Musket Shots
- RMU starts with three games away from the Sewall Center for the first time since 2000-01
- Robert Morris has not started the season with consecutive losses since 2003-04
- RMU was selected to win the Northeast Conference according to a poll of league coaches
- Senior guard Sade Logan was named to the Preseason All-NEC Team
- Logan tied the NCAA record for three-pointers (126) and was third nationally in scoring (24.7)
- Robert Morris won the NEC regular season and tournament titles in 2007 and 2008
- The Colonials return seven letterwinners and three starters from last season's team

All-Time Series vs. Ball State
Friday's contest marks the inaugural meeting between Robert Morris and Ball State. There are five other potential first time opponents on the Colonials slate in 2008-09. RMU has never played Illinois State, Howard, IUPUI, North Carolina Central or Bryant. They were 2-3 against first time opponents in 2007-08.

On Tap
Robert Morris will stay at Ball State and take either Illinois State or Cleveland State at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 22. The Colonials have never played the Redbirds and are 3-3 all-time against the Vikings.

Scouting the Cardinals
Ball State was selected to win the Mid-American Conference West Division for the third straight season. Senior guard Porchia Green and sophomore forward Emily Maggert each earned spots on the All-Mid-American Conference West Division Team. Green averaged 13.0 points and 6.9 rebounds last season. Maggert averagedd 12.1 points a game while shooting 59.1 percent as a freshman. The Cardinals dropped a 84-68 contest at Indiana last week despite outrebounding the Hoosiers, 38-37. Four players tallied double-digit scoring led by Audrey McDonald with 13 ponts. Danielle Gratton had 12 points while Green and Kiley Jarrett each chipped in with 11.

Ball State Head Coach Kelly Packard
Packard is in her first season at the helm of the Cardinals program. Prior to arriving on the Ball State campus, Packard was the head coach of the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL) Colorado Chill. In two seasons there, she guided the Chill to a 34-12 overall record, capturing NWBL Championships in each season. She spent five seasons as an assistant coach at Colorado State in two separate stints. The Rams were 99-49 in her five seasons, earning two NCAA Tournament berths and a #5 ranking in 1998-99. A 1990 graduate of Anderson University, Packard was inducted into the Anderson Athletics Hall of Fame after graduating as the program's all-time leading scored and rebounder.

Chasing the Century Mark
Head Coach Sal Buscaglia is looking for his 100th victory with Robert Morris. The sixth-year head coach and 30-year veteran has 90 wins with the Colonials, second most in program history (211-137; Dan Swalga - 1978-91). Buscaglia has 577 career wins as he begins his 31st season as a head coach.

Sal-vation
In a span of just five years, Sal Buscaglia has turned the Robert Morris University women's basketball team into a perennial conference power and national contender. When Buscaglia arrived at RMU, the Colonials had only won seven games the previous three seasons. After suffering through his worst season record-wise as a head coach in 2003-04, Buscaglia turned the RMU program into a 20-win squad. After going 20-9 last season, Buscaglia became the first head coach in the program's history to guide a team to back-to-back 20 win seasons and led RMU to its first-ever NCAA Tournament while winning a team record 24 games last season.

Say Hey, Monet
Junior guard Monet Johnson was just one rebound shy of recording a double-double in her Robert Morris debut, tallying 19 points and nien rebounds at #22 Xavier. Johnson went 6-of-23 from the field, 2-of-10 from three-point range and was 5-10 from the free-throw line. Johnson was named the NJCAA All-America team last season after leading Monroe College to a national championship. She averaged 19.4 points and 12.6 rebounds per game, finishing seventh nationally in both categories.

Cleaning the Glass
Senior forward Grace Williams tallied a career-best 10 rebounds in the Colonials loss at Xavier (11.14.08). She had nine of the team's 23 rebounds in the first half, seven coming on the defensive end of the floor. Williams previous best was eight rebounds in a win at Saint Francis (Pa.) (1.19.08). Robert Morris is 20-6 when Williams is in the starting lineup.

Early Season Tidbits
The Colonials have started the season 0-2 just once under head coach Sal Buscaglia. Robert Morris dropped games at Navy and Duquesne in his first season in 2003-04 en route to a 3-24 record. Since, the team has started the season 2-0 twice and 1-1 twice. RMU has not opened a season 0-3 since the 2002-03 when they posted a 1-26 record under Lynn Roman.

Point Taken
Senior point guard Kendra Williams has started 52 consecutive games at point guard for Robert Morris and has missed just two starts since her sophomore season. She is the only Robert Morris player who has played more than one season with the Colonials. She joined the club as a freshman in 2005-06, playing in 21 games. Williams earned the starting point guard role as a sophomore, averaging 26.3 minutes per game and dishing out 89 assists. Last season, she blossomed into a leader, running the team's offense to near perfection while boosting her numbers to 8.0 points per game and 115 assists while starting every game and averaging 35.5 minutes per contest.

