GAME 10
RMU (3-6) vs. Cleveland State (9-1)
Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021 • 7:00 p.m.
UPMC Events Center • Moon Township, Pa.
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Adam Gusky (pxp) & Justin Pyles (color)
Twitter: @RMUWBasketball • Instagram: RMUWBasketball

GAME 11
RMU (3-6) vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (4-7)
Saturday, January 1, 2022 • 1:00 p.m.
UPMC Events Center • Moon Township, Pa.
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Adam Gusky (pxp) & Justin Pyles (color)
Twitter: @RMUWBasketball • Instagram: RMUWBasketball

Opening Tip

- Robert Morris is back in action for the first time in nearly three weeks following an extended holiday break, last seeing the floor against Miami on December 12. The Colonials are searching for their first win since November 27 against Canisius.

- Following the cancellation of their games against St. Bonaventure and Waynesburg, the Colonials will face Horizon League opponents exclusively for the remainder of the season. RMU currently sits at 1-3 in HL play so far this season.

- Though it won't be the first ever meeting between the two programs, Thursday's game against the Vikings will be their first against RMU since a 65-54 Colonials win in Cleveland back on December 28, 2005 when Robert Morris was still a member of the Northeast Conference.

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

- After sticking with the combination of Nina Augustin, Sol 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 against Miami as senior Natalie Villaflor earned her first career start after being swapped out for Klopfenstein. 

- 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 4.6 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.

- Castro led RMU offensively with her biggest performance of the year to date against Miami, 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. 

- Through nine games, Castedo leads RMU in scoring average (10.3) and is second in assists (21), while Castro sits right behind her at 9.9 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 749 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 11 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 10.3 points per-game and is one off third for the team lead in defensive rebounds with 26. 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 86 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.   

GAMEDAY LINKS

- Live Stats

- RMU Athletics Gameday App

The All-Time Series (Cleveland State) – RMU has faced CSU just twice before, with the most recent matchup coming over 16 years ago when the Colonials took down the Vikings 65-54 in Cleveland on December 28, 2005.  At 9-1 on the year and 4-0 in conference play, CSU has been somewhat of a surprise so far this year, currently tied for first overall after being picked sixth in the 2021 Preseason Coach's Poll. An extremely balanced squad, Cleveland State leads the League in both scoring offense (76.0 points) and scoring defense (56.2 points).

The All-Time Series (Purdue Fort Wayne) – The Mastodons make their first ever trip to Moon Township and the UPMC Events Center when they roll into town on Saturday. The two squads faced off for the first time in their history last season, splitting a two-game series in Fort Wayne that saw RMU win the rubber match, 77-63.  At 3-1 in HL play the season, PFW has had an uneven season to say the least. Two of their three conference wins have come by way of forfeit due to COVID-19 protocols, and they are winless in the last seven games in which they have actually played.

New Year, New Me - RMU takes on Purdue First Wayne on New Years Day 2022 this coming Saturday. Starting the new year on the right foot has long been a habit for the Colonials, having gone 13-5 (.722) in their January openers with nine of those triumphs coming at home since Charlie Buscaglia first joined the program back in 2003-04. RMU most recently played on New Years Day last season, dropping a 71-49 matchup at IUPUI.

Helper Helper – Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin gives the Colonials a solid distributor heading into her final year with the program. Before the holiday break, Augustin has dished out 267 career assists in 120 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 11 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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