Loretto, Pa. – The RMU women's basketball team opened its 2023-24 campaign on Monday night, securing a 61-50 win at Saint Francis in non-conference action at DeGol Arena.

With the win, the Colonials begin the year 1-0 while the Red Flash drop to 0-1 to start the season.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was a slow start for both squads as they went over two and a half minutes without a bucket to begin the game. RMU would respond and jump out to a 9-6 lead as junior Simone Morris paced the way with three points. Saint Francis would respond with a run of their own, mounting a 7-2 spurt to take a 13-11 advantage. The Colonials would score six of the final eight points of the opening quarter, to claim a 14-13 lead after one. Freshman Madison O'Dell sparked the run with a triple before junior Danielle Vuletich connected on a jumper and classmate Alejandra Mastral drilled a free-throw.

SHARPSHOOTERS
In the second frame, the Colonials turned it up on the defensive end, holding the Red Flash to just 2-of-13 from the field (14.4 percent). RMU would shoot at a 50.0 percent (7-for-14) clip, using an 8-3 run to hold a 25-18 lead. A pair of freebies at charity stripe by freshman Tuana Coskun started the spurt before sophomore Natalie Johnson connected on two free-throws. After a Red Flash point, Mastral connected on consecutive layups to cap the run. Out of the media timeout, RMU ended the half by scoring 12 of the next 15 points to hold its largest lead of the contest, 37-21. Junior Naomi Barnwell converted an old fashion three-point play before sophomore Louella Allana drilled a right-wing triple. Back-to-back jumpers from Mastral and freshman Micah O'Dell continued the stint before Mastral sealed the half with a layup.

DEFENSIVE GRIND
It was a different story in the second half as the Colonials went cold from the floor, shooting just 7-of-25 (28.0 percent). The Colonials held a 43-29 advantage at the 6:52 mark before both teams went over two minutes without a score. Over the next three-and-half minutes, the Red Flash mounted a 13-2 run and cut the RMU lead, 45-42 before Coskun buried a triple to extend the Colonials advantage at the end of three. In the final quarter, both teams struggled from the field but RMU knocked down 9-of-11 opportunities from the charity stripe to secure the win. Morris was four-of-four while Vuletich netted three-of-three from the line in the fourth quarter alone.

QUOTABLE
"I want to give a lot of credit to Saint Francis first, for fighting as hard as they did and making that nice run in the third quarter," head coach Charlie Buscaglia said. "We talk about how we have to out work our opponent and when things get tough and adversity hits, we have to stick together and lock in and we did that tonight in the second half. We got stops when we needed to and contested shots down the stretch that really lifted us."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
A pair of veterans paced the Colonials as Mastral and Morris each finished with 13 points. Mastral shot 6-of-9 from the floor, with 11 of her 13 coming in the first half. Morris registered 10 of her 13 in the second half after going five-for-five from the line while collecting four boards, three on the offensive. Vuletich fell shy of a double-double, posting a team-high 10 rebounds and nine points. She also collected a career-high four blocks and one steal in the win. Barnwell registered eight points, nine boards, two steals, and a block while Allana mounted six points and three assists.

QUOTABLE
"We're going to enjoy this one but we have to be able to fix some of the mistakes that we made tonight," Buscaglia continued. "It's another great opportunity for us but it's going to be a tough battle on the road. This was a nice win but we need to be ready to go on the road again and handle our business and do the same thing."

UP NEXT
RMU continues its road trip when it heads to St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Nov. 11, with the opening tip scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

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