Milwaukee, Wisc. – In a battle of back and forth scoring, the Robert Morris women's basketball team has been eliminated from the Barbasol Horizon League Tournament, falling at #7 seed Milwaukee 64-58 on Tuesday night at the Klotsche Center.

With the loss, the Colonials finish the year with an 11-19 overall record and a 5-15 mark in conference play. Meanwhile, the Panthers move on to the quarterfinals and improve to 11-18 this season, with an 8-12 mark in league pay.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Both teams came out firing as Robert Morris jumped out to a 7-6 lead, thanks to jumpers from sophomores Simone Morris and Phoenix Gedeon. Classmate Alejandra Mastral buried a triple as the Colonials hit three of their first five shots. The Panthers would counter with a 10-4 run to regain the lead and force an RMU timeout. The Colonials responded with a 6-2 spurt, led by freshman Natalie Johnson and sophomore Danielle Vuletich to trail 18-17 after one. RMU opened the second quarter by scoring eight of the first 12 points, six of them coming from Johnson. The two squads traded the next eight points as the Colonials held a 29-26 lead with 4:20 remaining in the first half. Milwaukee boasted a 9-1 run, where they hit their final four shots of the half to a 35-30 advantage at intermission.

The Panthers jumped out to its largest lead of the contest to begin the second half, 43-34, shooting 3-of-5 from the floor and forcing RMU into a pair of turnovers. With 2:41 remaining in the third, the Colonials flipped the switch, ending the quarter on a 9-2 spurt. Vuletich started the run with a jumper before Mackenzie Amalia followed her with a basket. After a Panthers bucket, Louella Allana ended the quarter with five straight points, capping it off with a triple with six seconds remaining.

THE FINAL FRAME
Robert Morris trailed 45-43 heading into the fourth before Milwaukee opened the final frame on a 6-2 run, to extend its lead 51-45. Sophomore Simone Morris buried a jumper to end the run before Gedeon followed with a layup to cut the Panthers lead back to two. Milwaukee scored five consecutive points and forced a pair of turnovers to extend its lead. A Mastral layup would end the spurt before both teams went over two minutes without a basket. Later in the quarter, an Amalia foul line jumper would cut the lead to three but that's as close as the Colonials would get. Milwaukee ended the contest on a 6-3 run, connecting on two-of-three from the field, while converting a pair of free-throw attempts.

DOWN THE LANE
It was an even battle throughout the night but points inside the paint was the difference maker for the Panthers in the end. Milwaukee carded 40 of their 64 points in the paint, most of them coming in the first and fourth quarter. The Panthers shot 8-of-14 in the opening frame, seven of their field goals coming inside the key for a total of 14 points. In the fourth quarter, Milwaukee totaled 12 points inside, shooting 7-of-11 from the field in the quarter, six shots coming inside the paint.

THE SEND OFF
In her final game in the blue and white, Mackenzie Amalia paced the Colonials with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. Nine of her team leading 11 came in the second half as she tallied five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Amalia ends her career with over 370 points, 125 assists, 61 steals, and 85 three-pointers. The Beaver Falls native led the Colonials with 85 assists this season while sitting second on the team with 42 steals and tied for the team lead with 34 triples made. Amalia led the Colonials in assists 15 times during the 2022-23 season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sophomore Danielle Vuletich carded 10 points off the bench on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, collecting four rebounds and one block. Alejandra Mastral and Natalie Johnson each chipped in nine points, as Mastral finished with a team-high five rebounds and Johnson connected on a pair of triples. Phoenix Gedeon and Simone Morris totaled six points apiece, while Gedeon collected three steals and Louella Allana registered five points and three assists in the loss.

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