MOON TOWNSHIP– Over the last three games, Robert Morris has opened up slowly, leading to them being down big after the first quarter. In the last three games, the Colonials have been outscored 54-29 in the first quarter.
Robert Morris (6-13 overall, 2-8 Horizon League) would look to change their fate in the first quarter as they welcomed Purdue Fort Wayne (12-8 overall, 6-4 Horizon League) to the UPMC Events Center for a Saturday afternoon edition of basketball.
The Colonials came out slow again to start. The Mastodons would open up the game on a 9-0 run and end the first quarter with a 20-7 lead over RMU.
In the first quarter, RMU would shoot 3-12 from the floor for 25%. It would take RMU almost four minutes to get on the board to open up that game, and when they did score, they were already down by nine.
After the game, Head Coach Charlie Buscaglia spoke about how the team must change the slow starts.
“We try to tweak some things and put our players in different positions. We have changed the lineup slightly and made some rotation changes, losing Alex [Alejandra Mastral]. She played many minutes, whether she started or came off the bench. We are trying to put the pieces together to make up for the injury loss,” Buscaglia said. “We can’t put our heads down. We have to make adjustments and step up, rise to the occasion, starting the game giving up 20 is something we can’t do. We have to keep our heads up and keep grinding.”
Besides the slow start, two other things killed the Colonials. The first one was the turnovers. RMU had 19 turnovers throughout the game, which caused them to get no consistency.
The other thing that killed RMU this afternoon was their inability to defend after they turned the ball over. Purdue Fort Wayne scored 20 points off the Colonial turnovers.
“Some of the live ball turnovers where we throw the ball away. We have to get back on defense. It is fundamental stuff we must improve,” Coach Buscaglia said.
Despite the loss, one of the bright spots for the Colonials was Simone Morris, who led the way with 14 points and five rebounds. Naomi Barnwell was the second leading scorer for RMU, with seven points on the day.
Coach Buscaglia spoke on what he saw from Simone Morris’s game this season.
“She is aggressive in creating her shot. She goes off the bounce well. She wants to help the team and score for the team. A lot of the time, the ball goes in her hands, and she is trying to make a play for us,” Buscaglia said.
It is normal for a team to have a game here and there where they get down early and need to mount a comeback to make it a strong game. When a team does get down big, though, there is an ability to force our shots no matter the situation. In some cases this afternoon, Robert Morris forced some shots, only making 12 of their 49 attempts.
Coach Buscaglia had thoughts on when a team is down and their ability to force shots.
“We got to battle back from when we were down a little early. Each team has 70-80 possessions per game, so you have to say, ‘If we are not scoring, we still have the chance to defend and stop the other team from scoring and create things from our defense,’” Coach Buscaglia said.
“Rotation-wise, I’m trying to sub and keep people fresh. We have to be able to come into the game and break up a lineup because of fatigue. We must get in that game and bring that fire and flow back in.”
Robert Morris will try to bring back that fire on Jan. 24, when they welcome Detroit Mercy to the UPMC Events Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
