Women's Basketball | 3/13/2019 1:18:00 PM

GAME #31
#6 Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (15-15, 8-10 NEC) @ #1 Robert Morris Colonials (20-10, 16-2 NEC)
Thursday, March 14, 2019 // 7:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – North Athletic Complex (1,000)
2019 Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinals
Live Video: ESPN3 & NEC Front Row // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com // Live Audio: ESPN 970 AM
- Craig D'Amico, play-by-play; Meg Bulger, color commentary (ESPN3)
- Adam Gusky, play-by-play; Justin Pyles, color commentary (ESPN 970 AM)
 
Notes Package: Mount St. Mary's // Robert Morris

2019 NEC Tournament Information (Parking, Ticketing)

Musket Shots
> The Robert Morris University women's basketball team continues its quest for an eighth NEC Tournament championship on Thursday, March 14 when it hosts sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary's in the semifinal round. A victory will see the Colonials reach their 12th title game in program history and sixth straight. RMU topped Fairleigh Dickinson in its quarterfinal contest, 64-36, while the Mountaineers were the only lower seed to win with a 80-74 triumph at St. Francis Brooklyn.
> RMU is the top seed in the NEC Tournament for the fourth time in program history, owning a 8-1 mark when headlining the bracket. The Colonials are 22-2 in home postseason contests, with the only blemishes coming in the 1996 play-in game and 2015 title tilt, and 11-5 in the semifinal round.
> Including postseason contests, the Colonials have won their last 30 home games against NEC foes, last falling to Saint Francis U, 70-55, on Jan. 16, 2017. RMU has won 10 this season, all 11 last season, and its last nine in 2016-17.
> Charlie Buscaglia and Nneka Ezeigbo highlighted a trio of Colonials earning NEC postseason accolades on Monday. Buscaglia was named Brenda Reilly NEC Coach of the Year for the third straight season, while Ezeigbo collected NEC Defensive Player of the Year and All-NEC First Team honors. Isabella Posset was selected to the All-NEC Rookie Team.
 
Series History w/ Mount St. Mary's
Overall: 28-34 | Home: 16-14 | Away: 12-19 | Neutral: 0-1 | Streak: L1
Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2019; Emmitsburg, Md. – Mount St. Mary's 61, Robert Morris 55
> This is the 63rd meeting between Robert Morris and Mount St. Mary's, and their fourth in the NEC Tournament. The Colonials are 2-1 against the Mountaineers in the postseason, earning wins in the 1991 semifinals (77-72) and 2006 quarterfinals (65-56). RMU has won 25 of the last 29 matchups in the series.
> The Colonials saw a 12-game winning streak against Mount St. Mary's come to an end in their last meeting, a 61-55 defeat in Emmitsburg. The loss also was RMU's first in NEC play after getting off to a school-record 11-0 start. Nneka Ezeigbo posted a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double in the defeat.
> In both teams' NEC lid-lifter, RMU defeated the Mountaineers, 70-58. Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu came off the bench to score a career-high 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting and coupled that with eight rebounds, while Isabella Posset added 13 points, seven caroms, and seven assists in 25 minutes.
 
Scouting the Mountaineers
> Second-year head coach Maria Marchesano has guided Mount St. Mary's to its first NEC Tournament semifinal berth since 2014, as the Mountaineers topped third-seeded St. Francis Brooklyn on Monday, 80-74. The Mount finished 8-10 in NEC play, but notched notable victories over St. Francis Brooklyn (78-75) and Robert Morris (61-55) over the league slate.
> Senior guard Juliette Lawless was named to the All-NEC Second Team after ranking fifth in the league in scoring (16.1), sixth in assists (3.1) and three-point percentage (.378), eighth in field goal percentage (.487), and ninth in steals (1.5). First-year guard Michaela Harrison earned All-NEC Rookie Team designation after averaging 13.3 points, 2.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Harrison also made 81 three-pointers, which is the third most in the conference. Sophomore forward Jatarrikah Settle leads the team in steals (1.7) and minutes (31.5), ranks second in rebounding (6.3) and assists (2.8), and third in scoring (9.2).
> The Mount ranks second in the NEC in three-point field goals (8.4) and third in scoring offense (66.6) and offensive rebounds (13.1). The Mountaineers are near the bottom of the league in defensive rebound percentage (.656, 8th), three-point defense (.329, 9th), and blocked shots (2.2, t-9th).
 
