Moon Township, Pa. – Behind a career performance by sophomore center Nneka Ezeigbo, the Robert Morris University women's basketball team matched a school record with its seventh out-of-league win as it defeated Clarion, 67-60, this afternoon from the North Athletic Complex.
Ezeigbo posted her third career double-double, collecting a career-high 23 points and 15 rebounds (10 offensive) to lead Robert Morris (7-3, 0-0 NEC) to its fifth straight win. The seven out-of-league victories matches the program standard set by the 1986-87 team, while the five consecutive victories establish a new record for longest non-conference win streak.
"We didn't have a good game today," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We have to be able to come back and learn from our mistakes and know that responding is the most important thing. Clarion played with more passion, hustled more, and played with a great speed down the floor. We didn't communicate on defense or match up well. Credit goes to them for continuing to push."
RMU flexed its muscle early, jumping out to a quick 7-0 advantage behind buckets by Honoka Ikematsu, Mikalah Mulrain, and Jocelynne Jones. The Colonials stretched their lead to 13 points over the course of the quarter, before a Tynita White jumper at the buzzer made it 23-12.
The hosts continued to add to their lead, pushing it to 44-27 at the end of the half behind a Megan Callahan three-pointer. It reached a game-high of 29 points with 2:54 remaining in the third after an Ezeigbo layup, but Clarion (5-6, 1-4 PSAC) started chipping away with a Taylor Montz trifecta and two Amesha Harden-Pullium free throws sandwiching another Ezeigbo bucket.
Trailing by 23 with 6:52 remaining, the Golden Eagles caught fire and went on a 16-0 run over a span of 5:11, capped by a Jordan Bekelja three-pointer off the backboard to make it 67-60. RMU's next possession didn't result in any points, but a pair of Mulrain offensive rebounds helped burn enough clock to secure the victory.
The Colonials owned a 48-32 rebounding edge and forced 18 turnovers, 12 coming off steals.
Mulrain joined Ezeigbo with double-digit rebounds, pulling down a season-high 10 (8 offensive) caroms. She now sits two away from becoming the 22nd player in school history to reach 500 career rebounds.
Ezeigbo's numbers of 23 points and 15 rebounds surpass her previous respective bests of 18 and 13. The sophomore also established new career highs in field goals made (9) and taken (15) as well as free throws made (5) and attempted (8).
"(Nneka) did some good things out there," said Buscaglia. "She was a big, physical force around the basket and did a good job at cleaning up a lot of misses. She had a pretty good game today, but she could have done a little bit better on the defensive end."
Harden-Pullium led all scorers with 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting and a 6-of-10 performance from deep.
Robert Morris closes the non-conference slate of its schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 19 against Kent State. The matchup features a 10:00 a.m. opening tip as a part of Career & Education Day festivities.
