Moon Township, Pa. – A nine-month wait concludes this Dec. 12-13 weekend as the
Robert Morris University women's basketball team begins its 2020-21 season with a Horizon League series at Northern Kentucky. RMU, one of two new members in the conference, is coming off its fourth consecutive 20-win campaign in 2019-20, finishing 23-7 and 17-1 in the Northeast Conference (NEC). The Colonials captured their fourth straight NEC regular-season crown and advanced to the NEC Tournament semifinals before the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately wiped out the remainder of the season.
GAMES #1 & #2
Robert Morris Colonials (0-0, 0-0 HL) at Northern Kentucky Norse (0-4, 0-0 HL)
December 12-13, 2020 // 2:00 p.m. / 2:00 p.m. // Highland Heights, Ky. – BB&T Arena (9,400)
Live Video: ESPN+ (Saturday / Sunday) // Live Stats: NKUNorse.com
Saturday On-Air Talent: Brady Laber (play-by-play), Rich Hoyt (color commentary)
Sunday On-Air Talent: Jack Kizer (play-by-play), Rich Hoyt (color commentary)
Game Notes: Robert Morris // Northern Kentucky
History w/ Northern Kentucky
Overall: 1-3 | Home: 0-2 | Away: 1-0 | Neutral: 0-1 | Streak: W1
Last Game: November 21, 2017 – Highland Heights, Ky. – Robert Morris 59, Northern Kentucky 50
Robert Morris trails in the all-time series against Northern Kentucky by a 1-3 margin, but won the most recent matchup in 2017. The Colonials are 1-1 away from Moon Township, whereas the Norse won both meetings in 2013 and 2015 at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
RMU's first win of its school record 25-win 2017-18 campaign came at Northern Kentucky, a 59-50 triumph on Nov. 21, 2017.
Nneka Ezeigbo provided 16 points (8-13 FG) and seven rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench, and the Colonial defense held the Norse to 26.1 percent (12-46) shooting and a 1-of-17 (5.9%) mark from three-point land.
Megan Callahan added eight points, four rebounds, and a steal in her second career start.
In the 2015 matchup, NKU came back in the fourth quarter to earn a 72-70 win. RMU received a game-high 19 points (7-13 FG, 3-6 3PT) from
Megan Smith to go along with six rebounds, while Rebeca Navarro (14 pts) and Ashley Ravelli (13 pts) were also in double-digits. The Colonials were held to 26.3 percent (5-19) shooting in the fourth quarter, while the Norse made half of its 14 field goal attempts.
Scouting the Norse
Led by fifth-year head coach Camryn Whitaker, Northern Kentucky has opened up the 2020-21 season with four losses to Cincinnati (67-73), Akron (60-70), Bowling Green (49-63), and No. 19 Ohio State (63-96). The Norse were selected to finish fourth in the Horizon League according to a preseason poll of the league's head coaches, one spot ahead of Robert Morris.
Redshirt junior guard Lindsey Duvall is the team's leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 11.3 points and 8.3 caroms per game off the bench. Third-year point guard Ally Niece, a two-time All-Horizon League selection, is averaging 8.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in the early going. Another All-HL selection, 2020 Freshman Team pick Ivy Turner, is second in scoring (9.3), rebounding (3.8), and steals (0.8) while averaging a team-high 31.8 minutes per contest.
Through four contests, NKU ranks in the top half nationally in rebounding margin (+7.5, 63rd), personal fouls (18.0, 130th), rebounds (38.75, 154th), and free throw percentage (.679, 154th). The Norse's worst rankings are in field goal percentage (.463, 248th), three-point field goal percentage (.216, 249th), assists (9.0, 256th), assist-to-turnover ratio (0.47, 262nd), and steals (3.8, 281st).
Checking In Late
What a difference a year makes. 404 days after playing its earliest season opener in program history, RMU is set to play its latest season opener in its Division I timeline when it tips off this Saturday, Dec. 12 at Northern Kentucky.
The last time the Colonials' began a season in December was the 1992-93 campaign, when on Dec. 3 they fell at home to No. 22 North Carolina, 54-39. RMU's last win in a December lidlifter came in 1986-87, a 80-64 triumph over Canisius on Dec. 2.
All-time, the Colonials are 18-30 in season openers and have dropped their previous three. RMU nearly pulled a historic upset in last year's opening tip, falling 66-61 to a TCU team that went 22-7 and finished second in the Big 12. The Colonials' last season-opening triumph came to begin the 2016-17 season, a 69-52 win over Point Park on Nov. 11, 2016.
Mid-Major Power
RMU is in the midst of its greatest run in program history, one that compares quite favorably to the rest of the mid-major landscape. Since the 2013-14 season, the Colonials have gone 150-77 (.661) overall and 101-25 (.802) in conference play, winning five regular-season conference titles, four tournament crowns, and claiming five national postseason bids.
When measuring those numbers up to their mid-major foes, RMU entered the 2020-21 campaign tied for second in conference tournament championships, third in NCAA Tournament appearances (4), fourth in regular-season titles, ninth in conference wins, 14th in conference winning percentage, 15th in postseason appearances, 16th in overall wins, and 19th in overall winning percentage. The Colonials trailed only Florida Gulf Coast in conference tournament crowns, and FGCU, James Madison, and Gonzaga in conference regular-season titles.
