Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris women's basketball team concluded its 2022-23 regular season Saturday afternoon, dropping a 65-51 decision against Youngstown State at the UPMC Events Center.

With the loss, the Colonials end the regular season with an 11-18 overall record, behind a 5-15 mark in Horizon League play. Meanwhile, the Penguins conclude the regular season with a 19-10 overall mark, with a 13-7 record in conference action.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Youngstown State came out of the gates firing, hitting five of their first eight shots to take a 12-3 lead early in the opening frame. After an RMU timeout, the Penguins scored five straight points before an Alejandra Mastral layup ended the scoring drought for the Colonials. A Megan Callahan layup would give YSU a 19-5 lead after the first quarter. Sophomore Phoenix Gedeon opened the second quarter with a jumper before RMU scored seven of the next 12 points to trim the YSU lead. The two squads traded the next 10 points before the Penguins ended the quarter on a 6-0 run from back-to-back threes, 35-19.

HAMMER DAHN
Conference leading scorer Lilly Ritz opened the second half with a layup to give YSU an 18-point lead before the Colonials flipped the switch. RMU used a 15-0 run in a span of over four minutes to trim the Penguins advantage. After a YSU turnover, sophomore Danielle Vuletich converted a layup on a pass from junior Mackenzie Amalia to get the run started. Gedeon would connect on a pair of free-throws before sophomore Simone Morris buried a jumper, 39-28 YSU. Gedeon would score six consecutive points and Morris would convert two from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 39-36 with 4:02 remaining in the third. Ritz would end the run with a layup before RMU ended the quarter on a 7-3 spurt, led by Vuletich with six points, to trail 44-43. The Colonials held the Penguins to 28.6 percent (4-of-14) shooting from the floor, while causing five turnovers and collecting four steals. RMU shot 11-for-13 (84.6 percent) from the charity stripe in the third quarter alone.

QUOTABLE
"Halftime we had a lot to talk about that we weren't doing well and a lot of it was accountability on defense as far as missing assignments," RMU head coach Charlie Buscaglia said. It was really going to come down to how hard we know we can play and when you mentally take breaks. In the beginning of the game, we were doing that constantly and then at halftime, we talked about all the areas we were missing and I saw a completely different team defensively. We were playing much more Robert Morris defense and it lasted for a while, especially in the third quarter and we have to continue with that."

CONNECTION LOST
The Colonials fought its way back entering the fourth and final frame trailing by one until Youngstown State outscored RMU 21-8 to pull away. The Penguins shot 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) in the fourth quarter, including 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) from long range. YSU used a 14-0 run midway through the final quarter, where they were five-for-six from the field and four-of-five from deep. They held the Colonials to just two-for-nine from the field, both shots coming from behind the arc.

QUOTABLE
"We were playing our pace, we were playing Robert Morris basketball in that third quarter," Buscaglia continued. "Unfortunately, after that run we lost that pace and Youngstown State was able to hit a couple shots that really elevated them. I thought we did a good job of stopping it but in the end, they knocked down some big shots and we missed some big assignments defensively."

HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNEY
The Barbasol Horizon League Tournament bracket was released today and Robert Morris was selected as the 10 seed. The Colonials will travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday night for their first-round match with the Panthers. The two squads split the season series, with each team recording a victory on their home court.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
A trio of Colonials finished in double-figures tonight, led by Phoenix Gedeon. She finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and a perfect seven-for-seven from the charity stripe. Simone Morris chipped in 12 points and grabbed six boards with a steal and as assist, while Danielle Vuletich recorded 10 points, two caroms, and a steal. Freshman Louella Allana paced the team with four assists and connected on a pair of triples, while Mackenzie Amalia grabbed three steals, two assists, and two rebounds in the loss.

UP NEXT
RMU will travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday, Feb. 28 for its first-round matchup in the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Tournament. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.
 
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