Loretto, Pa. – In another chapter of a long-standing rivalry between the Robert Morris University women's basketball team and Saint Francis University, the Colonials outscored the Red Flash, 11-4, in the final three minutes to bring home a 66-60 victory Monday evening in Northeast Conference (NEC) play from DeGol Arena.
With the victory and Sacred Heart's loss to LIU Brooklyn, Robert Morris (15-8, 12-1 NEC) regained its three-game lead over the Pioneers and Saint Francis U (12-13, 9-4 NEC) in the NEC standings. The Colonials slowly wore down the explosive Red Flash attack, holding them to 26.9 percent shooting in the second half after they started the game 11-for-23.
"I was very proud of the effort to come back after tasting defeat on Saturday (against Mount St. Mary's)," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "To come back and stay with it, even though we didn't always have the shot go in or catch the ball when we were open – we just continued to grind. I love these kind of wins, because it wasn't easy for us and we just kept working at it."
Each quarter's scoring began with a three-pointer, and the fourth was no different as Isabella Posset canned a trey off an offensive rebound to give RMU a 47-45 advantage. The teams drew even twice after that before Nia Adams split the zone and banked a runner off the glass to make it 50-48, followed by a Nina Augustin trifecta.
Sam Sabino forced a turnover in her offensive zone and scored to pull SFU within three, but Nneka Ezeigbo buried a baseline jumper to push the gap back to five. Haley Thomas then sank back-to-back threes to give the hosts a 56-55 lead with 3:26 left, but Ezeigbo answered with a layup to swing the pendulum the other way.
Ezeigbo's layup sparked a blistering 8-0 run, as Posset drained another three and Augustin pulled up from deep following a steal. Sam Sabino stopped the bleeding with a trifecta of her own, then Jessica Kovatch split a pair of free throws to make it 63-60 with 1:04 remaining.
RMU couldn't do anything with its next offensive possession, but made up for it on the defensive end, forcing Kovatch into a tough game-tying three attempt that hit rim. Ezeigbo pulled down the board and was fouled, followed by two more fouls to send Posset to the line, where she made one. Thomas then was off on a desperation attempt from deep, and Esther Castedo grabbed the carom before sealing the win with two free throws.
In an evening where the Colonials had their chances from outside against the Red Flash zone, Augustin shined the brightest with a career-high 18 points on 6-of-12 from deep. RMU was just 10-of-39 (25.6 percent) on three-pointers, but made up for that with 19 offensive rebounds and a near double-double from Ezeigbo (16 pts, 9 reb).
Thomas paced the hosts with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Kovatch, the reigning NEC Player of the Year, was held to just six points on 1-of-9 from the field in 34 minutes – marking the sixth consecutive game the Colonials defense has limited the opponent's top scorer to single digits.
Robert Morris returns home for a pair of games, starting Saturday, Feb. 25 at 1:00 p.m. against St. Francis Brooklyn.
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