Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team completed its first season sweep of the 2019-20 Northeast Conference (NEC) slate, knocking off Merrimack for the second time in two weeks, 72-50, this afternoon from Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center.
Robert Morris (10-6, 5-0 NEC) led wire-to-wire in a dominant victory against the NEC's top offensive unit, with only a pair of deadlocks totaling 1:15 being the only times the hosts weren't out front. The Colonials held Merrimack (10-7, 3-3 NEC) to its second lowest point total of the season, and scored their third most points on the offensive end.
"Last Saturday (against Wagner) we didn't come out sharp and didn't get better as the game went on," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "Today was a different story. We focused on some certain things and had to stay hungry through the week. It was a big week of accountability and being able to handle a couple of wins at home, and not be comfortable because we were at home. I like how we closed it out today, we had a lot of accountability and showed no fear on taking our shots."
RMU had four players reach double-figures scoring, with Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu and Isabella Posset matching their career highs. Ozzy-Momodu was a force inside, tallying 17 points (7-13 FG) and a career-best 17 rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench, while Posset stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-4 3PT), four rebounds, four steals, three assists, and a block.
After a Kate Mager trey knotted the game at 8-8, the Colonials used an 11-0 surge to take control of the game. Two Natalie Villaflor mid-range jumpers and a Posset runner put the hosts ahead 14-8 at the media timeout, then Nneka Ezeigbo scored five points on a three-point play and two additional free throws to give RMU an 11-point lead after one quarter.
The gap moved to nine after the second frame and fell to seven at the first media timeout of the second half. The Colonials came out of the break with a trio of treys – two from Posset, one from Honoka Ikematsu – and extended their advantage to 46-33 at the next media, then saw it sit to 14 at the third-quarter whistle.
After a Kaylee Thomas three made it 51-40 to begin the final stanza, Ezeigbo and Villaflor combined to score six straight points to stretch the gap to 17 points. The lead reached 21 points on an Ozzy-Momodu layup with 3:23 remaining, and hit its highest point with 1:10 on the clock after Trinity Papamandjaris finished with contact and converted the foul shot.
Ezeigbo finished with 13 points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes, while Villaflor provided 10 points off the bench.
RMU limited the league's top scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker in Denia Davis-Stewart to eight points, five rebounds, and one rejection in 24 minutes.
Ozzy-Momodu posted her first double-double of the season in the win, and the fourth of her career. In NEC play, the junior is averaging 12.2 points, 10.6 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and 1.0 steals in 17.2 minutes per game, and is shooting 57.8 percent from the floor.
The Colonials doubled up the Warriors in the paint, 36-18, owned a 49-32 advantage on the glass, and received a season-high 34 points from their bench.
Merrimack committed 21 turnovers offensively, becoming the 10th different RMU opponent this season to make 20 or more mistakes.
Thomas led the Warriors with 14 points, while Courtney Clasen added 13 points for the visitors.
The Colonials are now 5-0 to begin NEC play for the third consecutive year and the sixth time overall.
Robert Morris completes a four-game home stand on Monday, Jan. 20 at 1:00 p.m. when it hosts Sacred Heart as a part of Building Bridges Through Basketball day.
Building Bridges Through Basketball is part of a department-wide day of service for the Colonials, and student-athletes from various sports programs will assist in a mini sports clinic for children and activities that include age appropriate crafts and face painting. Children in kindergarten through sixth grade are admitted free for all activities as well as admission for both the women's and men's basketball games, while tickets for adults and children ages 12 and up are $5.00 with the code BRIDGE at the following Ticketmaster link.
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