MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The Robert Morris Women's basketball team dropped its home opener 60-50 against the Akron Zips Saturday afternoon at the UPMC Events Center. The loss drops the Colonials to 20-20 (.500) lifetime in home openers at the Division I level.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials kicked off their 2021-22 home campaign with an 11-2 run following the opening tip. Consecutive layups from freshman Simone Morris followed by a three from Sol Castro set the Colonials off and running before Castro hit again from mid-range to push the RMU lead to nine just over four minutes in. After the Zips managed to knot things up at 25 all late in the second quarter, back-to-back triples from Mackenzie Amalia and Natalie Villaflor helped RMU regain some breathing room with a six point lead heading into the locker rooms following a back and forth opening 20 minutes.
QUOTABLES
"It's a blessing to be back and be doing this again with fans in the building. We're still experiencing some changes with things we're in protocol for, but much more of a college feel, much more excitement today, which is something that we're blessed to be able to have to give to the team as an experience. They've been craving it, that crowd and that environment, so it was great to be back in there today." - Head Coach Charlie Buscaglia
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
After the Colonials kicked things off with a dominant run to start the game, Akron managed to flip the script on RMU in the third with a 15-3 run to erase a twelve point deficit and give Akron its first lead of the second half. A three from the Zips' Rachel Martindale helped spark the comeback before layups on three of the next four possessions for Akron helped the visitor side overcome a double-digit deficit in just over three and a half minutes of action. Another 9-2 run over the final three minutes of regulation helped the Zips close it out on the road.
QUOTABLES
"We're the type of team where highs and lows are just not part of our culture, and I thought we allowed ourselves to get too low today. We allowed ourselves to think things were going to come quick to us, that they were going to keep turning the ball over because we put some pressure on them one pass, and they really took advantage of that. We got a little bit complacent there and just have to respond better." - Head Coach Charlie Buscaglia
UP NEXT
RMU kicks off Horizon League play with a two-game road swing next week when they face off against Detroit Mercy and Oakland on Thursday, November 18 and Saturday November 20 on ESPN+.
