Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University women's basketball team is back at home to kick off a four-game home stand this weekend when it matches up with Wright State again. The Colonials and Raiders clashed last weekend in Dayton, both of which were WSU wins by a total margin of 17 points. RMU will look to rebound after a tough start to the 2020-21 season, as it plays six of its final 10 regular-season games at the UPMC Events Center.
GAMES #9 & 10
Wright State Raiders (9-3, 9-1 HL) @ Robert Morris Colonials (0-8, 0-8 HL)
January 22-23, 2021 // 1:00 p.m. / 12:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – UPMC Events Center (4,000)
Live Video: ESPN+ (Fri. / Sat.) // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
On-Air Talent: Adam Gusky (play-by-play), Jim Elias (color commentary on Fri.), Justin Pyles (color commentary on Sat.)
Game Notes: Wright State // Robert Morris
History w/ Wright State
Overall: 2-3 | Home: 1-0 | Away: 0-3 | Neutral: 1-0 | Streak: L1
Last Game: Jan. 16, 2021 – Dayton, Ohio – Wright State 58, Robert Morris 51
After last weekend, Robert Morris trails the all-time series against Wright State by a 3-2 margin. The series has now been contested three times in Dayton, Ohio, once in Moon Township, and once on a neutral floor in Philadelphia.
WSU topped RMU, 58-51, last Saturday in the most recent meeting. The Colonials pulled even with the Raiders, 37-37, after three quarters but the hosts used an 11-2 run to begin the final stanza that ultimately sealed the game.
Esther Castedo led RMU with eight points (3-7 FG) after netting a team-high 10 on the previous day, while Dahomée Forgues and
Megan Callahan pulled down five rebounds each.
In 2008, the Colonials took home the trophy at their own Thanksgiving Tournament with a 65-57 triumph over Wright State. Monet Johnson earned Tournament MVP honors after leading the charge with 26 points (10-18 FG, 2-4 3PT, 4-5 FT), four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block. Kendra Williams provided 20 points (7-11 FG, 4-5 3PT, 2-2 FT) and three helpers in a full 40 minutes of work, while Pace nearly posted a quadruple-double with 11 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, and seven steals. The seven steals are tied for the fifth most in single-game history at RMU.
Scouting the Raiders
Led by fifth-year head coach Katrina Merriweather, Wright State currently sits fourth in the league at 9-1 behind the three unbeatens, Milwaukee (10-0), IUPUI (6-0), and Northern Kentucky (4-0). The Raiders are 9-3 overall, dropping non-conference contests to Bradley (61-66) and No. 24 Michigan (59-82), before winning seven of their last eight games.
Junior guard Angel Baker leads WSU in scoring (13.1), assists (3.4), and steals (1.8) while seeing a team-high 33.1 minutes per game. Sophomore guard Jada Robinson is right behind her in the scoring column at 8.9 points per contest, while senior center Tyler Frierson has been incredibly efficient, averaging 7.9 points while shooting 59.1 percent, and team highs in rebounds (8.6) and blocks (1.1) despite averaging just 16.1 minutes per game.
The Raiders rank third nationally in offensive rebounds, pulling down an eye-popping 18.6 per game - just 0.5 off the national lead of Delaware (19.1). WSU also ranks inside the top 30 in rebounding margin (+13.7, 9th), rebounds (45.50, 18th), and scoring defense (55.1, 20th). The Raiders struggle in free throw percentage (.592, 321st), three-point field goal percentage (.231, 319th), three-point field goals (3.8, 305th), and assists (10.4, 281st).
Take Your Best Shot
While RMU hasn't gotten off to the start it wanted to in 2020-21, its conference schedule hasn't done it favors. The combined league record of the Colonials' opponents - IUPUI, Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky, Wright State - is 29-1. After the Colonials' additional two-game set with the Raiders this weekend, they are set to finish the regular season with Youngstown State (3-3), Oakland (6-4), Detroit Mercy (1-9), and Purdue Fort Wayne (0-10).
Among all teams that have played at least five conference games and are still searching for their first win, RMU is the only school who has a combined conference opponent record with just a single loss. In the Summit League, Omaha is 0-4 with a pair of defeats to both South Dakota State (4-0) and North Dakota State (5-1). In the Sun Belt, Louisiana-Monroe is 0-4 with two losses each to Arkansas State (4-0) and UT-Arlington (3-1).
Everyone Contributes
RMU used 10 different players last weekend at Wright State, and all of them showed up on the scoresheet in both contests. This extends a streak to three straight games that the Colonials have gotten at least one point from each player that checked in.
RMU had previously gone 29 straight games without every player scoring. The last instance prior to this three-game run was on Nov. 27, 2019 against Pitt-Johnstown when all 12 Colonials provided between one to 10 points in a 63-30 victory.
Going Back to Cali
Redshirt junior guard
Megan Callahan has been one of the program's better shooters in its history, and last Friday she became the 16th player in program history to make 100 career three-pointers. Callahan joins her teammates
Honoka Ikematsu (161, 6th) and
Nina Augustin (110, 14th) among Colonials that have hit the century milestone.
After struggling last season from deep (26.8%), Callahan has bounced back in 2020-21 with a current conversion rate of 39.1 percent. The redshirt junior ranks fifth all-time at RMU in three-point percentage at 37.2 percent, trailing Sade Logan (.402, 2007-09), Kristine Silaraja (.392, 2009-11), Vega Gimeno-Martinez (.391, 2009-10), and
Megan Smith (.388, 2014-18). She hit 64 of her career treys as a freshman in 2017-18 while converting at a 38.3-percent clip, then was shooting 42.1 percent from beyond the arc before an injury shortened her 2018-19 sophomore campaign.
The Veterans
RMU's Jan. 2 contest against IUPUI marked a milestone for senior duo
Nina Augustin and
Honoka Ikematsu, as that game was the 100th in both of their careers. The pair are two of three Colonials that are likely to hit the century mark this season, with classmate
Laura Carrasco (97 games) trailing both.
Both Augustin and Ikematsu have exemplified reliability over their careers, missing a total of six games between them. Augustin played in all 33 games in both her freshman and sophomore seasons before missing a pair as a junior in 2019-20. Ikematsu sat out one game in both 2017-18 and 2018-19 and two this season, but appeared in all 30 as a junior in 2019-20.
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.
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