Women's Basketball | 1/27/2019 4:36:00 PM

GAME #19
Sacred Heart Pioneers (10-8, 6-1 NEC) @ Robert Morris Colonials (10-8, 7-0 NEC)
Monday, January 28, 2019 // 7:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – North Athletic Complex (1,000)
Live Video: NEC Front Row // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
Play-By-Play: Adam Gusky; Color Commentary: Justin Pyles
 
Notes Package: Sacred Heart // Robert Morris

Musket Shots
> The Robert Morris University women's basketball team closes a two-game home stand on Monday when it meets second-place Sacred Heart. The Colonials play three of the next four at home, while the Pioneers are completing their Pennsylvania swing before three straight home contests. RMU is coming off a 69-46 win over Wagner to move to 7-0 in the NEC, while Sacred Heart suffered its first league blemish on Saturday, falling to Saint Francis U, 85-68.
> This is the third time that RMU has started the conference schedule with a 7-0 mark, and the second straight year it has been accomplished. Last season's squad also established a new program record for longest unbeaten start in NEC play (9-0), with the 2010-11 team originally holding that record at 7-0.
> The Colonials have won their last 18 NEC contests at home, last falling to Saint Francis U, 70-55, on Jan. 16, 2017. RMU won all nine home conference tilts last season and their last six in 2016-17.
> With a sweep this weekend at home, RMU will complete a perfect January for the second straight year. The Colonials went 7-0 last January, owning a margin of victory of 12.6 points over that stretch. Prior to that run, RMU last went unbeaten over a month in February 2010.
 
Series History w/ Sacred Heart
Overall: 14-23 | Home: 9-8 | Away: 5-15 | Streak: W3
Last Meeting: Feb. 19, 2018; Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris 60, Sacred Heart 49
> This will be the 38th meeting between Robert Morris and Sacred Heart. The Pioneers own a 23-14 edge in the series, but the Colonials have won three straight, four of the last five, and seven of the last 10. RMU completed its first regular-season sweep of SHU last season, and claimed its sixth NEC Tournament title with a victory in Fairfield two years ago.
> Last season at the North Athletic Complex, the Colonials defeated the Pioneers, 60-49. Megan Callahan led an efficient offensive attack with 17 points (6-10 FG, 5-8 3PT), as RMU converted 55.6 percent of its field goals as a team.
> In one of the program's most dominant efforts, the Colonials blew out SHU on New Year's Eve in 2017, 91-57. RMU shot 61.4 percent from the floor - its second best effort in history - and saw Honoka Ikematsu score a career-high 25 points. Megan Smith '18 reached 1,000 career points in the victory.
 
Scouting the Pioneers
> In her sixth season as head coach, Jessica Mannetti has Sacred Heart at 10-8 overall and 6-1 in NEC play. The Pioneers were picked to finish third in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning three first-place votes. SHU suffered its first league setback on Saturday at Saint Francis U, 85-68, after winning its last three conference contests by single digits.
> Graduate forward Katherine Haines has won back-to-back NEC Player of the Week awards and four in total this season. She's averaging 16.9 points on 47.7 percent shooting, adding 9.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. Three other Pioneers are averaging double-figures scoring in sophomore Adrianne Hagood (12.5 PPG), graduate Erin Storck (11.0 PPG), and redshirt senior Candice Leatherwood (10.4 PPG).
> Sacred Heart leads the NEC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.9, and ranks second in both scoring defense (63.1 PPG) and turnover margin (+2.28). The Pioneers only force a league-low 6.3 steals per game and pull down 8.1 rebounds per contest on the offensive end, which is also fewest in the conference.
 
It's All About Balance
> The first word that comes to mind when discussing Robert Morris' offensive attack is balance. The Colonials currently are sitting first in the NEC with a 7-0 mark, despite not having a single player over 10.2 points per game.
> RMU has seven players averaging 5.0 points or more this season, one of two teams in the league (Wagner) to do so. Last season, the Colonials were the only squad to have seven players at that mark, with Nneka Ezeigbo's scoring mark of 10.4 points per contest leading the way. Nine different Colonials have led the team in scoring this season, and nine have scored in double figures at least once.
> Additionally, that balance also applies to playing time. RMU does not have a player currently in the top 30 of the NEC in minutes per game, with Nadège Pluviose pacing the team at an average of 24.9. Four other players (Nia Adams, Ezeigbo, Honoka Ikematsu, Isabella Posset) are seeing over 20 minutes per contest, with three others (Nina Augustin, Esther Castedo, Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu) above the 15-minute mark. No other team in the conference can claim eight players above the 15.0 minutes per game average.
 
