Moon Township, Pa. – Behind one of its strongest defensive performances in recent history, the Robert Morris University women's basketball team remained undefeated in Northeast Conference (NEC) play with a 59-36 victory over St. Francis Brooklyn this evening from the North Athletic Complex.
Robert Morris (11-4, 4-0 NEC) established a new school record for fewest points allowed in a quarter as it led 11-1 after the first 10 minutes. The Colonials would own a 31-8 advantage at halftime, keeping St. Francis Brooklyn (4-10, 0-3 NEC) in single digits for each stanza until a 21-point fourth quarter.
"We got after it defensively and maintained it for most of the game," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We played with a lot of passion tonight and I really liked the servanthood out there. Even though we missed some shots around the basket, I thought the passion and intensity was there and ultimately it set the tone for the game."
Megan Callahan led RMU with a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Mikalah Mulrain added 13 points (6-10 FG) and 11 rebounds in the post, posting her sixth career double-double in the process.
"Megan (Callahan) can do some great things for us when she gets into a good pace," said Buscaglia. "She didn't force the issue and as the game developed, she had some good looks. She did a good job today at playing free and took a lot of good shots. She played with a lot of confidence."
Neither team had much of a flow offensively in the early going as the score sat at 2-1 following the first media timeout. Laura Carrasco then drilled a three-pointer off a Nina Augustin pass as the shot clock buzzer sounded, sparking a 9-0 run to close the frame.
The Terriers responded with an Alex Delaney trifecta and Mia Ehling jumper to pull within five, then answered a pair of Mulrain layups with an Abby Anderson bucket. That would be all the points the visitors would score in the half however, as RMU rattled off 16 straight points, closing in fashion with a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Nadège Pluviose to make it 31-8 at halftime.
The Colonials would stretch their lead to as high as 31 points after a Callahan jumper with 5:13 left in the fourth. The freshman guard added treys on back-to-back possessions with 2:32 remaining, topping her previous career-best of 16 points from Nov. 16 against Bowling Green.
RMU's 36 points allowed were its fewest since the Colonials' 68-35 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC Quarterfinals last season (March 5, 2017).
St. Francis Brooklyn becomes the third consecutive RMU opponent to be held under 30 percent shooting, as it made just 28.2 percent (11-39) of its field goal attempts this evening. The Terriers also committed 19 turnovers and shot just 17.6 percent (3-17) from deep after coming in as the nation's 12th-best team in three-point percentage.
Jade Johnson led the Terriers with 10 points.
Robert Morris closes a three-game home stand on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 1:00 p.m. when it hosts Keystone State rival Saint Francis U in a battle between the lone two NEC unbeatens.
