Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Robert Morris University women's basketball team received double-digit points from each member of its starting five, as it bounced back to pick up a 77-63 win over Purdue Fort Wayne in both teams' regular-season finale this afternoon. RMU will enter next week's Horizon League Tournament at 4-12 overall and in the league, while the Mastodons take a 1-21 (1-19 HL) record in the postseason.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The opening frame saw seven lead changes and a deadlock, but RMU grabbed a lead it wouldn't relinquish over its final three minutes. After a Hannah Hess jumper in the paint put Purdue Fort Wayne up 13-12, Sol Castro found Esther Castedo open on the next possession for three to push the visitors in front. Following a couple of empty possessions on both sides, Holly Forbes pulled down an offensive rebound and converted to make it 17-13, and added a layup the following trip down the floor to give the Colonials a six-point lead.
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"I'm very proud of our team to respond from yesterday's loss," said RMU head coach Charlie Buscaglia. "We needed to respond by learning where we struggled and be ready in a very quick turnaround to fix it. We did a solid job of executing adjustments on both ends of the court. After a two-week layoff, we struggled to have that edge yesterday, especially on the defensive end. Our pace needed to be much better, and we contested shots well today for almost 40 minutes. It was great to see those who struggled yesterday bounce back well today."
A NEW HIGH FOR HOLLY, REDUX
Senior forward Holly Forbes established a new RMU scoring high for the second straight afternoon, leading the victors with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Forbes played a team-high 33 minutes, also pulling down five rebounds and dishing out an assist. Her pair of performances against the Mastodons pushed her to six double-digit scoring performances over two seasons with the Colonials, and increased her season scoring average from 5.2 to 6.4.
THE CLOSING STRETCH
RMU carried an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter and kept building on it, pushing it to as high as 22 with an 11-0 run over the opening three minutes. Forbes started it off with an old-fashioned three-point play, then Castro buried a mid-range jumper to make it 59-43. A Laura Carrasco steal led to Megan Callahan scoring three the hard way as her free throw pushed the gap to 19, then Callahan set up Nina Augustin for a three to give the Colonials their largest lead of the day at 65-43 with 7:10 remaining.
YOU GOTTA HAVE SOL
Freshman forward Sol Castro bounced back from being in foul trouble on Friday to post a complete performance today, finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a block. Castro converted 6-of-10 field goals and 3-of-4 attempts at the free throw stripe, giving her the ninth double-digit scoring effort of her young collegiate career. The Rio Colorado, Argentina native currently leads the team in scoring (9.9), rebounding (5.4), and minutes played (28.6), and would become the first RMU newcomer since Sugeiry Monsac in 2004-05 to lead a team in scoring and rebounding over an entire season.
STARTING FIVE, SCORING FIVE
RMU received 10 or more points from each of its five starters this afternoon, marking the first time that has happened since Nov. 21, 2008 against Ball State. In that contest, Monica Jones paced the team with 20 points, with Kendra Williams (18), Monet Johnson (16), Angela Pace (13), and Grace Williams (10) all reaching double figures. Today, Forbes' 16 points paced the Colonials, with Castro (15), junior guard Esther Castedo (11), senior guard Nina Augustin (10), and redshirt junior guard Megan Callahan (10) all meeting the standard.
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"I told the team that after a loss you must know how to handle it in a healthy way," said Buscaglia. "These moments of adversity can be used to get better, and remind us to remain humble. The coaching staff worked around the clock last night to get some adjustments in place, and we challenged the team to focus on these adjustments and execute with passion. There was going to be no feeling sorry for ourselves about yesterday's loss."
THE OPPONENT
Purdue Fort Wayne was led offensively by Hannah Hess and Sierra Bell, who scored 18 and 17 points, respectively. Hess converted 4-of-6 three-point attempts to pace all players on the scoresheet, while Bell did all of her damage at the foul line by sinking 15-of-18 free throws.
NEXT UP
RMU begins its Horizon League Tournament trek on Thursday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. when it travels to Northern Kentucky. The Colonials played the Norse twice to open the 2020-21 season, falling by scores of 61-33 and 62-50. Thursday's contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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