Emmitsburg, Md. / Knott Arena-The Robert Morris University women's basketball team won at Mount St. Mary's, 62-42, Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale for both squads. The victory was the ninth consecutive on the road for the Colonials, setting a new program record. Their 12th win overall, RMU (22-7, 17-1 Northeast Conference) also set new program marks for regular season wins (22) and conference victories (17).
The Mount ends the season at 10-18, 6-12 in league play, and will miss the NEC playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
The Colonials will enter next week's Northeast Conference Tournament as the number-one seed. Robert Morris will play in the first quarterfinal contest at DeGol Arena in Loretto, Pa., on Saturday, March 6. Tip-off for that contest is slated for Noon.
Robert Morris had 10 different players score with sophomore Mary Durojaye (London, England / English National U-20) and freshman Vega Gimeno-Martinez (Valencia, Spain / Spanish National U-20) each tallying 11 points. Gimeno tacked on a season-best six assists as well as four steals.
Senior Monica Jones (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Woodland Hills (Howard College)) chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds. Senior guard Angela Pace (Westchester, N.Y. / Woodlands (Monroe College)) finished with seven points, nine assists and two steals.
Robert Morris settled for outside jumpers early in the contest, taking their first five shots from three-point range. It was nearly four minutes into the game before Durojaye put back an offensive rebound to quell a 5-0 start by the Mount. That was the start of a 9-3 spurt that found the Colonials leading, 9-8, on a Pace fastbreak layup on a nifty steal and pass by Gimeno.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Lauren Howell put the host Mountaineers on top, 14-9, before the Colonials tightened their defense, going on a 17-0 run to take a commanding 26-14 lead on a driving lay-in by Yohanna Morton (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic / Arizona Western). Gimeno knocked down a pair of treys during the run as four different RMU players scored while the Mountaineers went 7:08 without scoring a point.
Robert Morris finished the half on a 29-7 run over final 11:53, taking a 38-21 lead into the locker room. The Colonials shot 48.5 percent (16-33) in the half and turned ball over just four times. The Mount, meanwhile, hit at just a 23.3 percent (7-30) clip.
The Colonials quickly pushed the lead out to 19 points on a Durojaye layup early in the second half, but the Mount closed the margin to 11 points, 46-35, with 11:13 left to play. RMU, however, again tightened up on the defensive end, going on a 6-0 march while holding the Mountaineers scoreless for a span of 4:17. The Colonials finished the game outscoring their hosts 16-7 over the final 11:13.
Robert Morris shot 45.6 percent (26-57) for the game, knocking down 35.3 percent (6-of-17) of its three-point tries. The Mount finished at 25.0 percent (15-60) overall, attempting more three-pointers (38) than two-pointers (22). They hit just eight of those treys, finishing at 21.1 percent. As a result, the Colonials dominated the paint to the tune of 38-13 and held a 22-12 advantage in points off of turnovers.
