Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University women's basketball team completes a four-game home stand this weekend when it hosts I-76 rival Youngstown State. The Colonials are coming off their first two wins of the 2020-21 season, having swept Wright State at home last weekend following a pair of losses to the Raiders the week before. On the other side, the Penguins are riding a five-game winning streak, with four of them coming consecutively against UIC. This will be the fourth straight season and the sixth of seven that RMU and YSU have played, with the Colonials picking up a 58-43 win on Nov. 13, 2019 in the UPMC Events Center lidlifter.
GAMES #11 & 12
Youngstown State Penguins (5-3, 5-3 HL) @ Robert Morris Colonials (2-8, 2-8 HL)
January 29-30, 2021 // 7:00 p.m. / 5:00 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), Justin Pyles (color commentary)
Game Notes: Youngstown State // Robert Morris
History w/ Youngstown State
Overall: 6-17 | Home: 4-7 | Away: 2-10 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: W1
Last Game: Nov. 13, 2019 – Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris 58, Youngstown State 43
A series that dates back to the 1982-83 season, RMU trails Youngstown State by a 17-6 margin through 23 meetings. The Colonials have won two of the last three, however, both of which were played in Moon Township. Two of the previous five matchups have gone to overtime, with the Penguins pulling out victories in 2014 and 2018.
On Nov. 13, 2019, RMU cruised to a 58-43 win over Youngstown State in the first women's basketball game played at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials held the Penguins to 29.4 percent shooting and outscored the visitors, 34-24, in the second half.
Nneka Ezeigbo posted a double-double for the hosts, tallying 17 points on 8-of-16 shooting, 12 rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.
Esther Castedo added 12 points (2-4 3PT) and three assists.
Two seasons before that, RMU blew out YSU at the North Athletic Complex, 84-52. The Colonials were dominant offensively, shooting 57.9 percent from the floor and 52.9 percent on three-pointers, and owned an overwhelming 40-18 edge on the glass. All nine players scored for RMU, with four reaching double figures in
Jocelynne Jones (15),
Mikalah Mulrain (11),
Megan Callahan (10), and
Honoka Ikematsu (10). Jones added eight rebounds, four steals, three assists, and a block in 28 minutes.
Scouting the Penguins
Eighth-year head coach John Barnes has led Youngstown State to a 5-3 overall record and identical mark in the Horizon League. The Penguins currently sit seventh in the conference standings and are riding a five-game winning streak, starting it on Jan. 9 with a 72-57 triumph against Oakland before topping UIC over four straight contests (77-66, 66-59, 88-78, 71-55).
First-year forward Nneka Obiazor, a two-time Horizon League Freshman of the Week, paces YSU in scoring (14.3), rebounding (8.9), and blocks (1.3), and ranks second in field goal percentage (.484). Obiazor is one of four Penguins averaging double figures in scoring, joining veteran trio Mary Dunn (12.6), Chelsea Olson (12.0), and McKenah Peters (10.5). Olson, a three-time All-Horizon League selection, leads the team in assists (4.1), minutes (32.4), and shares the blocks lead with Obiazor.
YSU ranks inside the top 100 nationally in three-point field goal percentage (.358, 38th), field goal percentage (.445, 52nd), three-point field goals (7.2, 74th), free throw percentage (.724, 94th), assists (14.5, 96th), and scoring defense (62.1, 99th). The Penguins struggle on the glass, ranking 296th nationally at 33.38 rebounds per game, and are 272nd overall and 11th in the league in turnover margin (-3.25).
You Gotta Have Sol
Rookie forward
Sol Castro put together her best weekend as a collegian against Wright State, earning Horizon League Freshman of the Week in the process. Castro averaged 21.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks over the two contests, while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor. She posted her first RMU double-double on Jan. 22, setting new career highs in points (23) on 8-of-14 shooting and rebounds (11) in a 50-43 win. The following day, the Rio Colorado, Argentina product scored 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting, adding five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in a 68-65 triumph over the Raiders.
Castro became the first RMU player to receive a Horizon League weekly award this season and the 15th different freshman in program history to garner conference weekly award. The last to do was
Esther Castedo, who was named Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week on Jan. 16, 2019. She also became the first Colonial freshman to score 20 or more points in back-to-back games since
Honoka Ikematsu in 2017-18. The forward leads RMU in scoring (9.2), field goal percentage (.437), steals (1.0), blocks (0.4), and minutes played (28.0), and ranks second in rebounding (4.2).
Call it a Comeback
Trailing 58-47 with 6:56 remaining in regulation this past Saturday, RMU used a 21-7 run over the remainder of the contest to complete a two-game sweep of Wright State with a 68-65 win. Senior guard
Nina Augustin went on a personal 7-0 rally over that span, burying the game-tying three-pointer, go-ahead jumper, and insurance free throws to seal the victory.
This was the Colonials second double-digit point comeback in as many seasons, previously doing so on Dec. 18, 2019 at Norfolk State. In that contest, RMU trailed by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before forcing overtime, ultimately winning 69-62 with the extra frame. The Colonials' last double-figure comeback at home happened in the 2017-18 season, as they made up a 10-point second-half gap in a 62-49 triumph over Fairleigh Dickinson on Feb. 17, 2018.
Milestone Triumph
RMU grabbed the first win of its Horizon League era last Friday, topping Wright State, 50-43, at the UPMC Events Center. Not only did it halt an eight-game losing streak, but it also came against one of the league's top programs. The Raiders entered the weekend ranked 91st out of 342 eligible teams - and third in the Horizon League - in the NCAA's NET rankings, and received 11 points in the receiving votes section of the
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. WSU has finished in the top three of the league in seven consecutive seasons - making a pair of NCAA Tournaments and four Women's National Invitation Tournaments (WNIT) over that time.
Cali is the Mission
Redshirt junior guard
Megan Callahan has been one of the program's better shooters in its history, and on Jan. 15 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 (112, 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 41.2 percent. The redshirt junior ranks fifth all-time at RMU in three-point percentage at 37.5 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 (99 games) hoping to meet the milestone this weekend.
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 four 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, and 2-0 in 2020-21. All-time, RMU is 645-0 when holding the lead at the final whistle.
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