PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Robert Morris women's basketball team kicked off it's homestand with a win over the Oakland Grizzlies, taking down the Grizz 73-65 at UPMC Events Center. The win moves RMU to 8-10 overall and 6-7 in Horizon League play.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials opened up an 11-point lead on the Grizz Friday night, taking a 34-23 lead into the locker room thanks in part to an 11-1 run over the final 5:29 of the second quarter. Back-to-back threes from Mackenzie Amalia in the span of 38 seconds kicked off the run before a hard drive to the rim from Mastral saw the freshman complete the four-point play after drawing a charge from Oakland's Lamariyee Williams. Klopfestein finished off the run and first half in style, burying a layup at the buzzer after a nice effort from Esther Castedo to get all the way down the floor with under five seconds to play before feeding Klopfenstein with a nice pass in the post.
The Colonials never looked back following the surge to end the first half, leading the entirety of the third and fourth quarters and at times pulling away by as many as 15 points. Though the Grizz managed to shoot nearly 44% from the field, Robert Morris generated 24 points off of 20 Oakland turnovers and saw four players score in double-figures including 19 from Castedo. Amalia also tied a season high with 12 as the Colonials shot a season-best 51.9% from the field.
STARTING FIVE
Freshman guard Alejandra Mastral earned her first career start tonight against the Grizzlies. The Zargoza, Spain native put in a productive 20 minutes on three floor the Colonials, finishing with 11 points a steal and an assist in the win. Getting the nod along with Augustin, Castedo, Klopfenstein and Sol Castro, it marked just the third unique starting lineup the Colonials have used this season. Senior Natalie Villaflor also earned her first career start of the year earlier this season against Miami in place of an injured Klopfenstein.
INTERIOR DESIGN
After a season-high 44 points in the paint in their loss to the Grizz in Rochester earlier this year, the Colonials once again made a point of attacking the interior against the visitors Friday night at UPMC, out-scoring the Oakland 40-30 in the paint, their second highest output of the season. Junior post Ashya Klopfenstien was the straw that stirred the drink in that regard, going off for a season-high 16 points.
FINNISH FLASH
Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin continued to climb the RMU career leaderboard Friday night, dishing out a season-high seven boards to pass Ashley Revelli '16 for ninth most in program history. She is now just 12 away from becoming the eighth player in program history to eclipse 300 assists.
QUOTABLES
"I've been waiting for this game. I see it every day in practice in our players with their ability to score and their leadership qualities. They haven't always showed that to the rest of the world, and that's something that's been in our talks, just trusting themselves and playing free. They're all very skilled players on our roster, so to finally have that moment where they put it all together was beautiful to see." - Associate Head Coach Scott Schneider
UP NEXT
The Colonials close out the homestand Sunday against the Detroit Mercy Titans at 1:00 p.m.
