Women's Basketball | 11/15/2018 2:25:00 PM

GAME #4
Robert Morris Colonials (1-2, 0-0 NEC) @ Bowling Green Falcons (1-1, 0-0 MAC)
Saturday, November 17, 2018 // 2:00 p.m. // Bowling Green, Ohio – Stroh Center
Live Video: ESPN+ ($) // Live Stats: BGSUFalcons.com
 
Notes Packages: Robert Morris // Bowling Green

Musket Shots
> The Robert Morris University women's basketball team begins a four-game road trip on Saturday, Nov. 17 when it travels to Bowling Green for a 2:00 p.m. tip. This is the second consecutive season the Colonials and Falcons have met, previously meeting in 2006 before last year. RMU is coming off a split of its opening home stand, falling to Rhode Island, 46-41, on Tuesday, while Bowling Green defeated Marshall, 99-76, in its home opener.
> This four-game road trip is tied for the longest this season for the Colonials, matching an NEC swing from Jan. 12 to Jan. 21. RMU's longest home stand follows this stretch, lasting a total of six games from Dec. 7 to Jan. 7.
> RMU signed a pair of student-athletes, Dahomée Forgues and Trinity Papamandjaris, to National Letters of Intent (NLI) at the start of the early signing period on Wednesday.
> Third-year head coach Charlie Buscaglia sits two wins shy of 50 for his career following Sunday's triumph against La Salle. Buscaglia is looking to reach 50 victories faster than any other coach in program history, the record currently held by Dan Swalga at 78 games. His father, Sal Buscaglia, reached the 50-win mark at RMU on Dec. 28, 2006 after 96 contests in charge of the Colonials.
 
Series History w/ Bowling Green
Overall: 0-3 | Home: 0-1 | Away: 0-2 | Streak: L3
Last Meeting: 11/16/2017; Moon Township, Pa. – Bowling Green 64, Robert Morris 62 (OT)
> Robert Morris is 0-3 all-time against Bowling Green, falling twice in Moon Township and once in the Buckeye State.
> Last season, in the debut of the North Athletic Complex, the Colonials battled back from 19 points down to force overtime, but ultimately fell to Bowling Green, 64-62. Mikalah Mulrain '18 tallied 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting in 39 minutes, while Megan Callahan added 16 points (6-12 FG, 4-9 3PT) in a career-high 42 minutes of action.
> On New Year's Eve in 2006, RMU fell to the Falcons on the road, 92-81. Chinata Nesbit '08 posted a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double in the defeat.
 
Scouting the Falcons
> Bowling Green finished last season with an 11-19 overall record and 3-15 mark in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play. First-year head coach Robyn Fralick was hired in April of 2018 from NCAA Division II Ashland University after posting a 104-3 mark as the head coach there.
> The Falcons are 1-1 thus far in the 2018-19 campaign. Bowling Green opened up the season with 99-69 loss at Michigan State, following that up with a 99-76 triumph over Marshall in its home debut. BGSU tied the school record with 16 trifectas against the Thundering Herd, with Morgan McMillen nailing eight of them - also tying a school standard.
> McMillen has adjusted to the collegiate game well thus far, averaging 24.5 points per game on 60.0 percent shooting. Sophomore center Angela Perry made her season debut against Marshall on Tuesday, pouring in 25 points (10-14 FG) in 23 minutes off the bench, while junior forward Andrea Cecil nearly averages a double-double at 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest.
 
The Defense (Never) Rests
> Defense has been the Colonials' calling card over the last few seasons, and 2018-19 isn't shaping up to be any different. RMU held La Salle to just 39 points on Sunday and Rhode Island to 46 on Tuesday, the 24th and 25th times since 2016-17 that it has limited an opponent to 50 points or fewer. The Explorers converted at just a 22.2 percent (12-54 FG) rate from the floor, becoming the 16th different team to shoot under 30 percent against the Colonials during that timeframe.
> The Colonials forced 27 turnovers against the Rams, an early season standard and the most since March 2, 2018 against Wagner (29). Last season, RMU forced 20 or more turnovers on 15 occasions.
> Through three games, RMU currently paces the NEC in scoring defense by allowing 51.3 points per game. The Colonials have established a new school record two years running in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 57.0 PPG in 2016-17 and 54.1 PPG last season. Last season's mark also ranked eighth nationally.
 
The Bench Brings It
> Robert Morris' 2018-19 roster features a deep bench, with six of its players appearing in all three games thus far. The Colonials' top two scorers this season - Honoka Ikematsu (10.3 PPG) and Isabella Posset (7.3 PPG) - haven't started a game, continuing a trend that was featured in 2017-18 with Nneka Ezeigbo and her 10.4 points per game.
> Through three games, RMU's bench is averaging 30.3 points per game and is outscoring its opponent by an average of 18.3 points. The Colonials' reserves have scored 20 or more points in all three contests, adding to a feat that has happened 29 times since the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
> In its 67-39 victory over La Salle on Sunday, the RMU bench scored 42 points - led by 12-point efforts by Posset and Esther Castedo. The last time the Colonials have received that kind of offensive production from their reserves came on Nov. 13, 2015 when they scored 58 points in a 124-59 against West Virginia Wesleyan.
 
Three, Trois, Tres, San
> RMU has done the majority of its offensive damage from three-point land in its first three games, averaging 9.3 makes per game at a 38.9 percent conversion rate.
> The Colonials made double-digit three-pointers in both of their first two games, the first time that has happened in program history. Over the last three seasons, RMU had reached the double-figure mark for trifectas in just 11 contests.
 
Splash Sisters
> Sophomore guard duo Megan Callahan and Honoka Ikematsu emerged as two of the top three-point threats in the NEC last season, finishing fourth and third, respectively in conversion rate. Early in the 2018-19 season, the duo has seemed to live up to that billing.
> After leading the Colonials with 15 points in the season opener at Youngstown State, Ikematsu is converting at a 52.6 percent clip from beyond the arc. All but one of her 31 points this season have been from deep, as she paces the team with 10 three-pointers made. Callahan is 4-of-9 from international waters in 2018-19, second on the team with a 44.4 percent conversion rate.
> Last season, Ikematsu made 41.4 percent of her attempts from deep, sinking a total of 65. Callahan converted 38.3 percent of her three-point shots, making 64 in all. Those marks also rank first and sixth, respectively, in the school career record books, with the Japanese guard holding the current program standard.
 
Insurmountable Lead
> Robert Morris has never lost a game in which it has held the lead at the end of the second half. The Colonials are 1-0 in such situations this season and went 25-0 last season. All-time, RMU is 599-0 when holding the lead at the final whistle.

Follow the Colonials: Facebook |  Twitter | Instagram

Tweet #ColonialPride  Tweet #HoopTownship