Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball fell to Delaware this afternoon, 73-62, in its final game of 2019 at Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center.
Robert Morris (4-4, 0-0 NEC) struggled to defend a potent Delaware (3-5, 0-0 CAA) offensive attack, giving up 44 points in the opening half. Down by as many as 18 points, the Colonials mounted a large third-quarter comeback to trim the deficit to six, but the Blue Hens responded with a 16-13 difference in the final frame to secure the victory.
In her third straight start, Dahomée Forgues scored a career-high 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting, adding four rebounds in 28 minutes. Esther Castedo (11) and Nina Augustin (10) were also in double-figures scoring, while Nneka Ezeigbo provided seven points and 10 rebounds from the center position.
"We didn't come ready to play," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "As a coach, you have to really focus and get your team prepared for a game. As young adults, we're going through that transition in life where now we have to make a decision and have a routine, be ready, and know what's on the line. You control what you can control, and we could have controlled a better effort. We weren't passionate early on, and I give Delaware credit for getting off to a nice start. We had to battle back, but the start of the game was very negative."
After RMU grabbed an early 4-3 lead with 5:19 left in the first quarter, Delaware answered with 13-7 run to take control. The Blue Hens pushed the gap to a game-high 18 points at halftime with a Brynn Wade jumper, then the Colonials began chipping away in the third stanza.
Natalie Villaflor started the run with five points, drilling a three and jumper to make it 48-34. Augustin and Honoka Ikematsu added mid-range buckets to trim the gap to 10 points, then Ikematsu sank a three to pull RMU to 48-41. The lead briefly reached 10 points once more before Holly Forbes and Castedo provided back-to-back buckets to cut the difference to 53-47.
The Blue Hens carried an eight-point advantage into the fourth quarter and boosted it to 13 just 1:08 in. RMU got as close as eight with treys from Augustin and Forgues, but Delaware held strong and finished the game off at the free throw stripe.
Abby Gonzales led all scorers with 16 points. DeFreese added 15, while Nicole Enabosi posted a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double.
Ezeigbo moved into eighth place at RMU in career rebounds, passing Sugeiry Monsac '07 on the leaderboard. The senior has 693 caroms to her name, 16 shy of Megan Smith '18 for seventh.
Robert Morris finishes out the calendar year on the road, kicking off a season-long five game stretch away from Moon Township on Sunday, Dec. 15 at noon against Rhode Island. The Colonials return to Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center for its Northeast Conference (NEC) home opener on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. against Wagner.
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