Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University women's basketball head coach Charlie Buscaglia made history by capturing his fourth consecutive Brenda Reilly Northeast Conference (NEC) Coach of the Year award and the Colonials had a player on the First, Second, and Third Teams, as the league announced its postseason award winners on its social media platforms Monday morning.
With his unprecedented fourth straight Coach of the Year nod, Buscaglia has moved into a tie with Bill Sheahan of Mount St. Mary's (1981-98) and Ed Swanson of Sacred Heart (1990-13) for the most in conference annals. Nneka Ezeigbo became the fifth player in program history to earn four All-NEC honors by making her second consecutive First Team, while her post partner Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu collected Second Team plaudits. Isabella Posset made the jump from Rookie Team to Third Team to give Robert Morris three all-league honorees for the third time in four seasons.
In his fourth season directing RMU, Buscaglia led his team to a fourth consecutive NEC regular-season title – the first team since Saint Francis U from 2000-01 to 2004-05 to win four in a row. The Colonials lived up to their preseason billing of league favorite, tying a program record with a 17-1 NEC mark, which was buoyed by a 14-0 start. RMU has been dominant inside the conference, owning a 19.6-point average margin of victory while holding opponents to 46.9 points per game and a field goal percentage of .319.
Defensively speaking, this could be Buscaglia's best unit. The Colonials currently boast the fourth best scoring defense nationally at 52.3 points per game, and rank inside the top 15 of the NCAA in three-point field goal defense (.262, 8th), field goal percentage defense (.346, 12th), turnovers forced (21.14, 12th), steals per game (10.8, 14th), and turnover margin (+5.86, 15th). RMU has won seven games by 30 points or more, held 10 opponents to a field goal percentage below .300, and turned 18 foes over 20-plus times.
Ezeigbo joins Elise James (1996-00) Laura Lindak (1989-94), Artemis Spanou (2010-14), and Anna Niki Stamolamprou (2013-17) as the only Colonials to make four All-NEC teams. The senior ranks second on the circuit in field goal percentage (.482), fifth in rebounding (8.2), seventh in scoring (14.0), eight in blocks (0.9), and ninth in steals (1.7), despite playing fewer minutes per game than last season (24.8 to 23.5). She has 23 double-figure scoring games, eight double-doubles, and six 20-point scoring efforts.
A four-time NEC Player of the Week selection in 2019-20, Ezeigbo's final hurrah has seen her climb the RMU record books. The Ewing, N.J. product ranks fourth all-time in program annals in rebounds (847), fifth in blocks (107), sixth in field goals made (551), seventh in points (1,342) and games played (124), and eighth in steals (165). She is one of four players to accumulate 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 100 steals in a career, and could join five other Colonials as part of the NEC Three-Ring Club with a successful run through this week's tournament.
Ozzy-Momodu flourished in her junior season, earning Second Team plaudits after averaging 9.1 points on 56.0 percent shooting and 8.6 rebounds in 25 games. The London, England native registered seven double-doubles and reached double-digit rebounds on 10 occasions despite playing just 16.0 minutes per contest. She was even better in NEC play with per-game averages of 11.0 points and 9.7 caroms, and a 59.5-percent field goal mark. On Feb. 10 at Wagner, Ozzy-Momodu poured in a career-high 23 points to go with 15 rebounds and three steals, and earned NEC Player of the Week accolades afterward.
Posset is the sixth player in program history to move from the Rookie Team to the First, Second, or Third Team as a sophomore. The Beaver, Pa. product led the conference in steals (2.3) and captured NEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 22 after averaging 13.5 points, 6.0 steals, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks in wins over Merrimack and Sacred Heart. She became the 27th different Colonial to reach 100 career steals earlier in the season and the fourth fastest to reach that milestone, and reached double figures in points on 12 occasions.
Robert Morris begins NEC Tournament play tonight at 7:00 p.m. against eighth-seeded Wagner. The Colonials swept the Seahawks in the regular season by scores of 51-47 (home) and 77-35 (away). The game can be seen on NEC Front Row or hear on ESPN 970 Pittsburgh.
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