GAME 2

RMU (0-1) vs. Akron (1-0)

Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021 • 3:00 p.m.

UPMC Event Center • Moon Township, Pa.

 TV: ESPN+

Talent: Adam Gusky (pxp) & Justin Pyles (color)

Twitter: @RMUWBasketball • Instagram: RMUWBasketball

 Opening Tip

- The RMU women's basketball team opened up the 2021-22 regular season this past Tuesday at St. Bonaventure, falling 61-53 in Olean against the Bonnies.

- The Colonials are 3-2 in their last five home openers and and are 20-19 (.512) all time in home openers as a Division I program. They have won four of their last six by an average of 31.3 points.

- Led by the Charlie Buscaglia, in his sixth season as head coach of the Colonials in 2021-22 as well as his 19th year overall with the program, RMU returns three starters and five letterwinners from 2020-21.

- Four Colonials freshman made their NCAA debuts Tuesday in Olean as Simone Morris, Phoenix Gedeon, Alejandra Mastral and Jazmyne DeShields each suited up for Robert Morris for the very first time.  Morris earned her first career start and finished with six points in 11 minutes while Gedeon tied for the team lead in boards with four.

- Returning as starters for the Colonials are fifth-year guard Nina Augustin, senior guard Esther Castedo and sophomore forward Sol Castro. The trio combined for 438 points and 177 rebounds during the abbreviated 2020-21 season.

- In a vote of Horizon League head coaches, RMU was picked to finish ninth in the league in 2021-22. Sophomore forward Sol Castro earned a spot on the 2021 Preseason All-Horizon League Second Team.

- Castro led RMU with 12 points against St. Bonaventure. She paced the Colonials in both scoring and rebounding during her rookie year in 2021, averaging  9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest, both of which led RMU. For her efforts Castro was named to the 2021 Horizon League All-Freshman Team.

- Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin is RMU's active leader in points with 702 and moved into 12th-place on the RMU All-Time career assists leader board with four Tuesday in RMU's 2021-22 opener.  She needs 32 more to crack the top-ten all-time, and has a shot to become the eighth player in school history to eclipse 300.

- Senior guard Esther Castedo averaged 9.2 points per game during the 2020-21 campaign while also pulling down an average of 3.2 rebounds per contest. She has appeared in 80 career games, including 23 starts, 13 of which came last season.

- Junior center Ashya Klopfenstein also made her Colonials debut Tuesday, playing 21 minutes for RMU  after spending the 2020-21 season at Dawson Community College where she averaged 16.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 55.8 percent from the floor.

- The RMU freshman class features student-athletes from four different countries. Guard Rebecca Dwomoh is from London, England, while forward Phoenix Gedeon hails from Montreal, Quebec. Guard Alejandra Mastral is a native of Zaragoza, Spain, while the four rookies that are from the United States are from four different states, including California, Delaware, Ohio and Tennessee.

- RMU continues the 2021-21 campaign next week as they open up Horizon League play on the road with showdowns at Detroit Mercy on November 18 and at Oakland on November 20.

AKRON LINKS

- Live Stats

- RMU Athletics Gameday App

 The All-Time Series (Akron) – The Colonials and Zips meet for the 22nd time in their history Saturday and the first in nearly a full decade. RMU and Akron last faced off way back on December 21, 2011, an 85-78 win for the Colonials at the Chuck. Each program is 3-3 in their last six matchups dating back to 2004 against each other, and neither school has managed to win back-to-back games in the series since that time.  The home team has won each of the last six showdowns between the two programs, a trend the Colonials would like to continue Saturday when the Zips roll into Moon Township. Akron is 1-0 on the season after a 97-54 win over Slippery Rock on Tuesday and 13-8 lifetime against RMU.

 Helper Helper – Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin gives the Colonials a solid distributor as RMU gets set for its first full non-conference slate in two years. Following Tuesday's season opener @ St. Bonaventure, Augustin has dished out 246 career assists in 112 games, an average of 2.19 per contest. She ranks 12th all-time in program history, and to crack the top 10 in her final season with the Colonials needs 32 more.  She is also looking to become the eighth player in school history to eclipse 300.

 Free Is Me – In addition to her distribution skills, fifth-year guard Nina Augustin is nearly automatic when getting to the free-throw line. During her career, Augustin has converted 81.4 percent (140-for-172) of her attempts at the charity stripe, which ranks fourth in program history. The career school record is held by former guard Rebecca Navarro, who shot 84.8 percent (95-for-112) at the line from 2013 to 2017. Augustin, meanwhile, owns the RMU single-season record for free-throw percentage when she converted 89.4 percent (59-for-66) of her attempts during the 2019-20 campaign.

De La Sol – Despite a season both shortened and impacted by a global pandemic, forward Sol Castro shined in her first season with the Colonials in 2020-21, becoming the first freshman to lead RMU in scoring in almost 20 years. Castro averaged 9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, both team highs, and also recorded three double-doubles. One of three Colonials to start all 17 games last season, Castro reached double figures in scoring nine times, including a career-high 23 points in a 50-43 victory over Wright State (1/16/21) at the UPMC Events Center. In that same contest against the Raiders, Castro grabbed 11 boards, marking her first career double-double.

 Making The Grade – RMU posted a 3.824 term grade point average (GPA) during the 2020-21 academic year and finished with the No. 3 ranking in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Academic Top 25 Division I Team Honor Roll. It marked the third consecutive year the Colonials finished third as well as the fifth straight year RMU finished in the top four. The Colonials are the only NCAA Division I school to rank in the top four in five consecutive years. Of RMU's three returning starters, guard Nina Augustin owns a 3.95 cumulative GPA as a finance major, guard Esther Castedo studies management and has maintained a 3.83 cumulative GPA and in her first academic year forward Sol Castro posted a 3.83 GPA while owning sport management as a major.

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