Women's Basketball | 4/28/2018 9:43:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University women's basketball incoming freshman Bella Posset was named First Team All-State this past week, highlighting an assortment of plaudits for the program's four National Letter of Intent (NLI) signees that will take the court in the 2018-19 season.
Bella Posset (Beaver, Pa. / Beaver), Julia Chadwick (Ottawa, Ontario / Henry Street), and Natalie Villaflor (Ashburn, Va. / Loudoun County) all signed their NLI with the program in November of 2017. Esther Castedo (Lugo, Spain / IES Ollos Grandes) signed with Robert Morris in early April. The quartet will join a Colonials team that is set to return five freshmen, a pair of sophomores, and one junior.
In addition to her most recent First Team All-State designation, Posset, who led Beaver High School on a historic postseason run that included an appearance in the school's first WPIAL championship game, played in the 2018 Roundball Classic at Geneva College's Metheny Fieldhouse on April 21. She also received numerous accolades from the Beaver County Times, including the publication's Player of the Year, Section 2-4A Player of the Year, Section 2-4A First Team, and Times Top 20. Additionally, she was named to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Fab Five.
Chadwick earned an invite and later participated in the Team Canada National Assessment Camp from March 27 to April 2. She also played in the Capital Courts Showcase All-Star Game at Algoquin College on March 23, and appeared in the Biosteel All-Canadian Women's All-Star Game in Orangeville, Ontario on April 8. After the season, Chadwick claimed Ontario Scholastic Basketball Assocation (OSBA) Second Team All-Star accolades.
Villaflor collected Third Team All-MET honors from the Washington Post, joining a slew of student-athletes who are set to continue their careers at NCAA Division I high-major programs. She also claimed Player of the Year and First Team plaudits from the All-Dulles District, and made both the All-Region 4C First Team and Virginia High School League (VHSL) Class 4 All-State Second Team.
Castedo also has earned her share of plaudits over the last few seasons. She helped Estudiantes de Lugo claim a trio of top-four finishes at the State of Galicia tournament, including a runner-up performance in 2015-16. Last season, she assisted in a championship State Cup run with the club's first division team. In the 2015-16 Spanish National Championship Tournament by States, Castedo ranked fourth in scoring over the invitational's first phase and was ninth in efficiency ratio as the team placed 16th at the event. Following the 2014-15 campaign, she was named the Best Player in the city of Lugo.
Robert Morris concluded the 2017-18 campaign with its eighth postseason appearance since 2007 with a berth in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Colonials won a school-record 25 games, captured a share of their sixth NEC regular-season championship, and eclipsed the 20-win mark for the 11th time in program history.
