Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team avoided becoming just the second number one seed in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament to bow out in the quarterfinals, escaping a pesky Wagner team with a 65-61 overtime victory this evening from Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center.
After rolling through numerous conference foes en route to a school-record 17-1 NEC mark, Robert Morris (23-7) had its hands full with Wagner (10-20) all night and only led for 15:37 of the contest. The Colonials struggled from beyond the arc and only converted 4-of-20 attempts, but found their footing defensively in the second half and overtime, holding the Seahawks to 27.0 percent from the floor.
"It's very tough that someone had to lose a game like tonight's," said head coach Charlie Buscaglia, who earlier in the day won his fourth consecutive Brenda Reilly NEC Coach of the Year award. "I give Wagner a ton of credit, they really worked hard and it's really unfortunate that someone had to lose when they play that hard. I tip my hat to them, they really pushed us to the limit in all aspects. We had to be really good down the stretch to be able to pull that off, and I'm proud of our group as things weren't easy for us. We were able to overcome it because we stuck together when adversity had hit."
RMU's three All-NEC honorees were in double figures scoring, led by Nneka Ezeigbo's ninth double-double of the season, as she tallied 16 points (6-9 FG, 4-5 FT) and 12 rebounds to go with two blocks and two steals. Irekpitan Ozzy-Momodu added 13 points and eight caroms, while Isabella Posset provided 10 points, seven rebounds, and two steals.
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Down six in the early stages of the second half, the Colonials used a 14-2 surge to grab their first lead since the 1:44 mark of the first quarter. Ezeigbo started it with a baby hook inside, then Posset canned a three. After two Wagner free throws, Ozzy-Momodu finished a put back to make it a one-point game at the media timeout, and cleaned up another mess in the paint to push RMU in front, 35-34. Two more free throws from the sophomore center extended the gap to three, then Esther Castedo buried a corner trey to make it 40-34.
The Colonial advantage reached eight with another Ezeigbo layup near the end of the frame, and it seemed like all momentum was finally with the hosts. However, Alayshia Dailey pulled a Chauncey Hawkins of St. Francis Brooklyn from five nights before, hitting a half-court prayer at the buzzer to give the upset-minded Seahawks some energy heading into the fourth.
That difference closed in a hurry, with Drayah Heyward and Khaleah Edwards providing back-to-back buckets to tie it at 47-47 in the early moments of the fourth quarter. Honoka Ikematsu stopped the bleeding temporarily with a three of an inbounds, but Wagner answered with a 7-0 rally to grab a 54-50 advantage with 4:48 remaining in regulation.
RMU's defense locked down from there and earned a couple trips to the free throw stripe, but only made two to make it 54-52. After Dailey missed a pair to give the hosts possession with 14 seconds on the clock, Nina Augustin found a seam and finished off the glass to send it to overtime.
"That's something we've worked on recently," said Buscaglia of Augustin's tying layup. "When you work on that kind of stuff, you're not sure when you have to use it. On a game like today, when you're looking at it from the outside and see one versus eight – last time we played (Wagner) we beat them pretty good – they say you're not going to need that. We thought we did, and the work that we put into (that play) benefited us when the moment came."
It wasn't all smooth sailing for the Colonials in the extra frame. After a scoreless 1:20 to begin overtime, Augustin was fouled and made both free throws to push RMU ahead. Heyward answered with a tough bucket inside, but Castedo buried a mid-range jumper to regain the advantage. After a long possession came up with nothing for the Seahawks, Castedo found Ezeigbo inside for a bucket and the harm to make it 61-56 with 1:22 to play.
That gap didn't get too comfortable however, as Edwards sank a trey to pull Wagner within two. Augustin responded with a pull-up jumper, but Alex Cowan then finished a runner to set the score at 63-61 with nine seconds to play. The Seahawks tried to get a steal off the inbounds but failed to do so, and Augustin made both her foul shots to keep the Colonials' repeat hopes alive.
Edwards and Janelle Mullen shared high scorer honors with 17 points each.
RMU moves to 2-0 all-time in NEC Tournament overtime contests, previously defeating second-seeded Sacred Heart, 68-62, in the 2005 semifinals. The Colonials are also 25-2 at home, 15-5 in the quarterfinals, and 4-1 against Wagner in league postseason play.
Ezeigbo moved to fifth in program history in field goals made (557), sixth in points (1,358), and tied for sixth in games played (125) after tonight.
Robert Morris will match up with fifth-seeded Sacred Heart in the NEC Tournament semifinals on Thursday, March 12 at 7:00 p.m. from Peoples Court at the UPMC Events Center. The Pioneers defeated fourth-seeded Saint Francis U on the road, 73-70, to advance. RMU knocked off SHU in both meetings this season by scores of 73-43 (home) and 67-38 (road).
Tickets are now available for Thursday's semifinal contest by calling (412) 397-6413 or online on Ticketmaster. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and can be heard on ESPN 970 Pittsburgh.
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