Ikematsu in the NEC
> In her young career, Honoka Ikematsu has stepped up her game when the schedule hits conference play. Ikematsu just went for a season-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 5-of-7 from deep at Central Connecticut last Monday, and is averaging 10.7 points on 37.3 percent (19-51) from three-point range in NEC games.
> Last season when it came to league tilts, Ikematsu led the Colonials in scoring at 10.5 points per game. She converted 45.9 percent (45-98) of her three-point attempts in the league slate and reached double-figure scoring on nine occasions, including back-to-back efforts at Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart where she scored 23 and 25 points, respectively.
 
New Year, New Colonials
> A 3-8 non-conference record isn't exactly what Robert Morris wanted to close out 2018, but the New Year has brought a lot of success in the early going.
> RMU has gone 7-0 in NEC contests, winning five of them by double-digit margins. This is the third time in program history that the Colonials have gone 7-0 to begin conference play, joining the 2010-11 and 2017-18 teams. The 2010-11 team would begin 7-0 in the league, while last year's group established a new school record with a 9-0 start.
> Since entering conference play, the Colonials have seen notable improvements in points per game (55.9 to 61.8), points allowed per game (59.7 to 56.5), scoring margin (-3.8 to +5.3), field goal percentage (.336 to .370), three-point field goal percentage (.318 to .340), field goal percentage defense (.404 to .380), three-point field goal percentage defense (.320 to .302), turnovers per game (18.5 to 16.8), and turnover margin (+2.2 to +3.9).
 
Milestone Watch
> Sophomore guard Honoka Ikematsu became the 14th player in school history with 100 career three-pointers, drilling four in RMU's 69-46 win over Wagner on Saturday. Ikematsu is averaging 2.02 per game, which ranks third all-time behind Sade Logan '09 (3.60) and Anna Niki Stamolamprou '17 (2.26).
> Junior center Nneka Ezeigbo needs just nine more rebounds to become the 23rd player in program history with 500 for their career. Ezeigbo would be the sixth Colonial to reach the milestone in their junior season. The Ewing, N.J. product also can become the 17th player to reach 100 career steals with seven more.
 
The Bench Brings It
> Robert Morris has gotten great contributions from its bench this season, as its reserves are averaging 24.8 points per game and 10.9 more than its opponents' bench.
> The Colonials' bench has scored 30 or more points seven times this season, going 6-1 in those contests. In the previous two seasons, RMU's reserves have reached the 30-point mark on just six occasions. On Nov. 11, the Colonials received a season-high 42 points from their bench in a 67-39 win over La Salle.
 
The Defense (Never) Rests
> Defense has been the Colonials' calling card over the last few seasons, and 2018-19 isn't shaping up to be any different. Five times this season, RMU has held its opponent to 50 points or fewer - Nov. 11 against La Salle (39), Nov. 13 against Rhode Island (46), Jan. 7 against Fairleigh Dickinson (49), Jan. 14 at LIU Brooklyn (37), and Jan. 26 against Wagner (46). The Colonials held the Blackbirds to a 20.9 percent (9-43) clip from the floor, making them the 18th different opponent to shoot under 30 percent since 2016-17.
> The Colonials forced 21 turnovers from Wagner on Saturday, the 11th game in which they have made their opponent make 20 or more mistakes. They're averaging 20.88 forced turnovers a game, a mark that leads the NEC and ranks 24th nationally. Last season, RMU forced 20 or more turnovers on 15 occasions.
> Through 18 games, RMU currently paces the NEC in scoring defense by allowing 56.5 points per game, which also slots 28th nationally. The Colonials have established a new school record two years running in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 57.0 PPG in 2016-17 and 54.1 PPG last season. Last season's mark also ranked eighth nationally.
 
Insurmountable Lead
> Robert Morris has never lost a game in which it has held the lead at the end of the second half. The Colonials are 10-0 in such situations this season and went 25-0 last season. All-time, RMU is 608-0 when holding the lead at the final whistle.
 
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