GAME 26
RMU (12-13) at UIC (2-22)
Thursday, February 24, 2022 • 5:00 p.m. 
Credit Union 1 Arena • Chicago, Ill.
Twitter: @RMUWBasketball • Instagram: RMUWBasketball

GAME 27
RMU (12-13) at IUPUI (19-6)
Saturday, February 26, 2022 • 2:00 p.m.
The Jungle • Indianapolis, Ind.
Twitter: @RMUWBasketball • Instagram: RMUWBasketball
 

Opening Tip

- RMU wraps up its regular season on the road with contests at UIC and IUPUI.

- The Colonials have won three out of their past four games, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State on the road before splitting a weekend series against Wright State and Northern Kentucky.

- This marks the second time that Robert Morris has played both UIC and IUPUI this season.

- The Colonials are 5-7 on the road this season.

- Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin passed Mikalah Mulrain for first place on the program all-time games played list earlier this season at Green Bay, suiting up for game #133 in her Colonials career. 

- Augustin continues to climb the RMU assist leaderboard after the weekend. Now at 304 for her career, she passed Angela Pace '10 for seventh-most all-time in helpers last weekend, and is now one of just eight players in program history to eclipse 300 career assists.

- RMU completed sweeps of both Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne over the weekend, and have now swept three different Horizon League opponents this year with the addition of Detroit Mercy.

- The win over CSU by 14 points was the third largest margin of victory this season for RMU. Only Morehead State (23 points) and Detroit Mercy (16 points) were more lopsided.

- 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.

- Freshmen Alejandra Mastral earned her first career start of the season earlier this year against Oakland, and has since started every game since, eight straight heading into this weekend.

- 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.

- Currently eighth overall in the Horizon League standings, the Colonials are three games up on ninth-place Purdue Fort Wayne with four games to go in the regular season. If things ended today, the Colonials would host the Mastodons in the first round of the HL Tournament in March at the UPMC Events Center.

- Through 25 games, Sol Castro leads RMU in blocks with 15 on the season, trailed closely by Klopfenstein with 12. The sophomore is also tied with Klopfenstein with 39 offensive boards.

- Senior guard Esther Castedo is averaging 11.5 points per-game and has been the team's most effective three-point shooter at 32-93 (34.4%) from beyond the arc. 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 100 career games, including 44 starts, 13 of which came last season.

- Junior center Ashya Klopfenstein is currently slightly ahead of Castro for the team lead in rebounding average at 5.5 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.

GAMEDAY LINKS

RMU Athletics Gameday App

The All-Time Series (UIC) – The Colonials will take on the Flames for the second time this season following a 50-44 victory over UIC in January. At just 1-18 in Horizon League play and 2-22 overall, UIC has struggled for wins this season, not registering a victory since Dec. 4, 2021. 

The All-Time Series (IUPUI) – Saturday marks the second meeting between RMU and IUPUI. Leading the conference, IUPUI has proven to be a challenge for the Colonials, defeating them 63-44 in their first meeting. However, the Jags enter the meetup in the loss column after Green Bay snapped a 14-game win streak.

Super Stoppers – Through 25 games, the Colonials have shown themselves to be one of the stingiest defensive teams in the Horizon League, holding opponents to an average of just 57.8 points per game, the fourth-lowest mark in the league behind Green Bay (56.3), IUPUI (56.5) and Youngstown State (56.8). The Colonials also boast one of the best three-point field-goal percentage defenses (.293).

Helper Helper – Fifth-year guard Nina Augustin gives the Colonials a solid distributor heading into her final year with the program. Heading into the weekend Augustin has dished out 304 career assists in 133 games, an average of 2.3 per contest. She recently became the eighth player in program histrionics to hit 300 career assists.

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 81.3 percent (161-for-198) 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.