The Defense (Never) Rests
Robert Morris prides itself on its defense and 2019-20 was no different. The Colonials finished the season ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense (52.6), 10th in three-point field goal defense (.266), 11th in turnovers forced (21.17), 12th in field goal percentage defense (.346), 17th in turnover margin (+5.57), 20th in steals (10.7), 31st in scoring margin (+12.4), 76th in rebounds (39.70), and 79th in rebounding margin (+4.0). RMU's scoring defense, scoring margin, and field goal percentage defense are all school records.
The Colonials have ranked inside the top 25 of scoring defense in each of the last four seasons, placing 25th in 2016-17 (57.0), eighth in 2017-18 (54.1), and 12th in 2018-19 (55.3) before achieving last season's sixth ranking (52.6). RMU is also in the midst of an impressive streak, causing double-digit turnovers in each of its last 161 games. In 77 of those contests, the Colonials have forced 20 or more turnovers from their opponent - a number that included 19 such instances last season.
New Season, New Journey
After spending the previous 35 seasons competing in the Northeast Conference (NEC), RMU became a member of the Horizon League on July 1. The step up in competition will be evident, as the Horizon League ranked 22nd of 32 conferences in RPI last season, compared to the NEC's 30th ranking.
The Colonials were tabbed to finish fifth in its maiden Horizon League voyage this season, according to a preseason poll of the league's coaches. RMU received 88 points in the voting, trailing unanimous favorite and reigning champion IUPUI (144), Green Bay (120), Wright State (118), and Northern Kentucky (105). Youngstown State (84), Milwaukee (76), Cleveland State (64), Oakland (54), Detroit Mercy (38), Purdue Fort Wayne (24), and UIC (21) rounded out the field.
In their 35-season NEC journey, the Colonials won eight regular-season titles (2007, 2008, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and eight conference tournaments (1988, 1991, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019). RMU went 337-271 (.554) in league play, appearing in 25 NEC Tournaments and 12 NEC Championship Games.
Keeping It (Almost) 100
Over his 13-year career at Robert Morris, Sal Buscaglia turned one of the worst NCAA Division I women's basketball programs into a mid-major power, sending RMU to a quartet of NCAA Tournaments (2007, 2008, 2014, 2016) as well as the 2010 Postseason WNIT and 2012 Postseason WBI. By his side the entire time was his son,
Charlie Buscaglia, who took over for his retired father in 2016-17 and has since raised the bar even further.
Coach B, as he is respectfully called, enters the 2020-21 campaign eight wins shy of the 100-win milestone, owning a 92-37 (.713) head coaching record. He became the first head coach in NEC history to win four consecutive Coach of the Year awards, and left the league tied for the lead in that department. Buscaglia was bestowed with the Best Coach designation in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's College Basketball Decade in Review in 2019, and set school records for most wins by a first-year head coach (22, 2016-17) and single-season wins (25, 2017-18).
Successful Seniors
Hailing from four different countries, the 2020-21 RMU senior class has seen a multitude of success over its time in Moon Township. Three of the seniors (
Nina Augustin,
Laura Carrasco,
Honoka Ikematsu) and redshirt junior
Megan Callahan own a 70-26 (.729) record as Colonials, while former junior college transfer
Holly Forbes helped RMU go 23-7 (.767) in her first go-around in 2019-20.
Each of the four fourth-year seniors have already been a part of three 20-win seasons, joining the classes of 2020 (
Nneka Ezeigbo), 2019 (
Nia Adams, Nadège Pluviose), 2018 (
Shakema Dashiell,
Jocelynne Jones,
Mikalah Mulrain,
Megan Smith), 2017 (Janee Brown, Rebeca Navarro, Anna Niki Stamolamprou), 2008 (Psyche Butler), and 2007 (Jenna Burkett, Sugeiry Monsac, Arlene Mull). Ezeigbo is the program's all-time winningest player over a four-year career, notching 92 victories from 2016-20.
Bella Knows Best
Junior guard
Isabella Posset has been one of the team's most reliable players since arriving on campus for the 2018-19 season. The two-time All-NEC selection has appeared in all 63 games over the last two campaigns - starting 55 of them - and has flourished on both ends of the floor.
The Beaver High School product led the NEC in steals last season with an average of 2.3 per game, serving as the only player in the conference to be above a 2.0 mark. She became the fourth fastest in program history to hit the century mark in swipes, and netted the second most in single-game annals on Jan. 20, 2020 with eight against Sacred Heart.
Offensively, Posset enters 2020-21 tied with
Nina Augustin for the most double-digit scoring performances among active Colonials with 24. She ranked third on the team in scoring (7.9) last season and paced the team in assists (2.7) as a freshman. Posset also has led the team in minutes played the last two seasons, averaging 25.9 in 2018-19 and 26.6 in 2019-20.
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 3.767 in 2019-20, which was the third highest among Division I teams.
RMU is the only Division I school to be ranked inside the top four of the WBCA Academic Top 25 in four straight seasons, coming in at third in 2018-19 (3.713), fourth in 2017-18 (3.748), and second in 2016-17 (3.726). The Colonials also captured four consecutive NEC Team GPA Awards over that stretch.
International Love
In what has become commonplace for the Robert Morris women's basketball program, this season's edition of the Colonials will feature a heavy international presence, with eight student-athletes representing seven different countries and Canadian provinces (Argentina, Finland, Japan, Ontario, Quebec, Spain).
International recruiting has become an emphasis of the program since the arrival of
Charlie Buscaglia in 2003-04, with 35 players coming to Moon Township from outside of the United States. From those 35 student-athletes, a total of 17 different countries have been represented.
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 23-0 in such situations last season. All-time, RMU is 643-0 when holding the lead at the final whistle.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
