Loretto, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team saw its nine-game winning streak come to an end this afternoon as Saint Francis U used a strong third quarter to defeat the Colonials, 68-47, in a battle between the top two teams in the Northeast Conference (NEC) standings.
Trailing 27-22 at halftime, Saint Francis U (14-8, 9-1 NEC) used a 10-0 run at the start of the third quarter to take control of the game. Robert Morris (16-5, 9-1 NEC) held the Red Flash offense to 27.6 percent (8-29) shooting in the first half, but the hosts responded by making 46.9 percent (15-32) of their field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes.
"We've had little tastes of adversity throughout the season," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We need to have our hands open with a full heart ready to respond to those moments of adversity. Things come at you in different ways, and you have to stay faithful in what you do by continuing to outhustle and outwork them. Adversity got the best of us today."
After holding SFU without a point for the final 2:25 of the last meeting, RMU opened the game on a 10-0 run, blanking the hosts for the first 7:41. Jocelynne Jones scored five of her eight points during the stretch, thanks to a banked three and two foul shots. Ace Harrison's breakaway layup with 2:19 remaining in the stanza finally broke the 10-minute scoring drought between the two contests.
An and-one trifecta from Jessica Kovatch pulled the Red Flash within one with 4:33 left in the half at 15-14. Megan Smith and Cailtyn Kroll then traded points before a Megan Callahan trey kickstarted a 7-0 rally to make it 24-16. SFU responded by scoring six of the next nine points to trim the deficit to five points at halftime.
The break swung the game's pendulum as the Red Flash scored the first 10 points of the third quarter. Behind 32-27 with 8:17 left in the frame, RMU called a timeout in hopes to half the hosts' momentum. It was to no avail though, as SFU ended up outscoring the Colonials in the stanza, 29-7, to set the score at 51-34.
A layup from Nneka Ezeigbo and two Callahan free throws cut the deficit to 13 points early in the fourth quarter, but Kroll canned a three on the other end to stop RMU's comeback hopes.
Callahan led the Colonials with 17 points. As a team, RMU shot just 27.5 percent (14-51) from the field and 20.8 percent (5-24) on three-point attempts.
Kovatch led all scorers with 32 points.
The Colonials' nine-game winning streak was tied for the fourth longest in program history.
Robert Morris continues a three-game road trip on Saturday, Feb. 10 at 2:00 p.m. against LIU Brooklyn.
