Women's Basketball | 11/4/2019 10:45:00 AM
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University women's basketball team opens the 2019-20 season on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 1:00 p.m. (ET) when it takes on TCU. The Colonials will play their first two contests of the campaign on the road before opening up their new home, Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center, on Wednesday, Nov. 13 against Youngstown State.
GAME #1
Robert Morris Colonials (22-11, 16-2 NEC in 2018-19) @ TCU Horned Frogs (24-11, 10-8 Big 12 in 2018-19)
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 // 1:00 p.m. // Fort Worth, Texas – Ed & Rae Schollmaier Arena (6,800)
Live Video: Horned Frogs TV // Live Stats: GoFrogs.com
Notes Package: Robert Morris // TCU
Know Bobby Mo
> RMU raises the curtains on the 2019-20 season when it travels to the Lone Star State to take on first-time opponent TCU. The Colonials are coming off their eighth NEC Tournament and seventh NEC regular-season titles, and competed in their sixth NCAA Tournament when it fell to top-seeded Louisville, 69-34, this past March.
> RMU was selected as the unanimous favorite in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning all 10 possible first-place votes. The Colonials have been selected on top of the preseason standings in five of the last seven seasons, with a pair of second-place nods in 2016-17 and 2017-18 being the only difference.
> The Colonials boasted one of the top defenses in the nation statistically last season, ranking 12th in scoring defense (55.3), 24th in turnovers forced (20.18), 26th in turnover margin (+4.18) and 32nd in steals per game (9.9).
> Nneka Ezeigbo was chosen unanimously on the Preseason All-NEC Team, as she returns as the lone senior on a team bringing back 85.6 percent of its scoring and 77.3 percent of its minutes from 2018-19. Ezeigbo won NEC Defensive Player of the Year and NEC Tournament MVP as a junior, serving as the only player in the league to rank in the top eight in blocks (1.4, 4th) and steals (1.7, 8th.)
History w/ TCU
Overall: 0-0 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: N/A
Last Game: N/A
Robert Morris has never faced off against TCU in its history. In fact, the Colonials have never faced off against a Big 12 school, as their semi-regular series against West Virginia happened when the Mountaineers were still part of the Big East.
This is the eighth straight season that RMU has faced a Power 5 opponent. Over this stretch, the Colonials have faced Iowa five times, Michigan State and Notre Dame twice, and Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisville, Minnesota, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech once.
Scouting the Horned Frogs
TCU was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing the 2018-19 campaign at 24-11 overall and 10-8 in league play. The Horned Frogs advanced to the WNIT Semifinals before falling at Arizona, 59-53, and return eight letterwinners from that team.
Senior guard Kianna Ray is TCU's leading returning scorer, as she averaged 10.2 points per game last season. She was a Preseason All-Big 12 Honorable Mention selection, and ranked fifth in the conference in steals (1.9) and three-pointers made (2.1). Junior guard Lauren Heard also comes back as a starter, as she averaged 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The Horned Frogs also have senior guard Jayde Woods (5.7 PPG, 2.6 RPG) and junior forward Adeola Akomolafe (3.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG) coming back after starting 22 games each in 2018-19.
Led by sixth-year head coach Raegan Pebley, TCU ranked eighth nationally in blocks (5.4), 50th in steals (9.5), 60th in assists (15.3), 75th in turnover margin (+2.17), 77th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.01), 83rd in turnovers forced (17.34), and 91st in scoring defense (60.9). The Horned Frogs struggled from beyond the arc, slotting just 216th in three-point percentage (.303).
Run It Back
Coming off its eighth NEC Tournament and seventh NEC regular-season championships in 2018-19, Robert Morris was selected as the unanimous favorite in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning all 10 possible first-place votes. This is the fifth time in the last seven seasons that the Colonials were chosen as the top team in the preseason poll, with the two outlier years being 2015-16 and 2016-17 when they were picked to finish second.
RMU returns 85.6 percent of their scoring and 77.3 percent of their minutes from last season, despite only having one senior (
Nneka Ezeigbo) on the roster. Ezeigbo,
Isabella Posset, and
Nina Augustin started at least 19 games in 2018-19, as that trio makes up three of the nine returning letterwinners.
