Staten Island, N.Y. / Spiro Sports Center -The Robert Morris University women's basketball forced 32 turnovers to steal a 55-38 win against Wagner Saturday afternoon at the Spiro Sports Center in Staten Island, N.Y. The Colonials had 16 steals and scored 32 points off turnovers to improve to 12-10 overall and 6-5 in the Northeast Conference. The Seahawks suffer their 15^th consecutive loss and slip to 2-20 overall and 1-10 in league games.

Sophomore forward Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni (Greek National Team)) scored 18 points to lead all scorers and finished with nine rebounds. Junior guard Briannica Tye (Aurora, Ill. / West Aurora (Mineral Area)) tacked on 16 points, four assist and three steals.

A hook shot by senior Mary Durojaye (London, England / Barking Abbey (British National Team)) started a 14-2 run that ended with the Colonials holding a 20-7 lead with 8:44 left in the half. Spanou scored eight points during the run, twice getting steals and fast break lay-ins for easy buckets. RMU held Wagner scoreless for over five minutes before Wagner scored on back-to-back possessions to force a timeout by Robert Morris.

After the timeout, the Colonials shutdown the Wagner offense over the final seven minutes of the half. The Seahawks only points in the final 7:33 came on a lay-in by Ugo Nwaigwe with 37 seconds left in the opening half. During that stretch, RMU stretched their lead to 26-13, doubling up the Seahawks at halftime.

Wagner gave the ball away 19 times in the first 20 minutes resulting in 22 points for Robert Morris. Spanou had 11 points and six rebounds in the first half.

Robert Morris scored the first seven points of the second half as Tye and Matthews each hit three-pointers to stretch the lead to 20 points, 33-13. The Colonials continued to stay in control holding a 39-20 advantage with 13:22 to play.

Wagner finally came to life and launched an extended run, cutting the RMU lead to 10 points with a 12-3 run over the next eight minutes that left the Colonials leading 42-32. Stephanie Blais and Kelly Clark did the majority of the damage for the home team combining for 19 second half points.

The Colonials stopped the bleeding and turned the game around in the final five minutes, outscoring the Seahawks 13-6 during the stretch run. The run started with a lay-up by Durojaye off an assist from Spanou. A three-pointer by Tye with 2:05 left to play made it a 13-point lead, 49-36, and all but iced the game.

Clark finished with 14 points to lead Wagner while Blais finished with nine points.

The Colonials head back east to take on the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers in a 7:00 p.m. contest Monday, February 6, in Emmitsburg, Md.