Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center-Junior forward Mary Durojaye (London, England / Great Britain National U-20 Team) recorded her fifth career double-double as the Robert Morris University women's basketball team opened the 2010-11 season with a 72-64 loss at home against two-time defending Patriot League champion Lehigh. Durojaye set a career-high with 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, one shy of her career-high.
Durojaye was 5-of-7 from the field and 8-of-12 from the charity stripe. Four of her 13 boards came on the offensive end. Freshman forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Greek National Team) had 16 points and eight rebounds in her collegiate debut while hitting 3-for-4 from three-point range. Senior guard Yohanna Morton (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / Dominican Republic National Team) tacked on 14 points and a team-best four assists.
The Mountain Hawks (1-1) were led by Courtney Dentler who had a game-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Dentler led an offensive attack that hit 40 percent from three-point range by knocking down 4-of-her-5 long-range shots. Erica Prosser added 11 points and Kristen Dalton tacked on 10 off the bench as nine different Lehigh players scored.
Lehigh opened the game by knocking down four of their first six shots while RMU stumbled from the gate, converting just one of their first six chances. When Prosser hit a short jumper three minutes in, the Colonials found themselves trailing, 11-3. The Mountain Hawks built the lead to as many as 12 points halfway through the opening half.
Durojaye answered with a lay-up on the other end, sparking seven consecutive points as part of a 9-1 RMU run. Spanou added five points and Morton made a driving lay-up to cut the margin to four points, 22-18, with 6:21 left before the break. A Prosser three-ball, however, was a catalyst that saw Lehigh push the lead back to 12 points with an 11-3 run. The Mountain Hawks carried a 36-25 lead into the locker room.
RMU hit at just 29.0 percent (9-31) in the half while nearly half (6) of Lehigh's 13 field goals were three-pointers.
Short spurts back and forth during the second half saw the Lehigh lead bounce between six and 12 points. The Mountain Hawks used a 9-0 run to push the margin to 18 points, 64-46, with 5:08 left.
An 11-2 run fueled by four points from Morton and Durojaye and a Spanou three-pointer cut the lead to nine points with 46 seconds to play. A pair of free throws by Prosser were followed by a three-pointer by senior Kristine Silaraja (Ventspils, Latvia / Barton County C.C.) and a Morton lay-up that made it a two possession game with 20 seconds to play. Lehigh, however, hit its final four free throw attempts to ice the game and take a 72-64 win.
Robert Morris held a distinct rebounding edge, 44-35, and a 16-6 margin in second chance scoring. Lehigh, however, got 29 points from their bench while the Colonials received just two bench points. The Mountain Hawks shot 43.3 percent (26-60) overall and 40.0 percent (10-25) from three-point range. RMU hit at 36.8 percent (21-57) and 31.6 percent (6-19) from long range.
The Colonials travel to #15 / #18 North Carolina for a 7:00 p.m. contest Wednesday, November 17.
