Northern Kentucky before posting the second double-double of her career at Cal Poly.
 
Keeping It 100
With two more appearances in the starting lineup, senior forward Megan Smith will become just the fourth player in program history to make 100 career starts. Smith has started 98 of 99 contests over her four seasons, with a tilt against Duquesne on Dec. 14, 2014 being the lone outlier.
 
Doing It With Defense
In its win last Tuesday, RMU held Northern Kentucky to 26.1 percent shooting and a 1-of-17 performance from beyond the arc. Last season, the Colonials held eight opponents to under 30 percent from the field and led the NEC in scoring (57.0) and field goal defense (.367).
 
The Rain From Spain, Redux
In her fourth collegiate game, Laura Carrasco scored in double-figures for the first time with 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting. That feat nearly came at the same time as RMU's last Spaniard, Rebeca Navarro. Navarro - who also donned the number 10 - reached double-digit points for the first time in her third NCAA game, a 12-point effort against Coppin State on Nov. 17, 2013.
 
Buckets Full of Paint
RMU scored 61 percent (36 of 59) of its points in the paint at Northern Kentucky last Tuesday. The last time the Colonials have recorded that many points in the paint was Jan. 6, 2014 when they tallied 36 of 57 (63.2 percent) points at Sacred Heart.
 
Milestone Watch
Megan Smith, Mikalah Mulrain, and Jocelynne Jones are all on pace to join some exclusive clubs this season. Smith is close to eclipsing 1,000 career points, while Mulrain and Jones are inching closer to 500 rebounds and 100 steals, respectively. Below is a look at how close they are to reaching these marks:
 
Smith: 921 points, 79 away from 1,000
Mulrain: 470 rebounds, 30 away from 500
Jones: 99 steals, 1 away from 100

Insurmountable Lead
Robert Morris has never lost a game in which it has held the lead at the end of the second half. The Colonials were 22-0 in such situations during the 2016-17 campaign and 1-0 this season. All-time, RMU is 575-0 when leading at the final whistle.

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