Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. – A strong afternoon in the paint helped the Robert Morris University women's basketball extend its winning streak to five games as the Colonials defeated St. Francis Brooklyn, 61-54, in Northeast Conference (NEC) action.
Nneka Ezeigbo and Mikalah Mulrain combined to score 29 points for Robert Morris (12-9, 8-3 NEC), who moved into sole possession of third place in the NEC with the win. The Colonials held a 34-18 edge in the paint over St. Francis Brooklyn (6-16, 4-7 NEC), needing every bit of that difference to counter an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance from three (21.4 percent).
"St. Francis Brooklyn has played us tough over the years, so to be able to pull a win out is great," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "This was a big test for us today, playing a team that beat us on our own floor, and coming off our victory at Saint Francis of Pennsylvania on the road – a very good win for us without Megan [Smith] – we had to make sure to get ourselves back up and focused on a team that has given us a lot of problems. I was proud of the players for setting the tone early and playing accountable defense that paved the way for a victory."
Ezeigbo paced RMU with a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, adding 10 rebounds to complete her first career double-double. Mulrain tallied 11 on a 4-of-6 effort from the field in just 13 minutes.
"We put a lot of work in at practice this week with our inside game," said Buscaglia. "A lot of that work showed up and when you get into a situation with Nneka [Ezeigbo] as a freshman, there will be games when she comes out and performs at the level that she can. The guards did a great job getting the ball inside to our posts, where they were isolated one-on-one with a defender. I saw a lot of mental toughness around the basket today."
Holding a narrow five-point advantage with 8:18 remaining, Janee Brown weaved through the defense to score a tough layup that halted a 6-0 Terrier run. Ezeigbo then split a pair of free throws before earning another opportunity at the stripe after grabbing three offensive rebounds on the Colonials' next possession.
Rachel Iozzia drained one of St. Francis Brooklyn's six threes with 5:59 remaining to make it 54-48, but it was answered by an Anna Niki Stamolamprou trey from the wing. Four points from Maria Palarino and a Kat Phipps foul shot again made it a five-point game with 3:24 left, but two points each from the RMU centers gave the visitors enough cushion to come away with the victory.
The Colonials forced 23 turnovers and tallied 12 steals, with eight of them coming from their trio of freshmen (Ja'lynn Burton-Jones, Ezeigbo, Pluviose).
"[St. Francis Brooklyn] scored more points that we would have liked, especially in the second half," said Buscaglia. "We controlled the tempo with our defense a lot, and that's something we pride ourselves on. Our ball pressure was a lot better in this game than when we lost to them earlier in the year."
This marked RMU's third consecutive win over St. Francis Brooklyn in Brooklyn Heights.
Buscaglia is now one victory shy of tying the program record for a first-year head coach of 14, set in 1978-79 by Dan Swalga.
Robert Morris closes a four-game road trip on Monday, Feb. 6 at 7:00 p.m. against LIU Brooklyn.
