Bowling Green, Ohio – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team fell in the closing seconds this afternoon at Bowling Green, as Kadie Hempfling hit a layup with one second remaining to lift the Falcons past the Colonials, 61-60.
Robert Morris (1-3, 0-0 NEC) trailed by nine early in the second quarter, but rebounded nicely to carry a 37-33 lead into halftime. That advantage grew to six points entering the fourth, but Bowling Green (2-1, 0-0 MAC) outscored the Colonials, 15-8, over the final 10 minutes to come away with the victory.
"We had a great effort this afternoon," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "I'm very proud of the team for how they responded from Tuesday night's effort. We played hard fr 40 minutes. We did make some mistakes and they capitalized on some of them. As the game got deeper down the stretch, we could have closed it out better. But the effort was there and I'm proud of that."
Megan Callahan got the offense going early, sinking three of her four trifectas in the first quarter. The Falcons finished the frame on an 8-0 run to tie it up going into the second, then scored 11 of the next 13 points to make it 27-18 with 6:20 to play in the half.
RMU rallied to score 10 of the next 12 points to regain the lead at 30-29. Esther Castedo sank two of her four three-pointers during the stretch, with Nneka Ezeigbo adding three points of her own. BGSU would take back the advantage with a brief moment after two Andrea Cecil free throws, but the visitors finished the half on a 7-2 run.
Two Castedo free throws with 1:55 left in the third made the gap its largest for the Colonials, 52-43. Cecil responded with a three late to make it a six-point game heading in the fourth, then trimmed the gap to 54-52 with 6:26 on the clock after a Morgan McMillen three-pointer.
Callahan answered with a trifecta of her own, starting a stretch that saw the difference jump between two and five points until the 1:10 mark. The Falcons would finish on a 6-0 run, peaking with the Hempfling layup at the final second.
RMU owned a 42-30 edge on the glass and converted 12-of-30 attempts from deep. Callahan led the team with 16 points (6-14 FG), matching her performance against BGSU from a season ago. Castedo added 14 points (4-7 FG) in 23 minutes off the bench.
"With working as hard that we did today, it gave us a great opportunity to win the game," added Buscaglia. "It doesn't guarantee to win the game, though. That's something we have to learn from this type of dramatic loss, and understand that when these moments comes, we need to learn from them. We have to take the positive out of today, be honest with ourselves, and go forward with grace."
Cecil led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Robert Morris continues its road trip on Friday, Nov. 23 when it makes a second trip in as many seasons to the Golden State to take part in the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Tournament. The Colonials take on SMU to open the invitational at 3:30 p.m (ET) on Black Friday.
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