Starting Pace
In seven career starts, senior guard Angela Pace is averaging a double-double with 13.4 points and 11.1 rebounds. For the season, she posted 9.9 points per game and 7.2 rebounds, putting her third and second on the team, respectively. Pace set a team record and led the NEC last season shooting 58.9 percent from the field. She is currently the team's leader with six double-doubles.

Conference Champions - Tournament Edition
Robert Morris took the Northeast Conference Tournament title for the fourth time in team history with a 86-75 win over Long Island University (3/16/08). The crown was the Colonials second consecutive, both coming as the #2 seed. RMU also won the NEC Tournament in 1988 and 1991, prior to the NCAA instituting the NCAA automatic berth in 1994.

Conference Champions - Regular Season Edition
Robert Morris laid claim to a regular season championship for the second time in team history with a win at Sacred Heart (3/1/08). The Colonials only other regular season conference championship came last seasn when they put together a 15-3 conference mark, tying for the best NEC record with Sacred Heart and Long Island. RMU has won tournament titles in 1987-88, 1990-91 and 2006-07.

Setting An NCAA Mark
Senior guard Sade Logan tied the women's NCAA Division I record for three-pointers in a season with 126. She led the nation with 126 treys to tie the current mark set by Lisa McMullen of Alabama State in 1991. Logan set NEC and RMU season records for points (815), scoring average (24.7), field goals (305), field goal attempts (686) and three-point field goals (126).

Rewriting the Record Book
Senior guard Sade Logan set 11 total records - seven season, three game and one NCAA - last season. The reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Year tied the NCAA record with 126 three-pointers, which was also a team record. She also set the single season record for points (815), pointer per game (24.7), field goals (305), field goal attempts (686) and three-point field goal attempts (300). Logan also set the game records for points (38) and attempts (30) and tied the mark for field goals made (15).

An 80's Record
Robert Morris scored 80 or more points in 10 games last season, the most times RMU has reached that mark in one season in team history. The 2006-07 team (24-8) hit the 80-point plateau nine times, tying the mark set by the 16-9 team of 1984-85. Last year's team scored 80 or more points in four straight games from Jan. 26 through Feb. 4.

20 Win Again
The Colonials have won 20 games for the fourth consecutive season and just the sixth time in team history finishing with a 23-10 mark in 2007-08. Prior to the arrival of head coach Sal Buscaglia, Robert Morris had just two 20-win seasons and none since the 1983-84 season. The Colonials first 20-win season came in 1981-82 when they went 20-8. The 83-84 squad went 23-5. In 2004-05, the squad was 20-10 followed by a 20-9 season in 2005-06 and then set a team-record for wins going 24-8 in 2006-07.

Making Their Points
The Colonials average of 73.0 points per game was the second-highest scoring average in team history. The 1984-85 team average 73.8 points per game while putting together a record of 16-9. That team eclipsed the 100-point barrier twice. The 2007-08 squad set the record for points in a season with 2,408, breaking the previous record of 2,352 (2006-07).

Featured In Sports Illustrated - The Dribble-Drive Motion Offense
According to a recent edition of Sports Illustrated, Robert Morris is one just two Division I women's basketball programs running the "Dribble-Drive Motion" offense made famous by John Calipari at the University of Memphis. The other team, oddly enough, is Mount St. Mary's, another member of the Northeast Conference. Only eight women's college teams run the offense - the other six are non-NCAA institutions.

Winning Big, Losing Small
Robert Morris has shown a penchant for blowing out opponents in their wins, but getting edged out in their losses. In 23 wins, the Colonials average margin of victory was 18.3 points. On the other end of the spectrum, nearly all of their losses have been heartbreakers. Their average losing margin - not including their loss to Rutgers in teh NCAA Tournament - is 6.1 points and only once this season have they been beaten by more than 10 points - a 73-58 loss at Nebraska in the fourth game of a five-game road trip.

Home-Sweet-Home
When the Colonials actually play at the Charles L. Sewall Center, they are difficult to beat. In the last four seasons, Robert Morris has posted a 48-7 record at home, including a team record 14 home wins in 2006-07. RMU was 12-3 in 2004-05 and 12-1 in 2005-06, both numbers that tied the previous wins record. Since the opening of the Sewall Center during the 1985-86 season, RMU has compiled a 153-139 record for a .524 winning percentage.

The Old
The Colonials return seven players return seven letterwinners this season and a total of eight players from their 2007-08 roster. A group of four seniors - Kendra Williams, Sade Logan, Grace Williams and Angela Pace - lead the team and will all likely hold starting roles. Sophomores Shakeena Cunningham, Destiny Harrison and Tiffany McMillion also return. Cunningham and McMillion both played significant minutes as freshmen. Junior Latavia Vails returns to active duty after missing last season with an injury suffered in the preseason.

The New
Sixth-year head coach Sal Buscaglia has five new players on his roster this season, with four immediately available. Sophomore Bianca Hooten, a transfer from Bowling Green University, will have to sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules. Monica Jones and Monet Johnson are both junior college transfers while Gianna Woods and Mary Durojaye are true freshmen.