GAME 9
RMU (3-5) vs. Miami (6-3)
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2021 • 1:00 p.m.
Watsco Center • Coral Gables Florida
TV: ACCNX
Twitter: @RMUWBasketball • Instagram: RMUWBasketball

Opening Tip

- The Colonials are trying to correct a two-game losing skid after dropping back-to-back home contests against Green Bay and Milwaukee last week. Sunday sees them head to Coral Gables Florida for their first ever meeting with the Miami Hurricanes.

- RMU is 2-1 on the season against first-time opponents. They had previously been a perfect 2-0 after recording wins against Canisius and Detroit Mercy in their first ever matchups earlier this season before dropping their first ever matchup with the Phoenix last week.

- Currently at 99 wins in his RMU career, head coach Charlie Buscaglia has a chance to earn career victory #100 Sunday when the Colonials head south. Buscaglia would join predecessors Sal Buscaglia and Dan Swalga on the list of RMU WBB coaches to hit the century mark.

- Esther Castedo has seen her productivity jump significantly over the first eight games of her senior campaign in Moon Township. The Spanish national leads the Colonials in scoring average at 11.4, up from her mark of 9.9 a year ago, and has improved from the field. Currently shooting 44.6% from the field and 35.1% from three, Castedo has been RMU's most efficient scorer and has improved on a 2021 campaign that saw her shoot 41.3% from the field and 29.8% from three.

- Freshman Janeira Scott became the final member of the RMU freshman class to make her season debut earlier this season against Morehead State. Simone Morris currently leads all RMU rookies in scoring, averaging 4.4 points per game.

- 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 letter winners from 2020-21.

- 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.

- Through eight games, Castedo leads RMU in scoring average (11.1) and is second in assists (18), while Castro sits right behind her at 8.8 PPG. Castro paced the Colonials in both categories during her rookie year in 2021, averaging  9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest, both of which led RMU. For her efforts she was named to the 2021 Horizon League All-Freshman Team.

- Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin is RMU's active leader in points with 740 and moved into 12th-place on the RMU All-Time career assists leader board with four earlier this season in RMU's 2021-22 opener.  She needs 12 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 is averaging 11.1 points per-game and is tied for third on the team lead in defensive rebounds with 24. She 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 85 career games, including 28 starts, 13 of which came last season.

- Junior center Ashya Klopfenstein currently leads all Colonials in rebounding average at 5.0 per-game. She spent 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.

- The Colonials close out the fall semester with a pair of home games next week, hosting St. Bonaventure on Saturday, December 18 before a Monday evening showdown against Waynesburg on December 20 at 7:00 p.m.   

MIAMI LINKS

- Live Stats

- RMU Athletics Gameday App

The All-Time Series (Miami) – Sunday will be RMU's fourth meeting with a first-time opponent this season as they fly south to Coral Gables, Florida for a meeting with the Miami Hurricanes.  At 6-3 on the year so far, Miami beefed up its front court this season with the additions of 6'4 transfers Maeva Djaldi-Tabid (Syracuse) and Lola Pendande (Utah). Graduate student Kelsey Marshall has scored 15-plus points in four consecutive games, most recently to leading the Hurricanes to a 78-65 victory over the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions.

Shooting Gallery - RMU has been one of the stingiest defensive teams in the Horizon League in terms of limiting quality shots against this season. Through eight games, the Colonials are just one of four HL programs who have held opponents to under .400 from the field, and they have limited the opposition to just 28.3% from three, third lowest in the league.  The Colonials have held opponents to under 20% in a game from three five times so far this year.

Helper Helper – Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin gives the Colonials a solid distributor heading into her final year with the program. Following last weekend's games, Augustin has dished out 266 career assists in 119 games, an average of 2.20 per contest. She ranks 12th all-time in program history, and to crack the top 10 in her final season with the Colonials needs 12 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 81.8 percent (144-for-176) 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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