The Senior
Nneka Ezeigbo enters her senior season as one of the most accomplished players in program history. The Ewing, N.J. native is a three-time All-NEC selection, having climbed from Rookie Team in 2017 to Second and First Team in the following years. She captured NEC Defensive Player of the Year and NEC Tournament MVP honors last season, and won three NEC regular-season and two NEC Tournament titles over her career at RMU.
Ezeigbo ranks eighth all-time at RMU in blocks (82) and is one of 12 players in program history with 500 career rebounds and 100 career steals. With just 64 more points and 18 more blocks, the senior will become the fourth player to eclipse 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 steals, and 100 blocks in a career, joining Elise James '00, Maebeth Schalles '93, and Artemis Spanou '14.
Last season, Ezeigbo was the only player in the NEC to rank inside the top eight in both blocks (1.4, 4th) and steals (1.7, 8th). She paced the Colonials in scoring (12.5) and rebounding (7.8), slotting 11th and fourth in the league in those respective categories. The center averaged 15.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks over the NEC Tournament, and posted two of her eight double-doubles in the semifinals and championship. 2018-19 was a season of milestones for Ezeigbo, as she scored a career-high 30 points against LIU Brooklyn (Feb. 25), grabbed her 500th career rebound against Sacred Heart (Jan. 28), and swiped her 100th career steal at Mount St. Mary's (Feb. 16).
Welcome to Hoop Township
Robert Morris is in the midst of its most successful run, having compiled a 251-165 (.603) overall record and 170-64 (.726) mark in the NEC. The Colonials have won six NEC Tournaments (2007, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019) and advanced to nine postseason tournaments (6 NCAA Tournaments, 2 Postseason WNITs, 1 Postseason WBI) over this stretch. RMU has played in the last six NEC Championship Games, posting a conference record of 84-22 (.792) during this span - the best mark among NEC teams.
The standard has been raised even higher since head coach
Charlie Buscaglia took the reins prior to the 2016-17 season. In three seasons under Buscaglia, the Colonials have posted a 69-30 (.697) overall record and 46-8 (.852) mark in league play, capturing three straight NEC regular-season titles and a pair of NEC Tournament crowns. RMU won a school-record 25 games in 2017-18 - the one season that didn't end with a league tournament title.
The Defense (Never) Rests
Robert Morris prides itself on its defense and last season was no different. The Colonials ranked 12th in the NCAA in scoring defense (55.3), 24th in turnovers forced (20.18), 26th in turnover margin (+4.18), and 32nd in steals (9.9) - all numbers that topped the conference circuit.
The Colonials have posted a top-25 scoring defense in each of the last three seasons, coming in at 25th in 2016-17 (57.0 PPG) and eighth in 2017-18 (54.1 PPG). The 2017-18 mark is a school record, breaking the previous record set the previous season.
On the Court, In the Classroom
Robert Morris' run of success extends beyond the basketball court, as it has been a regular fixture recently in the WBCA Academic Top 25 Division I Honor Roll. The Colonials posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.713 in 2018-19, which was the second highest among Division I teams.
RMU is the only school to be ranked inside the top four of the WBCA Academic Top 25 in three straight seasons, coming in at fourth in 2017-18 with a 3.748 team GPA and second in 2016-17 with a 3.726 mark. The Colonials have also captured three consecutive NEC Team GPA Awards over this stretch.
New Season, New Home
RMU debuts a brand-new arena in 2019-20 with the opening of Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center. The new state-of-the-art home of the Colonials seats 4,000 and replaces the North Athletic Complex, which served as a temporary home during the Events Center construction.
RMU hopes that it finds the same success at the UPMC Events Center as it did at 'The NAC'. In two seasons at the North Athletic Complex, the Colonials went 29-5 (.853) - a mark that includes a perfect 22-0 (1.000) record against NEC opponents.
The North Athletic Complex saw its curtains close in the same fashion as the Charles L. Sewall Center - which served as RMU's home since November of 1985 - with a NEC Tournament title. The Colonials defeated Saint Francis U, 65-54, in the final game at 'The NAC' this past March, while RMU topped Bryant, 65-52, in the 2017 NEC Championship Game to close out 'The Chuck'.
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 were 22-0 in such situations last season. All-time, RMU is 620-0 when holding the lead at the final whistle.
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