Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team closed a three-game road swing on a sour note, falling to St. Francis Brooklyn, 49-47, this evening in Northeast Conference (NEC) action from the Pope Center.
Robert Morris (17-6, 10-2 NEC) bounced back from a sluggish start to carry a 30-24 advantage into the halftime break, but St. Francis Brooklyn (10-14, 6-7 NEC) responded with an 18-11 third quarter to take the lead. RMU went cold offensively over the final 20 minutes, shooting just 23.3 percent (7-30) from the floor compared to a 50 percent (12-24) effort in the first half.
"We could feel the intensity that St. Francis Brooklyn was bringing early on," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We didn't get off to a great start, especially defensively. They did some things defensively that got us out of rhythm. We broke down a lot of our fundamentals and that's not something that we're built to do. There wasn't that gritty mentality that we needed to have. We didn't put a brick on our foundation today, and that's disappointing."
After a Nneka Ezeigbo layup with 6:44 remaining gave the Colonials a 43-42 lead, the Terriers responded with a Samantha Keltos trifecta to regain the advantage. Nadège Pluviose knotted the game up on the next possession with a layup, giving her a season-high 10 points on the evening. However, that would be RMU's next-to-last basket as St. Francis Brooklyn converted 4-of-6 attempts from the free throw stripe to seal the victory.
The Colonials took their first lead of the game two minutes into the second quarter when Pluviose canned a trey from the wing to complete a 7-0 run. Lorraine Hickman answered with a jumper on the other end to tie it, but Pluviose again found nothing but net from deep to make it 21-18 in favor of the visitors. That lead grew to as much as six, thanks to a Megan Callahan jumper from the stripe with 32 seconds to go in the first half.
The Terriers regrouped to begin the second half, using a 9-3 run to tie it at 33-33. Jocelynne Jones briefly swung the pendulum back in RMU's favor by splitting a pair of free throws, but Abby Anderson scored five consecutive points to put the hosts ahead at 38-34. St. Francis Brooklyn remained in front for the remainder of the third quarter before Ezeigbo's aforementioned layup to begin the final stanza.
Pluviose's 10 points led the Colonials. Mikalah Mulrain collected a career-high five steals.
"(Nadège) was one of the bright spots today," said Buscaglia. "She did some great things off the bench. I'm really proud of the way she's been playing lately, with giving us quality minutes, and today she hit her shots. I'm looking for her to continue to get better and put bricks on her foundation."
Alex Delaney and Jade Johnson each scored 11 points to lead all scorers.
Robert Morris returns home on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1:00 p.m. against Fairleigh Dickinson. Prior to the contest, RMU will honor the careers of four seniors (Shakema Dashiell, Jocelynne Jones, Mikalah Mulrain, Megan Smith) as a part of Senior Day festivities.
