CORAL GABLES, Fla. - The Robert Morris women's basketball team lost its first ever matchup with the Miami Hurricanes 86-45 at Watsco Center Sunday afternoon, dropping their overall record to 3-6 on the season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials took advantage of 11 first-half Hurricanes turnovers, turning their aggressive defense into nine points in the opening frame. A steal from Natalie Villaflor led to Nina Augustin burying a three-ball for the Colonials' first points of the game before Sol Castro was able to finish in the paint off another Miami turnover a few possessions later to knot things up at 7-7 with 5:01 to play in the first. Back-to-back threes from Villaflor and Mackenzie Amalia helped grow RMU's lead to 14-11 with 2:40 remaining, however Miami managed to end the first on a 6-0 run thanks in part to three Colonials turnovers over the final 1:03 of the opening frame. The Hurricanes went 3-3 at the foul line to regain a 20-14 lead, which they maintained the remainder of the afternoon.
CASTRO COMES ALIVE
Sophomore forward Sol Castro led RMU offensively with her biggest performance of the year to date, pouring in a season-high 19 points on 6-11 shooting in 26 minutes. The Rio Colorado, Argentina native also set a career high in both free throws made and free throw attempts in game, going 7-11 at the charity stripe against the Hurricanes. Castro has now scored in double figures a team-best five times this season for RMU.
STARTING FIVE
After sticking with the combination of Augustin, Castro, Simone Morris, Esther Castedo and Ashya Klopfenstein as their starting five for the first eight games of the year, the Colonials trotted out a new look for the opening tip Sunday against Miami as senior Natalie Villaflor earned her first career start after being swapped out for Klopfenstein. Villaflor finished with five points in 33 minutes, going 1-2 from beyond three as she cracked the starting lineup for the first time in 88 career appearances at RMU.
NEXT UP
The Colonials return home as they close out the fall semester and non-conference play with a pair of games against St. Bonaventure on Saturday, December 18 and Waynesburg on Wednesday, December 20 at UPMC Events Center.
