Dayton, Ohio – Playing for the first time in nearly two weeks, the Robert Morris University women's basketball team held serve with a strong Wright State team this afternoon, but the hosts would ultimately pull away and prevail over the Colonials, 58-48, in Horizon League action. RMU falls to 0-7 in the defeat, while Wright State improves to 8-3 overall and 8-1 in league play.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU pulled within one early in the second quarter before Wright State answered with an 8-0 run to take a 22-13 lead. Mackenzie Amalia stopped the bleeding with a deep three-pointer, and after a Raiders free throw, Sol Castro finished in the paint to pull the Colonials within five. The teams traded baskets to keep the gap at five, then following a Jada Wright free throw, RMU used a Nina Augustin layup and Sydney Palermo trifecta to trim the deficit to 26-25 entering the halftime break.
QUOTABLE
"Congratulations to Wright State on their victory," said RMU head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We showed some toughness throughout the game, and continued to grind on several occasions to be there down the stretch. We need to learn from our possessions down the stretch and tighten some screws up. We made mistakes, but played very hard as a team."
FIRST HALF FILL UP
Junior guard Esther Castedo provided the bulk of the scoring load in the first half, scoring eight of her team-high 10 minutes over the opening 20 minutes. Castedo was 3-of-4 from the floor in the first quarter and made her only field goal attempt in the following stanza. The Lugo, Spain native – who reached double figures in scoring for the second time this season – added four rebounds and a pair of assists on the afternoon.
KEEPING PACE
WSU pushed its lead to lead quickly to start the second half before a pair of Castedo free throws made it a four-point game. The Raiders responded with a trio of layups to push the gap to double-digits, but Megan Callahan halted the run with a three from the baseline. A WSU free throw was followed by a Palermo layup, and another had an answer from Dahomée Forgues on a jumper. Laura Carrasco managed to pull RMU within four after a trey with 33 seconds left on the clock, but Tyler Frierson scored inside on the next possession to make it a six-point game after three.
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"We worked hard and we are continuing to get better every day – especially on the defensive end," added Buscaglia. "Even when we struggled to knock down some good looks, we continued to battle and kept ourselves in the game. I told everyone to keep knocking on the door. If we keep the mindset of keeping our heads up and working hard, we'll keep getting better."
GOING BACK TO CALI
Redshirt junior guard Megan Callahan buried a baseline trey in the third quarter, and in the process became the 16th player in program history to make 100 three-pointers in RMU colors. Callahan is off to a strong start shooting the ball in 2020-21, converting at a 47.4 percent clip. She made a career-high 64 three-pointers as a freshman in 2017-18, and ranks fifth in the school record book for career three-point percentage with a success rate of 37.7 percent.
CLOSING STRETCH
Channing Chappell's three gave the Raiders their biggest lead at 52-41 with 4:55 remaining. Despite only converting a single field goal in the fourth quarter, RMU hung around by getting to the foul line, as Sol Castro and Palermo sunk their chances to make it 52-45 with 2:28 on the clock. A three-point play for Holly Forbes allowed the Colonials to stay within eight a minute later, but Jada Roberson sealed the game with a fastbreak layup in the waning seconds.
HIGH HONORS
Castedo's aforementioned 10 points led the visitors on the scoresheet. Forbes and Castro each pulled down seven rebounds to pace the Colonials. Angel Baker and Roberson both scored 12 points to top all players on the afternoon.
UP NEXT
RMU finishes off a two-game set at Wright State on Saturday, Jan. 16. Opening tip is set for 2:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
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