Moon Township, Pa. / Charles L. Sewall Center-The Robert Morris University women's basketball turned on the defensive pressure early in the second half to pull away from the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, 75-48, in a Northeast Conference game at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday afternoon. The victory is the third consecutive for a Colonials team that improves to 15-11 overall and 9-6 in the NEC. CCSU slips to 11-15 and 5-10 in league tilts.

The victory clinched the eighth consecutive NEC playoff berth for the Colonials. RMU has participated in league's post-season tournament every year since 2004-05.

Holding a five-point lead at halftime, Robert Morris blew Central Connecticut State away in the second half using a 28-5 run over 12 minutes to build a 28-point lead. A steal and a fast-break lay-up by sophomore Kelly Hartwell (Woodbridge, Va. / Gar-Field) was a sign of things to come. Her lay-up was the start of an 8-0 run that featured a Briannica Tye (Aurora, Ill. / West Aurora (Mineral Area)) three-pointer to open the half.

The Blue Devils tallied its first basket of the half nearly four minutes in, but the next nine points belonged to the Colonials as junior Josette Campbell (London, England / Notre Dame Prep (NW Florida State)) hit a three followed by lay-ups from sophomore Artemis Spanou (Rhodes, Greece / Nea Smyrni (Greek National Team)) and Tye.

The RMU surge ended with a Mary Durojaye (London, England / Barking Abbey (British National Team)) 15-foot jumper to give the home squad a 61-33 lead. The Colonials pushed the lead to as many as 31 points, 75-44, when freshman Catherine Matthews (Barrington, R.I. / Barrington) scored four consecutive points with 2:56 left.

Spanou earned her 16^th double-double of the year with 15 points and 13 rebounds. She was perfect from the charity stripe, 6-for-6, and was 4-of-10 from the field. Durojaye took game-high honors with 17 points. She also had eight rebounds. Tye finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals while not committing a turnover.

Campbell buried 3-of-4 trifectas and finished up with 11 points. Hartwell also had 11 points off the bench going perfect, 3-for-3, from the field and hitting 5-of-6 from the chalk. Junior forward Anna Gailite (Riga, Latvia / Riga Secondary #47) had five blocks as RMU tallied 10 blocks as a team.

Trading baskets over the first six minutes of the game, Johnna Fisher tied the game for CCSU at 10-10. The Blue Devils used that to start an 8-0 run that gave them a 16-10 lead. Four unanswered points by Hartwell fueled a 17-4 run that ended with RMU holding a 27-20 lead after a pair of freebies by Spanou. Robert Morris carried a 33-28 lead into the locker room.

Jaclyn Babe and Fisher each had 10 points to lead the Blue Devils in scoring.

Robert Morris caps of its regular-season home schedule Monday, February 20, when the Bryant Bulldogs visit for a 7:00 p.m. game.