BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Robert Morris women's basketball team picked up its second straight win Saturday night against Canisius, downing the host Golden Griffins 57-43. The win moves the Colonials to 3-3 overall on the year. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Three nights after upending Morehead State on the back of an explosive first quarter, the Colonials came out of the gate hot again Saturday in Buffalo, opening the game on a 13-5 run to put their stamp on the Golden Griffins early.  Freshman Simone Morris scored the first five points of the game for RMU, burying a triple to open things up. Another three from Nina Augustin pushed things to 9-3 RMU with 3:04 to play in the opening quarter before a defensive board from Morris on the ensuing Canisius possession led to Ashya Klopfenstein pushing it to 11-3 with a jumper.  Though the Griffins would cut RMU's second quarter lead to as low as five, the Colonials managed to take a 30-18 lead at the half.

LONG DISTANCE RUNAROUND

After a spotty day from behind the three point arc against Morehead State, the Colonials responded with their most efficient performance from deep this season, going 8-17 from beyond the arc (47.1%) against the Griffins. Mackenzie Amalia led the charge, pouring in a career-high four threes for a season-best 12 points. Esther Castedo also buried a pair (2-3), while RMU held an opponent to under 20% from the arc for the third time this season.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

The Griffins continued to battle back over the final half of action, keeping the Colonials on their heels after an Erika Joseph three-pointer cut the RMU lead down to just 33-28 with 4:47 remaining in the third, however RMU responded with a 10-3 run of their own to put any hopes of a Griffin comeback out of reach.  A Sol Castro layup kicked things off before five straight points from Esther Castedo had the Griffins back at arms length, 40-30. Mackenzie Amalia buried one of her season-high four threes on the day to close out the run and help RMU and the third up 43-32.

UP NEXT

The Colonials return to UPMC Events Center for a #HLWBB double-dip next week, hosting Green Thursday, December 2 at 7:00 p.m and Milwaukee two days later on December 4 at 1:00.