Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team nearly tripled the rebounding total of its opponent Mount St. Mary's as the Colonials extended their winning streak to eight games with a 70-58 victory over the Mountaineers this evening in Northeast Conference (NEC) action from the Charles L. Sewall Center.
Robert Morris (16-9, 11-3 NEC) grabbed 39 rebounds – 16 of which coming on the offensive end – compared to Mount St. Mary's (9-16, 7-7 NEC) 14-carom effort. The Colonials shot 51 percent (25-of-49) from the floor, 77.8 percent (14-of-18) at the free throw stripe, and owned a 32-14 edge on points in the paint.
"We knew that we had to set the standard [in rebounding], because we're a bigger team than them," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "[Mount] goes guard-heavy and really spaces the court to allow for driving. Offensively, we had to step up and guard them with our bigs. When teams play a certain way, we have to be able to adjust for that and we did that by getting the ball inside."
RMU extended its lead from 23-18 to 39-23 at halftime, thanks to some quick ball movement that provided open looks from deep. Nneka Ezeigbo sparked a 16-5 run to close the frame with a layup – two of her 12 points in the second quarter – and saw Anna Niki Stamolamprou follow her up with a three-pointer. Ashlee White and Rebeca Navarro then traded trifectas before Mikalah Mulrain sank a pair of foul shots to make it 33-21. After another White bucket, Megan Smith and Stamolamprou canned back-to-back treys to stretch the gap to 16.
The lead would grow to as large as 54-30 after the Colonials rattled off 10 consecutive points near the end of the third quarter. However, the Mountaineers would close the stanza with momentum, thanks to a Katrice Dickson layup and an Alexis Carter three-pointer that beat the buzzer.
"We got it rolling there after a while," said Buscaglia. "They forced us to play a different style late and we didn't handle it well at all. We have to do a better job at attacking their double-teams, something that Mount has done in the past. At the end though, we regained control by making some nice passes and got some high-percentage shots."
Mount St. Mary's built off its closing stretch, scoring 17 of the next 28 points to make it 63-52 with 2:25 remaining. RMU wouldn't let the visitors get any closer though as buckets from Jocelynne Jones and Smith, along with three free throws, proved to be enough to grab its 11th victory in conference – matching last season's total.
Ezeigbo paced the Colonials with 16 points in 13 minutes and went 7-of-8 from the field. Smith nearly posted a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Rebeca Navarro also tallied double-figures with 10 points.
"Nneka really got it going tonight," said Buscaglia. "She's very physical and strong, and when she takes it one step at a time in the paint, she's tough to guard. I thought she kept us really stable throughout the first half, making her high-percentage looks."
RMU's current eight-game winning streak is tied for the sixth longest in program history. During this stretch, the Colonials have outscored their opponents by an average of 11.9 points per game.
The Mountaineers entered this contest with the second longest winning streak in the conference at four games, having beaten three of the league's top four teams (Central Connecticut, Saint Francis U, Sacred Heart) during their run.
Robert Morris, which now shares first place in the NEC with Sacred Heart, begins its final road trip of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1:00 p.m. when it plays fourth-place Central Connecticut.
