CLEVELAND – The RMU women's basketball team dropped a conference matchup 68-61 on the road at Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon. The Colonials now sit at 12-5 overall, and 5-4 in Horizon League play.
 
FIRST QUARTER

• Cleveland State started the first quarter scoring quickly, going on an 8-0 run to begin the contest, before an Ava Leroux jumper assisted by Noa Givon got the Colonials on the board at 8:10.
• Another big run by Cleveland State, this time 7-0, extended Cleveland State's lead to 12, with the Vikings leading 23-11.
• A buzzer-beater by Noa Givon cut into the Vikings, making the score 26-19 at the end of the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• Back-to-back three-point baskets by Aislin Malcolm and Myriam Traore tied up the game for the first time at 6:43.
• A Malcolm layup and jumper gave RMU its first lead of the game as Malcolm scored her 10^th point of the match with 3:15 to go in the half.
• Cleveland State tied the game back up with a pair of free throws by Laurel Rockwood before Traore hit her second three of the afternoon off an assist from Malcolm to make it 38-35.
• Both teams remained scoreless until a foul by the Colonials as the buzzer sounded, sending the Vikings to the line, where Jada Leonard made one of her two free throws to make it 38-36 in favor of RMU going into the half.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Colonials opened the third quarter with an Aislin Malcolm jumper to extend the lead to four.
• Cleveland State retook the lead as an 8-0 run put the Vikings up 46-42 with just over two minutes left in the quarter.
• A Traore jumper cut the lead back down to two before a 5-0 run by the Vikings extended the lead to seven.
• Givon closed out the quarter on the charity stripe, making it 51-46 going into the final quarter after hitting both free throws.

FOURTH QUARTER

• A Colonial 5-0 run cut the Vikings' lead down to just one as Ava Leroux hit a free throw to make it 54-53 Cleveland State with 7:15 left in the contest.
• The Cleveland State offense picked up, going on a 7-0 run to go back up by double-digits, leading the Colonials 66-55 with nearly three minutes on the clock.
• Four points on a pair of free throws by Malcolm and an Eva Levingston layup made it 66-59 before Cleveland State hit a pair of free throws to go back up nine with 20 seconds on the clock.
• Levingston closed out the scoring in the contest, making a layup with 11 seconds left to close out the game 68-61 in favor of Cleveland State.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Myriam Traore posted another big game for the Colonials, picking up a game-leading 18 points along with six rebounds, two steals, one block, and one assist. Aislin Malcolm was the second-highest scorer for RMU with 14 points, along with four assists and two rebounds. Eva Levingston was the final double-digit scorer for the Colonials, picking up 10 points. Levingston also grabbed four boards, three steals, and one assist. On the glass, Ava Leroux pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The Colonials outshot Cleveland State, going 44% from the floor compared to the Vikings 36.4%. Both teams knocked down six three-point baskets while RMU also nearly went perfect from the free-throw line, shooting 91.7%. Cleveland State won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding RMU 36-30.
 
UP NEXT
The Colonials will return home to Moon Township to host Youngstown State on Wednesday afternoon at the UPMC Events Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and the game be streamed live on ESPN+