Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team again used a strong shooting performance to knock off Sacred Heart, as the Colonials completed a regular-season sweep of the Pioneers with a 60-49 triumph this evening in Northeast Conference (NEC) action from the North Athletic Complex.
Robert Morris (19-6, 12-2 NEC) shot 55.3 percent (21-38) from the floor – its third highest field goal percentage of the season – and went 9-of-15 (60 percent) from beyond the arc. Over their two victories against Sacred Heart (10-16, 6-9 NEC), the Colonials converted 58.9 percent (56-95) of their field goal attempts and 60.6 percent (20-33) of their shots from deep.
The game's pendulum swung on a pair of 19-0 runs, turning what looked to be a comfortable victory for RMU into a slugfest between two conference rivals.
The Colonials' 19 unanswered points started at the 6:59 mark of the first quarter, when Megan Callahan answered an Allyson Murphy layup with a trifecta. Mikalah Mulrain followed that up with a bucket inside, and Megan Smith scored four straight points to make it 14-8 in favor of the hosts. Callahan and Irekptian Ozzy-Momodu scored back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to double digits, then Honoka Ikematsu drained a three with five seconds left to set the score at 21-8 after one.
Nina Augustin joined the party 10 seconds into the second to finish off the 19-0 run, as Erin Storck's layup on the next possession ended a scoring drought of 7:46 for the Pioneers. RMU's lead reached a game-high 22 points at 37-15 with another Ozzy-Momodu basket, but that would be the hosts' last points for 8:27 as SHU clawed back with its own 19-point rally to cut the deficit to three with 4:20 left in the third quarter.
The gap remained kept bouncing between three and seven points for the next 3:20 before a Mikalah Mulrain layup made it a two-possession game. After a defensive stop, Callahan canned a trifecta with 26 seconds remaining in the stanza, and Jocelynne Jones opened the fourth with a layup to reestablish the double-digit difference.
"Give (Sacred Heart) credit for fighting and making us uncomfortable in certain spots," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We broke down with some of our fundamentals as the game went on, and we have to be better than that. Down the stretch though, we found our pace well and did a great job at getting the ball inside and finishing. At the end of the day, the leadership was good after coming back from a bad moment in the third (quarter)."
The Pioneers continued to battle, using a 5-0 run to make it 50-45 with 5:19 remaining. However, layups from Mulrain and Smith, along with a foul shot from the former would stretch the gap to 10 points once more, ultimately sealing the victory.
Callahan led all scorers with 17 points, connecting on 6-of-10 field goal attempts and 5-of-8 casts from international waters. Mulrain added 13 points and seven rebounds, while Smith tallied 10 points and six caroms.
Storck paced the Pioneers with 12 points.
This is the first time in program history that RMU has swept the regular season series against Sacred Heart. It also marks the fourth consecutive game that the Colonials have held their opponent to below 50 points.
Robert Morris begins its final road trip of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. against Bryant. A victory will clinch the Colonials' spot as one of the two NEC Tournament quarterfinal/semifinal hosts.
