Moon Township, Pa. – According to a poll of Horizon League head coaches, the RMU women's basketball team has been picked to finish ninth in the league in 2021-22. The poll was announced Tuesday by the Horizon League.
IUPUI, which received 11 first-place votes, has been picked as the preseason favorite for 2021-22. Milwaukee was picked second, followed by Green Bay, Northern Kentucky and Oakland. The Phoenix earned one first-place tally. Picked sixth was Cleveland State, followed by Wright State and Youngstown State, which were tied for seventh, the Colonials, UIC, Purdue Fort Wayne and Detroit Mercy.
RMU sophomore forward
Sol Castro earned a spot on the 2021-22 Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team, joining Destiny Leo of Cleveland State, Meghan Pingel of Green Bay, Ivy Turner of Northern Kentucky and Chelsea Olson of Youngstown State.
Castro, a native of Rio Colorado, Argentina, became the first member of the Colonials to lead the squad in scoring as a freshman in almost 20 years during the 2020-21 campaign when she averaged 9.9 points per game. She also grabbed an average of 5.5 rebounds per contest en route to earning a spot on the 2021 Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
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During the 2020-21 season, Castro was one of three Colonials to start each of RMU's 17 games, registering nine double-digit scoring efforts as well as three double-doubles. She was named the
Nike/Horizon League Freshman of the Week (1/25/21) after averaging 21.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in a two-game sweep of eventual conference tournament champion Wright State at the UPMC Events Center.
In addition to Castro, the Colonials also return graduate student
Nina Augustin and senior
Esther Castedo as starters. Castedo finished second for RMU in scoring in 2020-21 at 9.2 points per game, while Augustin led the Colonials in three-pointers (22) while contributing 6.7 points per contest.
Led by
Charlie Buscaglia, who enters his sixth season as head coach of the Colonials in 2021-22 as well as his 19th year overall with the program, RMU opens its season Tuesday, Nov. 9, at St. Bonaventure. The Colonials open the home portion of their 2021-22 slate Sunday, Nov. 13, against Akron at the UPMC Events Center with a 3:00 p.m. tip.
Season tickets for the
2021-22 season are on sale now and can be purchased by calling the RMU Ticket Office at (412) 397-4949. Courtside season tickets are $100 with a minimum donation to the RMU Athletics general fund, while general admission season tickets are $80 with a minimum donation to the RMU Athletics general fund.
2021-22 #HLWBB Preseason Poll
| School (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. IUPUI (11) |
139 |
| 2. Milwaukee |
125 |
| 3. Green Bay (1) |
120 |
| 4. Northern Kentucky |
107 |
| 5. Oakland |
96 |
| 6. Cleveland State |
78 |
| 7. Wright State |
72 |
| Youngstown State |
72 |
| 9. RMU |
47 |
| 10. UIC |
38 |
| 11. Purdue Fort Wayne |
26 |
| 12. Detroit Mercy |
16 |
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