Moon Township, Pa. – After a sluggish first quarter, the Robert Morris University women's basketball team used a 33-9 run over the second and third frames to defeat Mount St. Mary's, 66-54, winning a share of the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season championship this afternoon from the North Athletic Complex.
This is the sixth regular-season title for Robert Morris (23-6, 16-2 NEC) in program history and its second consecutive crown. The Colonials previously won or shared the NEC regular-season trophy in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, and 2017.
RMU received a pair of nine-point efforts off the bench from Nadège Pluviose and Nneka Ezeigbo, as that duo led a 23-1 difference in bench points over Mount St. Mary's (9-20, 6-12 NEC). Megan Callahan paced all scorers with 17 points of 7-of-14 shooting, while Mikalah Mulrain nearly posted a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
"Megan (Callahan) did a nice job again of playing with a good pace," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "I tell her, 'just get a little bit better every day and keep putting bricks on your foundation.' That's what she's been doing. The body of work shows that regardless if she shoots the ball well or not, she's understanding everything better and developing nicely as a freshman."
The Colonials' 23rd victory – one shy of tying the single-season program record from 2006-07 – came despite trailing after the opening 10 minutes. RMU made up a first-quarter deficit for only the second time this season, thanks to an eight-point swing in the second stanza. A Honoka Ikematsu three-pointer capped a quick 7-3 run to pull the hosts within two, but Katrice Dickson answered with a trifecta on the other end. Pluviose then scored on back-to-back possessions – first on a drive to the rim followed by a trey at the top of the key – to tie it at 20-20.
Mulrain gave the Colonials the lead with 2:50 remaining in the half, but Jatarrikah Settle had an answer on the other end. Nonetheless, Ezeigbo buried a jumper with 16 seconds showing to put RMU back ahead at the break, 24-22.
The Colonials would never trail again in the contest. RMU's biggest lead came with 1:53 left in the third quarter after a Pluviose jumper made it 43-26. That concluded an 11-0 stretch that featured five points from Callahan and fast break layups from both Pluviose and Jones.
"Once we started to forget about 'why we missed that last shot' or 'what I'm going to do before catching the ball', we were able to get our timing back," said Buscaglia. "That helped us on the offensive end. Defensively, we have to do better in the fourth quarter. I know we won by 12 and pulled away, but defensively there was too much penetration and our help didn't slide over. We have to close out better defensively, but we found ourselves offensively."
RMU shot 52.9 percent (18-34) over the second half and 42.9 percent (27-63) overall. The Colonials also owned a 43-29 edge on the glass, thanks in part to 17 offensive rebounds.
Daly Sullivan led the Mountaineers with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Despite the regular season concluding for all NEC teams, this week's tournament seeding has not been finalized as of yet. Robert Morris and Saint Francis U, who both finished at 16-2 to become co-champions, will have their seeds determined by the most recent RPI rankings, which are set to be released either later tonight or Monday morning. The Colonials trailed the Red Flash in RPI prior to today's game, 133 to 112.
"Whatever it is," said Buscaglia of his team's seed still up in the air. "Our hands are open with a full heart. I keep saying that and that's how our attitude is. You have to be able to take whatever is thrown at you. If we're the number two seed and share a regular-season championship, so be it. We have to take care of the next game, that's all I'm concerned with."
The most likely scenario will have Robert Morris as the No. 2 seed facing Central Connecticut in the NEC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday. This would also feature the other quarterfinal at the North Athletic Complex being between St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU Brooklyn.
If RMU were to jump Saint Francis U in the RPI rankings, it would face No. 8 seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the quarterfinal, with Sacred Heart and Bryant playing in the other contest.
Regardless of seed or opponent, Robert Morris is set to play its quarterfinal game from the North Athletic Complex at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The other first round bout will tip at approximately 7:30 p.m., with the winners meeting on Thursday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN3.