NEC's Finest
> Robert Morris brought home four NEC postseason honors on Monday, including a pair of major awards and the team's eighth All-NEC First Team selection over the last nine seasons.
> For the third consecutive season, Charlie Buscaglia was named Brenda Reilly NEC Coach of the Year. Buscaglia is the first league coach to win the award in three straight years, and now is one shy of tying Bill Sheahan of Mount St. Mary's and Ed Swanson of Sacred Heart for the conference record. The third-year coach became the fastest to reach 50 career wins in program history, nabbing the victory in his 76th try - a 64-63 win over Delaware State on Dec. 18.
> Nneka Ezeigbo collected NEC Defensive Player of the Year and All-NEC First Team accolades. Ezeigbo - the program's first DPOY recipient since Angela Pace '10 in 2010 - was the league's only player to rank in the top seven of both blocks (1.3, 4th) and steals (1.7, 7th), collecting multiple steals in 16 contests and two or more blocks in 10. She also slots fourth in rebounding (7.6), 10th in field goal percentage (.477), and 11th in scoring (12.3) despite playing just 24.4 minutes per contest. Ezeigbo previously made the Rookie and Second Teams in her previous two seasons.
> Isabella Posset became RMU's 11th All-NEC Rookie Team selection since 2009-10. A three-time NEC Rookie of the Week winner, Posset paces the Colonials in minutes (25.3), assists (2.6), and steals (1.9), while slotting second in scoring (7.9). She ranks fourth in the NEC in steals and 12th in assists, and paces her rookie counterparts in both categories.
 
Meeting the Mark
> RMU picked up its 20th win of the season on Monday, topping Fairleigh Dickinson, 64-38. This is the 12th season overall and fourth straight that the Colonials have won 20 games.
> Since retired head coach Sal Buscaglia and his son Charlie took over the RMU program in 2003-04, it has posted 10 20-win seasons. The Colonials rattled off four consecutive 20-win campaigns from 2004-05 to 2007-08, collecting 87 wins in all over that stretch. This current four-year run has also cumulated in 87 victories, headlined by last year's school-record 25-win season. RMU also won 20 or more games in 1981-82 (20-8) and 1983-84 (23-5).
 
Firing On All Cylinders
> Nneka Ezeigbo has been as reliable as they come down the stretch. In the last nine contests, the junior is averaging 16.6 points on 58.5 percent shooting, 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and 1.6 steals. She has scored in double figures in eight of those nine games and posted a pair of double-doubles. Ezeigbo tallied a career-high 30 points on Feb. 25 against LIU Brooklyn, and matched her career best with five blocks on March 7 against Saint Francis U.
> Nina Augustin has played the best basketball of her career over the last seven games, averaging 12.4 points on 44.7 percent shooting from deep, 3.1 rebounds, 3.0 three-pointers, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 steals. After coming off the bench since Dec. 15 against Pitt-Johnstown, the sophomore returned to the starting lineup on Feb. 16 at Mount St. Mary's and scored a career-high 18 points (6-12 3PT) two days later at Saint Francis U.
 
Leap, Not Slump
> One of the NEC's most improved players has to be Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu. As a freshman in 2017-18, she averaged just 0.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 3.6 minutes per game in 17 contests. After reaching double-figures scoring for the seventh time this season at Wagner (16 points), she's upped her per-game averages to 6.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 15.4 minutes as a sophomore.
> Ozzy-Momodu doesn't have quite enough field goal attempts to qualify, but if she did, she would rank first in the NEC in field goal percentage (.569). According to the women's basketball analytics website, HerHoopStats.com, the sophomore ranks second nationally in defensive rebounding rate (32.8%) and eighth in total rebounding rate (23.7%).
 
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. Nine 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), Jan. 26 against Wagner (46), Jan. 28 against Sacred Heart (46), Feb. 2 at FDU (43), Feb. 11 against Central Connecticut (40), and March 11 against Fairleigh Dickinson (38). The Colonials held the Knights to a 27.3 percent (12-44) clip from the floor, making them the 21th different opponent to shoot under 30 percent since 2016-17.
> The Colonials forced 20 turnovers against FDU, the 18th game in which they have made their opponent make 20 or more mistakes. They're averaging 20.43 forced turnovers a game, a mark that leads the NEC and ranks 23rd nationally. According to HerHoopStats.com, RMU's defensive turnover rate is 25.7 percent, which is the fifth best behind Hartford, Lamar, Quinnipiac, and Kentucky.
> Through 30 games, RMU currently paces the NEC in scoring defense by allowing 54.5 points per game, which also slots 10th 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 20-0 in such situations this season and went 25-0 last season. All-time, RMU is 68-0 when holding the lead at the final whistle.

Follow the Colonials: Facebook |  Twitter | Instagram

Tweet #ColonialPride  Tweet #HoopTownship