Moon Township, Pa. – Down by two on the game's final possession, senior forward Megan Smith buried a three-pointer from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded, giving the Robert Morris University women's basketball team a 63-62 victory over Keystone State rival Saint Francis University in Northeast Conference (NEC) action from the North Athletic Complex.
In a thriller between the NEC's last two unbeaten teams, Robert Morris (12-4, 5-0 NEC) kept its zero in the loss column despite trailing for 32:19 of the game's 40 minutes. The Colonials fell behind by as much as nine points with 6:32 to play, before storming back with a 15-5 run to close the contest.
"We just kept fighting there," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "It was ugly for a while – there were a lot of freshmen there handling a lot of pressure. A player like (Ace) Harrison at the top of their press made it really difficult, but I thought we did a great job of responding down the stretch. You could see the passion was really rising at the end and we were looking to serve each other, which is all I care about."
Caitlyn Kroll's baseline trifecta with 6:32 left in the fourth extended the Saint Francis U (9-8, 4-1 NEC) advantage to a game-high nine points at 57-48. After neither team could find a basket over the next two minutes, Honoka Ikematsu sank a three off a Nina Augustin pass to pull RMU within six.
The Colonials got another defensive stop and rewarded themselves with an Augustin three-pointer, making it 57-54 with 3:37 left. Jessica Kovatch answered with her eighth trifecta of the contest, which was followed by a Nneka Ezeigbo layup from Augustin. After an Ezeigbo rejection on Kovatch, the Red Flash got the ball inbounds to Ace Harrison for a basket to regain its six-point edge with 2:25 remaining.
Smith was fouled by Maya Wynn on the next possession, but failed to convert on either free throw. However, Joceylnne Jones grabbed the offensive board and found Ezeigbo, who banked one in to make it 62-58. SFU then looked Kovatch's way following a timeout, but her three-point attempt found the rim and was pulled down by Smith. Another foul committed on the senior left her with two free throws, which she calmly sank to make it a two-point game.
Neither team could find points on their next possession, leaving the ball in the hands of the visitors with 58 seconds remaining. Pressure in the backcourt forced a wild three-point attempt by Harrison at the end of the shot clock, but Leah Morrow was able to grab the offensive board. She looked for a putback on the right block; however, Ikematsu did just enough to alter the shot as Ezeigbo pulled down the carom.
Buscaglia called a timeout with 17.5 seconds left on the clock, giving RMU one shot at tying or winning the game. Augustin took the inbounds pass and found Callahan on the baseline, who was unable to get by Harrison. She passed it back to Augustin, who then took a couple of dribbles to her right before finding Smith cutting towards the opposite wing. The senior had enough space to get a clean look, releasing it with 1.8 seconds left while it fell through the netting as the clock hit zeroes.
"Our freshmen were very poised down the stretch," said Buscaglia. "That last possession, a couple things happened where we lost the ball a little bit, but there was great ball reversal and Nina (Augustin) did a great job of finding Megan (Smith). That shot looked good from the beginning, and I'm really proud of her because she takes so many extra shots in practice."
Ikematsu led the Colonials with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Ezeigbo posted the sixth double-double of her career with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Smith tallied 13 points, six caroms, and four assists.
"(Megan Smith) was very assertive down the stretch," said Buscaglia. "She was the glue to us today and that's what we've been working on with her. Whether her shot is going in or not, be the glue in there. She was very poised in the middle of the floor breaking the press and gave us 100 percent. At the end of the game, it felt really good to have that shot go in for her."
RMU shot 51.1 percent (24-47) from the floor and made half of its 10 three-point attempts. The Colonials also owned a 42-28 advantage on the glass and saw their bench outscore the Red Flash reserves, 21-3.
Kovatch scored 42 points for the visitors in defeat, making 16-of-34 field goal attempts and 8-of-20 shots from beyond the arc.
After completing a perfect three-game home stand, Robert Morris returns to the road for a weekend, beginning with a game at Wagner at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20.
